Make Your Future Count: Accounting Apprenticeships and Careers Conference event

On 22 January 2020, the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (CONEL), a leading provider of accountancy training, hosted over 120 prospective students at Make Your Future Count – its accounting apprenticeships and careers conference.

The half-day event brought together local employers and household names, including CIMA, CIPFA, the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, BKL Chartered Accountants, Haringey Council, Adroit Accountax and AAT – the world’s leading professional body for accounting technicians.

Opening the conference, Robin Hindley, Interim Deputy Principal of CONEL, said:

“Our aim today is to inspire the next generation of star accountants. CONEL’s accountancy faculty is one of the college’s shining stars and we hope that you’ll want to enrol here to start your accountancy career.”

Sarah Ebanja, Chief Executive of the Spurs Foundation (Tottenham Hotspur football club’s award-winning charitable body) and a Governor of the Capital City College Group, said:

“When you are in an apprenticeship and linked to an employer, what you are doing is contributing and really making a difference every day, not only for yourself but for your community.

“CONEL is the club’s local college and what’s really important at CONEL is not just what goes on at the front of the classroom; there’s lots of support as well that enables the learner to get the best out of their course.”

Leadership Through Sport & Business (LTSB) is a social mobility charity that prepares and supports bright young people from disadvantaged backgrounds into meaningful roles with major firms. They have worked with CONEL for a number of years and Catherine Gurner (Employment consultant) and Kevser Kilinc (she studied at CONEL and found work through us and LTSB), both spoke at the conference.

Catherine told us: “Part of what we at LTSB believe in so much through the charity, is that we really can make a difference to young people.” Kevser, who is now a financial analyst at Redington, said, “When coming to CONEL, you’re coming into a huge amount of support that becomes your second family. They’re forever there to contact and they work 24/7 to get you that job.”

The conference aimed to inspire the next generation of young accountants, so the programme included talks and sessions from current and ex-CONEL students.

Level 2 AAT Accountancy student Arun Singh, said:

“When I was looking for a college to study at, CONEL stood out to me and now I am here, I’ve learnt a lot about accounting and work life. I have also learnt a lot about myself and how to change myself to become a professional in this industry.”

If you have a head for figures then a career in accounting could be for you.

Our courses and apprenticeships will provide you with the skills and experience you need to get the best possible start in London’s financial world, whether you want to be a high-flyer in the city or managing the books for local businesses.

Now is a very exciting time to be an accountant. The role of finance professionals has never been more important, especially with the UK’s exit from the EU coming soon and more sophisticated and smarter technologies changing the way finance teams work, as well as a greater focus on ethics and regulation.

With an accountancy qualification from CONEL you’ll be able to meet the changing worlds of business and finance. You’ll gain transferable skills that will help you get paid work as an accountant or bookkeeper, or help you progress to studying for higher-level Chartered Accountancy qualifications. Whether you want to specialise in accountancy, or gain a base understanding to succeed in other areas of business, having these sought-after skills will open doors for you to a broad range of exciting careers.

There are currently 394,651 jobs in the accounting industry with an average salary of £38,286 per annum. It is predicated the UK will need an additional 80,000 accountants by 2050, so for those looking to get into a career in accounting, now is a great time to come to CONEL to get the skills you need to succeed.