Our graduate trainees:

As one of our trainees, you can play a major part in our on-going success story. From early on in your time with us, you will be entrusted with real client assignments and real responsibilities. In return, we will support you with our first-class training and development programme, designed to lay the foundations for an exceptional career.

On the job training:

Our trainees will complete a three-year training contract with a view to becoming an ACA/CA qualified accountant. You will have exciting development opportunities available where you can build your knowledge in many of the sectors in which we operate. You will work in a friendly and progressive environment, within teams of varying sizes. From early on you will be given responsibility, dealing with range of clients including private clients, individuals from the entertainment world, family estates or charities.

We use first-class tuition centres alongside our own internally developed technical training programmes to help you prepare for your examinations. This is supported by our dedicated training team who will monitor your progress throughout your studies. We expect our prospective trainees to have gained a thorough understanding of what the exams will involve, so please ensure that you have researched the professional qualification you are interested in pursuing thoroughly in order to convince us that you know what you’re letting yourself in for!

We recruit approximately 30 trainees each year across our office network. We also offer summer intern placements if you aren’t sure about what kind of firm you think would best suit you.

Person requirements:

We seek people with initiative; people who are collaborative team workers, natural communicators and able problem-solvers. Above all, we seek people who are motivated by providing the highest level of client service.

Applicants must have a 2:1 degree (expected or obtained) in any discipline and at least 300 UCAS points (120 on the new tariff), or equivalent, gained at one sitting. Plus excellent GSCE results with a minimum grade B in English and Maths.

Company information:

As a top 20 UK accountancy firm, and advisers to some of the UK’s wealthiest individuals, Saffery Champness is a dynamic and exciting place to launch your career.
Through hard work and innovative thinking – to say nothing of the personal touch which has long been our trademark – we have achieved strong market positions across a range of sectors, but particularly private clients.

Our style is personal and we value our strong client relationships and genuinely partner-led service. Providing excellent training and development opportunities for staff is an important part of what we do, as our long-standing Investors in People accreditation demonstrates. We are also very proud to have been named as one of Britain’s Top Employers for the fourteenth consecutive year.

Reward and benefits:

We want to give you the best possible start to your accountancy career. As a Saffery Champness trainee, you will begin your three-year training contract on a competitive starting salary. Throughout your training you will take part in bi-annual performance reviews to discuss your future roles and responsibilities.

As well as your annual salary, you would also be enrolled in the firm’s profit sharing scheme, which runs from October to September each year.
Your overall remuneration would also include our highly regarded flexible benefits package, which we continually improve and upgrade. The flexible benefits scheme comprises both payroll-deductible benefits and direct benefits, all designed to save you money and make your life a little easier. Payroll-deductible benefits include:

• The ability to buy and sell holiday days
• Cycle to work scheme
• Paid overtime or TOIL
• Health screening
• Life insurance (up to three times your annual salary)
• Critical illness cover
• Season ticket loan
• A contributory pension plan
• Childcare vouchers

All of these rewards and benefits would mean little without the attraction of a challenging and varied workload in a dynamic office environment. And with excellent prospects for progression, staff members who demonstrate real ability know they will be able to progress quickly through the ranks and rise to more senior positions – with the potential for partnership opportunities further down the line.