RANDALL & PAYNE NEWS | 16

In October 2021 we celebrated Ethan King being a well-deserved finalist for Outstanding Apprentice of the Year (Business, Administrative & Financial Services) at the Gloucestershire Live Apprenticeship Awards.

Shaun Pegler Client Director

Our people are the life-blood of the firm and each year we have an intake of trainees and apprentices and are continually pleased with the calibre and drive our successful recruits demonstrate and what they can achieve. A few of the senior team started out here as apprentices themselves!

Ethan’s apprenticeship started four years ago when he began working in the accounts team on manual sole trade accounts preparation and he progressed quickly to working more closely with larger clients. In this time his role has evolved and it continues to do so as he gains vital knowledge and experience. It was fair to say having his achievements acknowledged meant a lot to him.

“Being a finalist was a massive honour and despite not coming home with the award it was still a great night. Thanks to Reach for putting on a fantastic event and congratulations to all the winners!” commented Ethan.

His proactive approach and willingness to take on new challenges has benefitted other teams, and he is confident to make suggestions to his managers, recommending improvements with possible solutions as well.

Demonstrating he is a team player, Ethan supported newer trainees in our trainee mentoring programme. He is always available to answer questions, taking the time to assist and explain things to share his knowledge and experience.

Ethan was involved in a project to modernise how our files are prepared which saw the firm move onto a digital working paper software. Ethan trialled the software and assisted with its implementation including training his colleagues. As a direct result of this project, the firm has seen improvements to productivity through being able to access a file by multiple users simultaneously. Other benefits include being a step closer to the paperless office, work/life balance improved by being able to work from home and client data is more secure with no physical files. Most importantly it enabled the firm to continue to service our clients throughout the pandemic. Next steps... Ethan has now started to work towards his chartered qualification and has just passed the first of many more exams to come!

“It’s the first time we have met Ethan and I was impressed by his professionalism, as well as being such a nice guy! Ethan came to visit us to get some queries answered regarding our accounts and speed up the process. It’s good for us to meet the staff who are assisting with the production of our accounts and he enjoyed getting out of the office and getting more of a feel for what we do.”

Jamie Underwood, Director