Accountancy group EY’s Bristol office has recruited 41 new joiners – three more than last year – to support the business’s continued growth across the South West.
Of the 41, some 31 were graduates, six business apprentices and two digital degree apprenticeship students. In addition to the full-time, permanent joiners, a further 19 took part in virtual summer intern placements and industrial placements. 
Across EY in the UK, some 854 graduates and 194 apprentices were taken on this year, reinforcing what the firm called its commitment to invest in and nurture young talent, despite Covid-19. This compares to 1011 graduates and apprentices hired in 2019.
EY also said it was continuing to build out its talent pipeline across the country, with 45% of this year’s cohort joining its regional offices.
In line with EY’s commitment to recruit a diverse pool of candidates, 43% of this year’s student recruits this year are female (up from 39% last year) and 41% from ethnic minorities (up from 38% last year), which includes 3% black students (up from 2%, last year).
EY South West office managing partner Andrew Perkins said: “I’m delighted to welcome the new student intake for 2020 to the business and really pleased to see that we’ve increased numbers from last year, in line with our vision to grow the Bristol office, attracting the best young talent from across the region to join EY.
“Whilst our biggest number of new joiners has been in our assurance function, where we’ve recruited 29 people, we’re also really pleased to have welcomed individuals across our tax and consulting teams, all of which have continued to perform strongly, despite the global pandemic.
“The addition of two new school leavers to our digital degree apprenticeship programme reflects the growing need for our business to lead on digital transformation.
“Young talent is essential to our future business success and to shaping the skills we will need to remain competitive.”
He said he was proud that the firm had maintained its commitment to student recruitment this year, despite Covid-19, and that it had honoured all the conditional offers it made prior to A-level results.
“At a time when many young people are facing a challenging labour market, our apprenticeship, graduate and internship programmes provide students and school leavers with a great opportunity to gain real hands-on experience, while also enhancing their skills and gaining a qualification,” he added.
As part of the firm’s efforts to attract more diverse students, 30% of the work experience places on the EY Foundation’s Smart Futures/Our Futures programmes will be offered to black young people for the next five years from September 2021.
Additionally, EY has set a target of offering at least 30% of places on its school leaver pathways to black alumni from the Smart Futures and Our Futures programmes from next year.
EY has adjusted its student recruitment programmes for a virtual environment to ensure graduates and apprentices are still able to complete client work and progress towards their professional qualifications.
The firm has introduced more one-to-one touchpoints for students with their line managers and coaches and will be arming students with tools and tips on working in a virtual world. There will also be virtual networking sessions and more peer support groups.
EY UK&I managing partner for talent Justine Campbell added: “Diversity and inclusion are key priorities for EY, and I’m pleased by the progress we’ve made to improve the diversity of our student intake this year.
“However, we know there’s more we can do which is why we introduced new diversity targets last year and announced a series of commitments on black representation in July.
“Many of the bright, young talent we recruit go on to become our future leaders and are a critical part of the business. We have another strong cohort joining us this year and wish them all the success in their careers with us.”
