Carpenter Box, part of Sumer Group, has welcomed 20 new starters across its South East offices this September, 11 of them on the ACA route, a move that matters broadly because it shows a regional firm investing in early careers, and matters specifically to accountancy professionals because the mix of ACA, ACA/CTA, ATT/CTA and AAT routes reflects how firms are widening entry points as the trainee pipeline changes.

Carpenter Box is a Worthing-headquartered chartered accountancy and business advisory firm founded in 1923, with over 280 staff across offices including Brighton, Crawley, Lewes and London, and it is part of Sumer Group, a UK accountancy group founded in 2023 that operates through regional hubs.

In Brighton, Sebastian Streeter joins the accounting and business advisory services team to study for the ACA after graduating from the University of Sussex, while Tobias Mann joins the specialist StarBox team, also on the ACA route. In Lewes, Megan Partridge joins the same team after finishing college.

Andrew Le Fevre, director at Carpenter Box, said the firm is committed to finding and developing young talent as the leaders of the future, and that it was pleased several associates had attended its annual open evening, which showed the value of the event.

The mix of routes follows a wider shift. ICAEW research found that 67 per cent of mid-tier firms plan to increase or maintain school leaver numbers, while 51 per cent expect to do so for graduates, with apprenticeship funding changes and employer National Insurance among the reasons.

The qualification mix also matters. ICAEW student numbers grew about 76 per cent over the decade while CIMA fell 32 per cent and ACCA around 11 per cent, which suggests the employer-led ACA route is holding up better than other pathways.

For firms, recruiting through events and several routes at once spreads risk, because a single entry channel can narrow quickly when funding or student interest shifts.

For the sector, a 20-strong intake spread across ACA, tax and technician routes shows regional firms treating early careers as a core growth plan.

Source: Yahoo News UK / The Argus / ICAEW / LSE Business Review