Meet the Practice

Creating the next generation

David Holt CA, co-founder of Glasgow-based Consilium, explains why support for the ICAS Foundation has been both core to the firm’s purpose and pivotal to its growth

Words: Fiona Nicolson

Glasgow-based Consilium Chartered Accountants first opened its doors in 2013, after its six founders saw an opportunity to build a firm focusing on the needs of SMEs. One of its priorities was, quite simply, to do good.

Then, in 2014, after a meeting with the then ICAS CEO, the six decided this would take the form of supporting young people into a career in accountancy. That was the same year the ICAS Foundation was officially registered to support youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds to study for accountancy and finance degrees, and to promote a diverse and inclusive route into the profession.

One of the firm’s founders is David Holt CA (above), who qualified in 1991 and was previously a partner at Arthur Andersen, Deloitte and RSM Tenon. Holt says: “The timing of that meeting was perfect because once we had got the business up and running, we started thinking about what else we wanted to achieve and that included what we could give back to the community.

“One of the advantages of being a relatively small firm at that time was our flexibility: we could make decisions very quickly. And so, we could quickly give the ICAS Foundation the support and proactive assistance it required if one of its students needed some work experience, whether for a few weeks or a few months.”

In February, Consilium became the foundation’s biggest corporate supporter to date, pledging £30,000 over the next four years towards bursary funding for three young people to join the Nurturing Talent programme.

The firm also plans to continue with the support that it has been providing for nearly a decade, to help students aiming to become CAs. This includes providing paid summer internships for foundation students, and increasing the number of graduate roles available to those of them progressing from university to ICAS training.

“We’ve now extended our relationship with the ICAS Foundation with these three bursaries. We’ll also be taking on more interns, providing increased mentoring support and exploring other avenues where we can support students, for instance through helping them with their CVs and preparing for interviews.”  

Reflecting on the reasons for such strong support, Holt says: “Once you get to the point where you’re in control of your own firm, you look at what you can do to help others. There’s a lot of talent out there that doesn’t necessarily get the chance to flourish, and we are in a position to do something about that.”

Plans for growth

Supporting the ICAS Foundation has proven beneficial for Consilium too, as the firm has employed a number of its students over the years, including Dean Scobie CA (below) who is currently part of Holt’s audit team.

“The calibre of students who have come through to date has been excellent,” says Holt. “I think we’ve recruited around 10 people over the years from the foundation and for a firm our size that’s a significant proportion of our graduate recruits.”

And they’re good hires, he stresses: “What makes them stand out is their educational achievements, without exception. The foundation will only accept students who have an excellent academic record. The people who have come through so far have all also been committed, hard-working and dedicated, and every one of them has wanted to take advantage of the opportunities they’ve been given.”

Consilium itself has gone from strength to strength since its formation, helping a long list of companies across a range of sectors to secure grants, perform management buyouts or do the financial due diligence for mergers and acquisitions.

“We started with six people in November 2013,” says Holt. “We are now a team of 55 – this is faster growth than we ever envisaged.” The firm has ambitions to secure more business and further expand the team: “We expect growth in the current year of more than 15% and we will continue to recruit to support this level of growth,” he adds.

consiliumca.com