What Partnership Looks Like in Practice
When AAB began its partnership with the ICAS Foundation in 2024, it wasn’t simply about creating internship opportunities. It was about helping ensure talented young people from every background have a fair opportunity to build a career in accountancy.
Less than two years on, that partnership is already making a tangible difference.
Foundation graduate Ben Nicolson joined AAB as an ICAS trainee in Business Advisory after completing a year in industry with the firm during his studies at Robert Gordon University. Zaid Harrak secured a graduate role after completing a summer internship in AAB’s London office. This summer, three more Foundation students have joined the firm as interns - in Aberdeen, Stirling and Glasgow.
Alongside these opportunities, AAB colleagues have shared their experience with students at the Foundation’s Programme Conference, helping them understand what employers are looking for and how to approach internship and graduate applications with confidence.
The partnership has also grown from within the business.
Today, six Foundation alumni work across AAB. Five colleagues have signed up as Foundation mentors and, between them, have supported ten students as they navigate university, recruitment and the transition into professional life.
It’s a reminder that widening access isn’t about one initiative or one internship. It is about creating a culture where students encounter encouragement, advice and opportunity at every stage of their journey.
For Iain Abernethy, People and Culture Manager at AAB, the partnership has reinforced why this work matters.
“We have experienced first-hand the impact and difference the ICAS Foundation has on the lives and prospects of the talented students it supports. This is why we are delighted to continue playing our part in partnership with the ICAS Foundation. Facilitating and encouraging social mobility into our profession supports our progression as a business and is fundamentally the right thing to do.”
Over time, partnerships like this can create sustainable pipelines of talent as they create opportunity. Students become interns. Interns become trainees. Trainees qualify, build successful careers and, in many cases, return to support the next generation as mentors and ambassadors. That’s what leads to lasting change.
We’re creating a profession where talented young people can see a route in, recognise people who’ve taken it before them and know there is a place for them too.
Could your organisation help open the door for the next generation? We’d love to hear from employers who share our commitment to widening access to the profession. Get in touch.
