Staff Testimonials

I joined the Blinkhorns graduate scheme straight after graduating in 2019. Working for a medium-sized firm appealed to me as the training is more personal and varied. The relaxed atmosphere and supportive culture at Blinkhorns added to the appeal, and I felt it was a good firm to work in to enable me to grow and progress, both personally and professionally.

During my first six months, I had the opportunity to work within different teams, as well as with staff at all levels, including partners, managers and other trainees. This gave me hands on experience in a range of areas early on, and gave me an insight as to what my career path could look like at Blinkhorns, especially with so many senior staff having been promoted internally from within the firm.

After the first six months of my training contract I was assigned to a team, which not only gave me insight into how the team worked, but also the different clients the team were responsible for.During my training, I was fortunate to work and gain experience in areas such as bookkeeping, VAT, personal tax and company accounts for a wide variety of clients, including actors, models and producers.

Work-life balance is an important part of Blinkhorns culture and the support I receive, both in the office and when studying towards my ACA qualification, is a key benefit of working at the firm. I am grateful to be able to rely on my line manager and I have been able to achieve a good balance between my work requirements, educational goals and personal hobbies.

After graduating from University, I joined the Blinkhorns graduate scheme in 2019. From the beginning, everyone was friendly and offered to help me wherever possible. During my first few months, I started by sitting with the other graduates and the previous year's intake of graduates. I found being around peers of a similar age who were also on the same training scheme extremely helpful in getting settled.

After the first few months of finding my feet, I moved to an equity partner’s team. This step helped my learning and progression as I was exposed to various types of work such as bookkeeping, VAT, personal tax and company accounts. I was also given greater responsibility by being entrusted to deal with clients directly, and being given a select portfolio of VAT clients which was solely my responsibility to deal with.

Blinkhorns offers university work placements which I have also benefitted from. It has enabled me to gain experience in training interns using the knowledge I have gained throughout my training so far. Through working closely together, the placement student also gains a valuable insight into the graduate scheme and the training offered.

Alongside the work aspect, there are many social events that have helped provide a greater work life balance. Blinkhorns offers “Firm Days Out” which have been great to get to know other people in the office who I don’t directly work with. There are also flexible working hours and other benefits that really add to the firm’s culture and working environment.

When I graduated I wanted to work somewhere that valued me and helped me grow personally and professionally. I joined Blinkhorns because the idea of working in the media and entertainment related industry at a central London location really appealed to me 

During my first six months at Blinkhorns, I worked for the various teams in the office preparing accounts for sole traders. This gave me a good foundation on which I could build on and begin marrying my educational background to “real life” day-to-day business situations. 

Following this initial period, I was assigned to one of the partners’ teams, which consists of two managers and other trainees. My workload grew in both variety and responsibility. I started to become more involved in company accounts preparation as well as taking part in various audit work. I am learning new things every day and the firm, as well as my team, continue to support me in this personal growth process. This is one of the great aspects of Blinkhorns that I truly value and actually enthuses me to go to work every day. 

Over the course of training, I have undertaken a variety of tasks, including preparing personal tax returns; statutory accounts; corporation tax returns; management accounts for production companies; carrying out audits of builders merchants, art galleries, charities, property companies and post-production companies. This varied accounting exposure has allowed me to understand matters concerning more than one type of industry and is giving me a well-rounded knowledge of accounting and taxation principles. 

I am also very grateful for the professional support and follow up I get from both my line managers on a day-to-day basis, as well as the support that the firm gives me in my continued professional qualification towards my ACA certification. Blinkhorns has devised the correct balance between work requirements, educational support, preparation and personal time for my on-going exams. This nurturing business environment is giving me the “space” to spread my professional “wings’’ in a positive, challenging, professional and pleasant work place.

The culture at Blinkhorns is a very open one which allows people to be themselves and work more efficiently. This is helped by the number of social occasions throughout the year that enable trainees to get to know other staff and partners from across the firm.

Blinkhorns has been – in hindsight – the right firm for me and is helping me to grow personally and professionally.