Pictured above: James Syree
Audit and accounts manager James Syree was thrilled to return to
his Droitwich office with the much coveted title of Young Chartered
Accountant of the Year Award 2011 and has the trophy to prove
it.
James was pleased to have been be nominated for an Institute of
Chartered Accountants for England and Wales (ICAEW) award, for his
achievements at Droitwich accountancy firm Ballard Dale Syree
Watson. However he was conscious that he was competing against some
of the brightest and best talent in the Midlands and so even more
surprised when he was presented with the much-coveted trophy.
The ICAEW awards seek to recognise the achievements of its
members throughout the West Midlands region. The official bestowal
ceremony took place recently at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens in
Edgbaston.
James was competing against four other ICAEW members, each of
them nominated for the high level of achievement attained within
the practices they work for. The award criteria also considered the
contributions that the nominees had made to the accountancy sector
as a whole. James received particular recognition for his work in
the community in encouraging young people to take up accountancy as
a career option.
He said: "I am really thrilled to receive the award because many
of the nominees in my category worked at much larger city centre
firms. I would like to think that this sends out a clear message
that although Ballards are based in a rural area, we have just as
much to offer potential clients. Our rural location also allows us
to maintain our competitive edge.
"We can also offer the full gamut of integrated services such as
corporate finance, compliance and inheritance tax, forensic
reporting and due diligence work. But for us to continually develop
and improve our services we do need to attract the brightest and
best young people that we actually have on our doorstep, hence my
local crusade in engaging with schools.
"I think it's important for people in our profession to
encourage more young people to consider accountancy as a career
option and the great thing is they do not necessarily have to go
the university route to become qualified."