By Ian McConnell

SCOTTISH accountancy firm Wylie & Bisset has revealed it is increasing its graduate intake significantly this year on the back of recent tender wins by its external and internal audit teams.

The Glasgow-based firm, which hired three graduates last year in its annual intake, said it would take on eight this summer.

The expanding practice said that five of the new recruits would follow the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) training route.

It added that the other three graduates joining the firm would follow the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors (CIIA) route.

Helen Moreland, human resources director at Wylie & Bisset, said: “Every firm has faced challenges as a consequence of Covid-19 and I am really proud of what we, as a firm, have achieved in terms of supporting young people into the profession.

READ MORE: If Royal Bank of Scotland owner NatWest moves head office to London, should we care?

“Not only did we honour our offers to the three graduates who joined us last summer, but this year we are boosting our annual graduate intake to eight.”

She added: “Both our external and internal audit departments have done fabulously well in terms of winning new work over the course of the last year and identified a requirement to increase our annual graduate intake significantly.”

The eight graduates have been offered three-year, fixed-term contracts with the firm.

READ MORE: Brexit: Ian McConnell — Exporters must battle populist tide as damage racks up

Wylie & Bisset noted it would be “footing the bill for their training”, while supporting the new recruits through its in-house mentoring programme. The firm noted the latest graduate hiring round would mean it had recruited around 30 new staff since January 2020.

Ms Moreland said: “Our audit teams are very empathetic and supportive and fully understand what it is like to be a new graduate and, as a firm, we work hard at engaging regularly with our graduates – even throughout the lockdown process via monthly online catch-ups and Zoom ‘meet and greet’ meetings.”