One of North Staffordshire's oldest accountancy practices has increased its workforce by almost a quarter inside five months.
Geens Chartered Accountants has welcomed seven new staff members to its offices in Liverpool Road, Stoke, since March 2021.
The jobs drive is part of a long-held strategy by the company to grow its own team and invest in young people from the North Staffordshire area.
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The new recruits include trainee chartered accountants, Kelly Robinson and Ruby Whilock, and accountancy apprentice Theepikan Nagulendran.
Aziz Ravasia has also joined Geens as an auditor, together with accountant Hollie Wiles, payroll manager Julie Briscoe and office administrator, Helen Wilshaw.
Chris Beeston, director at Geens – which can trace its history back to 1884 – said: "It's always good to be able to offer new, young talent an opportunity to build a career and we see this as one of the hallmarks here at Geens.
"We have four directors and all have come through the ranks at Geens, now we are offering that opportunity to young professionals such as Theepikan, Kelly and Ruby."
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Chris – who joined Geens straight from school and enjoyed a rapid rise, being rewarded with a directorship at the age of just 26 – added: "My fellow directors also came through the ranks at Geens, as did many of our senior team. We stress to new staff that they have a chance to develop a good career here."
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Geens has enjoyed an 'extremely busy' year so far after the pandemic created further demand for financial and business advice.
And all staff are now back in the office, having worked from home during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
Chris said: "Team work in the office is ideal when we have new recruits as they learn so much from their more experienced colleagues and being in the office bonds us together.
"Creating a team isn’t simply about learning accountancy skills, day to day conversation adds to the Geens' ethos.
"We have also worked to create the best available working environment that we can, introducing a flexible working pattern and adjusting the working week, so that staff can go home earlier on Fridays.
"Everyone works hard at Geens but we also work at creating a positive team ethos and this results in high levels of staff retention."