The foundation was set-up to help talented young people from diverse socio-economic backgrounds into the profession, as part of its scheme it partnered with the accountancy firm.

The three former summer interns and one Robert Gordon University placement student – represent the largest number of students recruited by any ICAS Foundation employer partner from this year’s graduate cohort. They are four of 80 students to join the firm this year, 46 of whom were inducted last month.

Islay Sutherland joins the Aberdeen office, following a successful placement year with the firm as part of her Accounting and Finance course at Robert Gordon University. Dean Bastien, Katie Farley, and Emma Savage also secured return offers following successful summer internships last summer, and they will each join the Glasgow office this August. All four will also undertake Chartered Accountant (CA) training with ICAS.

Since becoming one of the ICAS Foundation’s first national employer partners in 2023, Johnston Carmichael has invested £5,000 annually to fund the equivalent of two bursary places. 

Three Johnston Carmichael colleagues currently volunteer as ICAS Foundation mentors: financial reporting advisory services director, Jordan Haldane, financial reporting advisory senior manager, Darren Robertson-Smith, and audit partner, Sally Hewish. 

Laura Carter, head of early careers at Johnston Carmichael, said: “Seeing four ICAS Foundation students return to Johnston Carmichael as graduate trainees is fantastic and demonstrates exactly why we invested in this partnership.

“Creating opportunities for talented people, regardless of their background, is incredibly important to us. Through bursaries, mentoring and meaningful work experience, we’re helping to remove barriers while also strengthening our future talent pipeline.

“These students have already made a real impression during their placements with us, and we look forward to welcoming them back to begin the next stage of their careers.”

Sanjay Singh, managing director at the ICAS Foundation, said: “This is exactly what the ICAS Foundation was created to achieve. By combining financial support with mentoring and internship and placement opportunities, we’re helping talented students overcome barriers and build successful careers in accountancy.

“Johnston Carmichael has fully embraced our partnership and seeing four students return as graduate trainees is a fantastic example of what’s possible when employers make a long-term commitment to social mobility. We hope this success encourages more firms to get involved.”