Deloitte gap year pair are going places

Sep 18 2007 by Iain Laing, The Journal

A PAIR of bright students have won two of just 70 places on a nationwide gap year scheme with Deloitte at its North-East headquarters.

School-leavers Michael Healer, 18, and Alex Linsley, 18, will get the chance to travel and learn from the scheme which takes them first to the accountancy’s Newcastle office and then around the world.

Michael, from the Royal Grammar School in Newcastle and Alex, from York College, York, have eight A grades at A-level between them. They will join the office for a paid seven-month work placement. On completion they will also receive £1,500 to fund gap year travel before starting university.

Michael will work in Deloitte’s corporate tax department before spending five months travelling to Asia. He will begin his travels in Thailand, then visits Vietnam and Laos.

He also hopes to visit China for the Beijing 08 Olympics, before travelling home from Beijing on the Trans Siberian Express through Russia. He hopes to study Economics at University College London (UCL).

Alex will work in the Deloitte audit department and will spend five months travelling to Mexico, Argentina, Cuba and the Caribbean. He has been offered a place at Oxford University to study Economics and Management.

Michael and Alex will spend their seven months working alongside Deloitte staff and will be given the chance to work with a wide variety of high-profile companies.

Michael said: “I was thrilled to have been offered the chance to work for Deloitte, as it’s one of the big four advisory firms in the North-East. I was most impressed with the relaxed yet professional feel to the firm and I’m confident that the work and travel experiences will provide me with a solid grounding for a career in the corporate sector.”

Paul Williamson, office senior partner at Deloitte Newcastle said: “School leavers are increasingly concerned about student debt and this scheme provides them with a significant contribution towards the cost of a university education.

“This scheme also provides talented school leavers with greater understanding of the business environment.”