Nicholas Nesbitt, a private client Financial Planner at Mazars, said the scheme’s success so far can be seen through the fact that its first graduate trainee, David Baker, was made a company partner this month.

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Mr Nesbitt said: “Whilst a great achievement for David, it also is a very good thing for the graduate training scheme as it gives a clear line of sight on a potential career path for current and future graduate trainees. We have also seen a very high level of graduate starters making it all the way through to being FCA-registered chartered Financial Planners with very few individuals leaving the profession during or after their training (unlike many other professions with graduate training schemes).”

The Mazars’ scheme is open to graduates achieving a 2:1 degree or above and the firm does not consider it essential or preferable for them to have studied economics, business or finance. The company also offers opportunities for “talented school leavers” that have opted out of university.

Graduates spend the first year learning the basics of Financial Planning and assisting in the client advisory process before beginning to gain qualifications in the second and completing this the year after. They start building up their own client portfolio, with help from the existing planners, after 3 to 3 and a half years.

The aim, from a business perspective, is “to find a cohort of intelligent and personable individuals each year” to help the firm progress.

Mr Nesbitt said: “From a more general point of view, we are very keen as a business to promote Financial Planning as a profession and we therefore want our graduate scheme to mirror those of accountancy and legal firms and raise the profile of Financial Planning as a career.”