Since joining Esseco UK in October as an Assistant Apprentice Accountant, Isla Harwood has become a key part of the finance team, working alongside Danny and Caitlin. Her responsibilities have steadily expanded: she now supports not only day-to-day operations, but is also involved in tasks such as invoice accrual and month-end reporting. “This month I’ve been a lot more involved,” she says. “I’ve done the invoice accrual and now I can see how the work I do throughout the month affects what happens at the end.”
Alongside her role, Isla is completing her Level 3 apprenticeship and plans to continue with Level 4. The balance between learning and working is made possible thanks to the support she receives from her team: “If there’s anything that I want to take on, they’re happy to just hand it over and give me responsibility. When it gets too much, it’s also like, just come talk to me and we’ll sort out the workload”.
Before joining Esseco UK, Isla had interviewed with several accounting practices but found they didn’t feel right. “I knew I wanted to go into industry rather than a big practice. I did a couple of interviews with accounting practices, and it just didn’t feel right.” What she was looking for was something smaller and more personal. “We’re a team of three. And that’s really what I wanted, just a small, tight-knit team.”
On her first day, she was struck by the atmosphere: “Not just how they were towards me, but I saw how they were with each other and just how nice they were and how supportive it was. It just seemed a really positive environment”.
Internal communication is something she values highly. In addition to regular team meetings and one-to-ones, she appreciates the Town Hall format. “I’ve never heard of anything like that before. It’s sort of to get everyone together, who maybe is not usually in these big meetings, and just to see how the company is actually progressing. It gives everyone an update and I think it really helps include everyone.”
She also sees a clear willingness to improve. “If there’s anything that we think we can improve on, it’s straight away, let’s improve this, let’s make it better. We’re never staying at the same sort of level.”
Isla collaborates with many departments beyond finance – particularly purchasing – and has discovered how much communication is part of her job. “I sort of had in my head that being in this industry, you wouldn’t have to talk to that many people. Completely wrong. I talk to everybody, whether that’s in the company or even outside the company.”
Sustainability was another factor that made Esseco UK stand out. “I did a lot of digging into it and seeing how positive they were about climate change and reducing their carbon footprint. I was pleasantly surprised.”
Asked to describe Esseco UK in three words, Isla doesn’t hesitate: “Supportive, positive, and forward-thinking”.
Outside of work, she finds balance through exercise. “I quite like going to the gym quite a lot. I think it’s necessary when you’ve got an office job, just to de-stress and get moving.”
As Isla continues her apprenticeship and gains experience, Esseco UK looks forward to supporting her professional journey and to seeing the contribution she will bring to the team and the company.
