The FINANCIAL — A partnership between Aston University and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has resulted in three Aston graduates working on business projects for HMRC’s West Midlands Large Business Unit.
Working alongside HMRC staff, the Aston graduates – Mohammed Siddiqi, Sofia Bibi and Ioannis Nerantzakis – were able to carry out organisational and sector research, practicing skills developed on their MSc programmes studied at Aston Business School.
The HMRC research projects in utility sector trends, graduate trainee support and matrix management enabled the graduates to carry out primary research and use non-confidential sector-specific information resources to compile full reports with recommendations – some of which HMRC have already been able to implement, according to Aston University.
Commenting on the partnership, Stephen Gorham, Project Coordinator at HMRC said: “This was a positive partnership for everybody involved which has led to changes in the way we work. It was particularly satisfying seeing the students become confident in a professional environment and gain transferable skills.”
Aston Business School and HMRC have been working together for the past 12 months on a range of business-education projects including networking events, practice assessment centres and module input.
Having established a template for students to develop project plans, carry out research and report on their findings, Aston University will build on this approach with further student projects at HMRC in the future. With the growing demand for high quality graduate entrants to government tax roles, this approach will continue to provide an insight into tax authority issues, develop student business skills and provide practical solutions to complex organisational challenges.
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