Leona Renshaw

Assistant Income & Contracts Accountant

Leona studied accounting at Ashfield Sixth Form college and as a result began to look for jobs in the accounting field. The first job she applied for was as a Finance Apprentice at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS and she was successful in her application. She started working at the trust in September 2014. Leona undertook Level 2 Business Admin apprenticeship with Prostart as the provider.

During this time she obtained a substantive Band 2 post in the Accounts Payable team and they supported her to continue with her Business Admin apprenticeship and in September 2016 she went on to do her Level 3 Business Admin Apprenticeship. She was nominated as Apprentice of the Year in 2017 at the Prostart Annual Awards. Leona enjoyed undertaking these apprenticeships and particularly valued the IT section of the apprenticeship as she found this particularly useful.

During this period Leona was seconded into a band 3 role as an Accounts Payable Officer and then she successfully applied for a post that became available in the Management Accounts department which was a permanent Band 3. As a result she began her Level 3 Assistant Account Apprenticeship Standard, which includes AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians) course Level 2/3 on their fast track scheme (due to her practical experience). She was supported with this qualification by Vision West Notts and attended day release. She completed the AAT in spring 2019 and was awarded a Merit for the AAT and a Distinction for the whole apprenticeship. Leona was also nominated for a National apprenticeship award during this time.

In March 2019 Leona successfully obtained a seconded Band 4 post as Income & Contracts Assistant with the Trust and has also started her Level 4 Professional Accounting Tax Technician Apprenticeship which includes Level 4 AAT, again with Vision West Notts. She is happy with the support that they have provided and has recently taken advantage of some evening classes that they are providing with a view to students completing their qualification a bit earlier, should they wish to. Leona said she feels well supported by them and appreciates the flexibility they offer. She said, although she has taken on the evening classes, she is under no pressure to do so, they are offered if people want to use them to increase their progress so she is finding it quite enjoyable as there is no pressure. She said the college very much fits around the learners so they are at the heart of their own learning journey.

Since starting her career with the Trust, Leona has made good use of apprenticeships to help with her development and has found this to be an excellent way of making personal progress. She has found this way of developing very motivational and has felt it has suited her very well. Her career will continue to progress and she is very ambitious to do well and I don’t think there is any doubt she will succeed.