14th February 2025National Apprenticeship Week – A Day in the Life of Joe Cole

I’ve been working at HW Fisher as an AAT apprentice now for 6 months. In that time, I have learnt and experienced more than I did in a year of university taking finance. HW Fisher have helped to nurture and maximise my potential.

I start my day by getting into the office every day for 8:30am, although with the flexible working hours in place here I could get in later, but I prefer to get in early to allow myself to grab a coffee and gradually start my day instead of having to rush.

Being split between the Sports Group and the Business Solutions Department means that I deal with a wide variety when it comes to my workload which means that every day is different, and I never find myself repeating the same thing each day which I think is key to enjoying your career. Once I’ve set myself up for the day by getting a coffee and checking my emails, I’ll find myself working from the hours of 9AM until 12:30PM. That’s when my friends and I decide to get lunch, the great thing about working in London is there are so many options for lunch, whether you order food or walk to nearby hotspots. Regents Park is also just around the corner, and I find during a busy day taking a walk often helps to clear your mind.

I’ll then get back to work at 1:30PM where I’ll find that the work that I have completed in the morning has already been reviewed by my managers with useful comments and next steps, If I ever don’t understand comments managers will always book in time to sit down and go through it with you until you understand it. Being in a job which stereotypically comes with a lot of pressure and deadlines this has made it a lot easier and stress free for me in my experience.

I’ll then keep working until 5PM where again, due to the flexibility I could leave earlier but I choose not to so that I can stay on top of my workload. Once I have filled in my timesheet and packed away I can then leave for the local tube station which is just a five minute walk away from the office.

Everyone is very warm and welcoming, in my first six months at the firm I have attended multiple work do’s, such as the pub crawl and Karaoke night. I think normally it takes a long time to settle into a job like this but at HW Fisher you are made to feel a part of the group within your first week.