Corporate Restructuring (Advisory) Graduate Trainee London September 2024

At Mazars we have a wide range of opportunities for you to gain experience in a firm that truly cares about your aspirations. Our business is an engine for rapid and consistent career progression, and we are known for giving ambitious people early responsibility and exposure.

Are you a graduate with strong interpersonal skills with a keen interest in building a career in advisory and consulting? Are you a credible and effective communicator who enjoys building trusted client relationships? This is a great opportunity to join a specialised team providing expert advice in restructuring services.

About the role and team

As a graduate trainee in Corporate Restructuring Advisory team, you will learn how businesses succeed and fail. Specifically, you will learn to undertake in-depth analysis of a Company's past and future financial performance, unpick financial statements to understand the “true” underlying value of assets and liabilities as well as understand and be able to articulate risks and opportunities underpinning company business plans.

You will help prepare reports for banks and boards of directors, review financial models, and advise clients on the solvent / turnaround options available to them. You will also develop the capability to advise / work alongside our other Mazars teams to help clients buy and sell businesses or raise debt / equity finance. Your involvement will include participation in pitches and proposals through to deal completion. You will have the opportunity to help businesses and their stakeholders by providing advice in respect of business underperformance, or at the early stages of distress. These are just some examples of the interesting and varied work we will engage you in during your training with our team. Your time will usually be split between working with the team, our clients and studying for your professional exams.

The Restructuring Advisory team (known in the market as the Special Situations Team) is a subset of around 10-11 staff (nationally) which is part of the wider national Restructuring Services team at Mazars. The Restructuring Advisory team is focussed on helping businesses in the early stages of distress / underperformance, by analysing likely future performance (and by inference ongoing viability), including debt capacity of the business in the near the medium term.

Using this key financial analysis, the Restructuring Advisory team work with all stakeholders of the business (board of directors, shareholders, lenders etc) to understand key options available and their respective implications. Working collaboratively and in a fast-paced / fluid environment our specialist skillset allows us to help businesses turnaround and recover, placing them on a stable path for future growth.

During your first year you will

• Join the Restructuring Services Advisory team based in London.
• Undertake in-depth financial analysis, working closely with managers and partners to support the preparation of client reports (e.g. Independent Business Reviews).
• Gain experience in dealing / liaising directly with our bank and corporate clients
• Assist managers and partners by preparing tables, charts and appendices for inclusion in client reports.
• Understand how financial forecasts are constructed, their inherent risks and how to analyse and present these risks in a client report
• Produce high quality research / presentation packs for meetings with existing and prospective clients including market and as well as coordinating various marketing and client facing events.
• Take ownership of tasks allocated to you in the Advisory project lifecyle (from onboarding, compliance, engagement, risk, deliver and close)
• Be able to obtain relevant information from clients whilst also building rapport with them.

During your second year you will

• Take ownership of drafting sections of a client report allocated to you.
• Self-review own work, ensuring it is client ready and consistent with the expected house styles and quality.
• Aid less experienced team members.
• Attend meetings with stakeholders contributing on specific aspects of deals, such as forecast analysis (in case of IBRs) or buyers list and marketing document sections (in cash of Accelerated M&As).
• Support project management by ensuring the set timetable is followed by all parties involved (including other financial/legal advisors).
• Be a point of contact for clients and third parties throughout projects.
• Gain experience in complex negotiations and strategy implementation
• Understand reasons for financial failure and options assessments
• Prepare documents and research for business development meetings with key intermediaries as well as generally supporting the team in its business development and marketing activities.
• Effectively balance multiple projects and responsibilities.

In your final year you will take on more responsibility in the form of being responsible for more aspects of an Advisory project lifecycle. You will be expected to take responsibility for larger sections of client reports, or for the entirety of a smaller project, ensuring completion delivery within stated deadlines. You will be expected to actively participate in both team and client meetings and taking responsibility for the budget of the project and active participation in some marketing and business development activities.

Overview of the Advisory & Consulting service line

The Advisory & Consulting Service Line is a rapidly growing, award winning, global group of successful teams working together to present a go-to-market differentiator whilst delivering the highest quality of work for our clients. If you are successful in securing a role on our training programme you will join a team of 600+ innovative specialists across a variety of sectors including Financial Services, Industry & Services, and Public Services with consultative expertise in Risk & Management Consulting, Internal Audit, Actuarial and all aspects of the Tech & Digital space. Our Advisory teams are at the forefront of large international infrastructure projects, global M&A transactions, high-profile forensic investigations, business valuations, corporate restructuring and creditor advisory services; all with the aim of adding value to clients by finding solutions to a range of financial issues as one collaborative team.

About you

We are looking for exceptional candidates to join our team who demonstrate the following:

• Interpersonal skills: the ability to build client relationships with a foundation of trust and responsibility.
• Ability to communicate professionally both internally and externally orally and in writing.
• Analytical skills: the ability to think critically, research and solve problems.
• Attention to detail and strong time-management skills.
• Commitment to self-development & learning, including a commitment to undertake the ACA qualification.
• Robust sense of ethical duties and dealing with difficult and sometimes emotional situations
• Ability to work effectively in a team with a strong affinity with our values; in particular, respect for individuals, inclusion and diversity, and integrity.
• Ability to work under pressure whilst recognising the deadline or urgency to be dealt with.
• Ability to make confident and clear presentations.

Strong academic performance is important; however, we understand that things don't always go to plan. Our recruitment process looks at your whole self – academic achievements as well as other experiences in which you have grown and developed. We balance your academic results alongside the aptitude assessment within our recruitment process to ensure that you will be successful in your role with us.

Mazars & me: who are we?

Mazars is a leading international professional services firm delivering exceptional quality in audit, tax, financial advisory, outsourcing and consulting. It's also a fun, fast-paced, positive place to work and make friends.

At Mazars, we celebrate individuality and thrive on teamwork. We give people the freedom to make a personal contribution to our shared purpose. We support one another to deliver quality, create change and make an impact. So that everyone can reach their full potential.

Every story is different at Mazars. Our people have amazing, personal experiences so the best way to learn about life here is to hear it first hand from them.

Learning and development

We offer a diverse range of experiences, with prestigious clients and dynamic projects across a range of sectors and geographies. We offer an excellent technical grounding and real responsibility from the start, with early exposure to clients and partners. We have a culture of coaching, feedback, mentorship and one-to-one support, so you will learn from working closely with accessible colleagues and leaders who have so much to share. Most importantly, we give our people the tools and support they need to define their own career path and realise their full potential. As part of your training, we offer the opportunity to gain a professional qualification whilst earning a competitive salary and gaining invaluable experience.

This includes funding, time off to study, attend college and complete online courses. Your professional qualification is only part of the story at Mazars; we support all our trainees with a blended approach to training and development including classroom study, 1:1 coaching, and soft skills training. We will fund your study towards the ACA qualification.

You will be supported by a mentor and an appraising manager to keep your career and aspirations on track. And you will be allocated a buddy who will support you to settle into the team and navigate your first year at Mazars. After you have completed two years as a Junior Consultant, there will be an opportunity for you to study towards a professional qualification if desired.

Inclusion and diversity

Being inclusive is core to our culture at Mazars; we want to ensure everyone, whether in the recruitment process or beyond, is fully supported to be their unique self and provided with a level playing field. To read more about our approach click here.

Next steps

At Mazars, we are one diverse, multicultural, multi-generational team with a huge sense of connection and belonging. If you are looking to join a firm where you can take ownership of your career, get involved, believe in yourself and put your ideas into action, then we think you will be a great addition to our team.

Roles will be closed as soon as we find the right people, so to avoid disappointment we encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible.

International applications – Please note that the deadline to apply for international candidates who require visa sponsorship is 31st December 2023. Applications received after this date will not be progressed.