SearchEllie enjoys the trip of a lifetime on HURST's global exchange
Beaches, beautiful landscapes and even a mid-air bomb scare make Ellie Wild's secondment to Vancouver firm Manning Elliott a memorable experience – but she did do plenty of work in between!
Tell us about yourself and your journey at HURST so far
I’m an audit manager in the business services team.
I joined HURST in 2015 on a placement while studying at the University of Leeds and instantly loved the culture and experiences at the firm, so I was extremely happy to be offered a place on the graduate scheme when I obtained my degree in 2017.
Working my way through the programme and the exams, I qualified in the summer of 2020.
Since then, I’ve been promoted twice, to associate manager and then in April 2023 to manager.
How did your secondment come about?
HURST provides these opportunities as part of its career enrichment programme for staff, which is all about increasing responsibility and variety in our roles to enable us to continue to develop beyond the scope of working within the firm.
Through our membership of PrimeGlobal, a global association of independent accountancy and advisory firms, we work with a number of like-minded practices all over the world. Our practice development partner set up this secondment with the managing partner of Manning Elliott while at a conference in Toronto in 2022.
Were you pleased to take up the offer?
I was so pleased, but mostly surprised, to be offered the secondment – I really didn’t expect it. I was, and remain, very grateful to HURST for the chance to go and work in Vancouver. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I really did love every minute of it and have come away with lots of new business relationships and friends.
How were you welcomed in Vancouver?
Due to arriving late, I headed straight to my apartment which Manning Elliott had arranged for me.
The location was perfect – in the centre of Downtown Vancouver, adjacent to Robson Street (the go-to shopping street), a three-minute walk from work, and only a 15-minute walk from Stanley Park and all the beaches.
Manning Elliott kindly sent me a hamper filled with a variety of Canadian goods – largely an array of maple syrup-flavoured products. They were all delicious and it was a lovely gesture.
On my first day, a team of managers took me out for lunch with a few drinks, which was really nice as it allowed me to get to know a smaller group of people, who I’d be able to go to throughout my secondment.
Everyone at Manning Elliott was so warm and welcoming and did lots to make me feel included – every time I went to the kitchen to make a drink, I’d spend time chatting to someone new. Manning Elliott is a good cultural fit with HURST, although it’s a bit larger, with around 300 employees.
What did you gain from it professionally?
It was a great opportunity for new experiences and perspectives. I gained insights from all levels across the firm, which will be invaluable to my professional development.
At HURST we continue to attract large and sophisticated clients with a greater international presence, and these can come with challenges of the differing accounting and tax standards.
The secondment was not only of benefit in providing a better understanding of international operations and procedures, but also to bring back knowledge of Manning Elliott’s own domestic workings.
My work experience had some differences to the way we do things here at HURST, the main one being that they are predominantly office-based, and therefore I didn’t visit a client during my time there. Everything was done through emails and phone calls.
I think there is definitely more a relaxed office environment at HURST, away from fixed desks and high dividers in Vancouver, but I think this has always been something quite lovely about our firm.
I thought Manning Elliott was extremely generous in rewarding its employees through parties and socials, as well as free lunches and many a coffee. I even got invited to go by limousine to collect students from their exam hall after sitting their final exam!
Tell us about some of your personal experiences during your stay and how you spent your time outside of work
I’ve always had a taste for travel, and Canada was up there on my list of places I longed to visit.
I had seen a lot about Canada’s beauty before, but it really didn’t do it the justice. It’s one of the most beautiful places I have visited. I really loved my evening sunset strolls around Stanley Park, as well as a few hikes which gave me the most breathtaking views over Vancouver and Squamish.
In total I spent three months there, from September to November, so I got to experience really hot weather (sunbathing on the beaches) and also the extreme cold (I ended the trip skiing in Whistler). I really got the best of both worlds.
I really loved the lifestyle and the beautiful landscapes, and felt Vancouver has a really active and healthy culture. I really loved this part of it, and managed to get myself out most days to enjoy the city, despite the colder temperatures towards the end of my stay.
Fortunately, friends and family came to visit me at different times during my stay, which meant I got to travel. I came back knowing I’d done everything I wanted to do whilst I was there. From skiing in Whistler, surfing in Tofino and visiting other parts of Vancouver Island, as well as visiting Seattle and watching college football there (a personal favourite!).
I also have family who live in Los Angeles, and so it was great to be able to go and visit them for a weekend.
When there were no visitors, I loved going for runs – Stanley Park was so gorgeous and made running a slight bit easier. I challenged myself to run around the whole of Stanley Park before I left (10km), which I finally did.
A friend at Manning Elliott was really into hiking, and so she took me on some incredible hikes – from waterfalls to blue lakes and suspension bridges! I absolutely loved doing those on my weekends.
Manning Elliott also arranged for me to go a watch a Vancouver Canucks ice hockey game. I’d never watched the sport before, but I became a temporary superfan and ended up getting tickets for another game.
I think the biggest shock was the cost-of-living adjustment. The prices of groceries over there really were something else – a small shop was costing me near enough a week’s shop from Aldi!
Vancouver has pretty much everything going for it, and I feel so lucky to have been able to experience it.
Everyone I met was so friendly. I found myself speaking to strangers on the street and while out shopping, which is not always the case here in Manchester.
Despite having a full schedule for hiking, skiing and the like, I did honestly do lots of work too!
Any other interesting anecdotes?
I lived through a bomb scare on a plane!
While flying home from seeing family in LA, the pilot announced that we would have to land flight at San Francisco, and to ensure that our footwells were clear in case of an emergency landing. After 30 minutes of turning the plane around, we finally landed in San Francisco, to my relief. We were escorted by police from the plane and through the airport, to go through a second security screening.
There were news reporters at the airport, filming us all being escorted through. It was here I’d been told that a message had been sent around the plane to anyone on the Wi-Fi stating there was a bomb on the plane. It turned out to be a prank by someone on the ground!
It was a long night, as we ended up having to stay a night in San Fran – but at least I can say I’ve lived through a bomb scare.
Overall, what were the highlights?
I think I have three main ones, all of which were from travelling around and were definitely unforgettable experiences.
Firstly, I took a few days off in late October when my sister visited and we travelled around Vancouver Island. We visited a little beach town on the west coast called Tofino. We did whale watching and built a fire on the beach, but my most memorable part was the surfing. It was around 3C that day and an amazing experience!
Secondly, I ended my stay by heading up to Whistler with my parents for a couple of days. We were able to do two days’ skiing on Blackcomb Mountain. The skiing there is absolutely amazing, and it was special to do it with my parents too.
Lastly, a lot of seaplane tours that operate from Coal Harbour in Downtown Vancouver, and I decided to go on one of them to see the panoramic views of Vancouver and the mountain range up to Squamish. This was an unbelievable experience, and one I’ll remember forever!
Why do you think this sort of secondment is of value?
There is so much to be gained, from both a business and career perspective as well for personal development.
For a lot of people in the firm, we move on to the graduate programme straight from university, and therefore HURST is all we ever know.
A secondment of this kind is an opportunity to experience new ways of working, from technical aspects such as audit methodology and data analytics, to the way other firms run and how they manage recruitment and staff retention.
It’s great to see things from another perspective and then to bring that back to HURST – a great way of sharing ideas with another accounting firm.
Alongside this, it also allows you to build relations with our fellow PrimeGlobal members internationally. We can use these connections to draw on specialist knowledge in specific areas and countries.
Lastly, I think that, from a personal perspective, the secondment is a great opportunity to enhance an individual’s own development. I like to keep developing and pushing myself.
To move to a country on your own is quite a challenge in itself, and so to do this and build a network of friends and colleagues involves skills that will stay with you throughout your career.
Would you recommend this type of experience, and why?
Absolutely – there is so much that can be taken away from it!
It’s a great chance to experience new ways of living and different cultures.
In a professional sense, it helps to build relationships and gain valuable connections for myself and HURST. Building these relationships enabled me to absorb as much knowledge as possible from the experience, whilst also ensuring we have these business connections that we can turn to if we ever need any assistance in our work. In turn, myself and HURST will be able to provide more nuanced, innovative and expert advice to our clients.
I will always be grateful for HURST’s investment in me to go on this work exchange and develop and learn as I have done.
HURST has previously seconded colleagues to the USA and has sent staff to events and conferences all over the world for development and learning. While Ellie was in Canada, HURST hosted Manning Elliott’s Andrew Peng, who lived and worked in Manchester and enjoyed similar experiences to Ellie’s, albeit in Europe and beyond.
Pictured above is the Sea to Sky summit in Vancouver.
