A search has been launched to find business-savvy students from North Wales to challenge for a UK title.

The regional heat of the Business, Accounting and Skills Education (BASE) competition is aimed at students aged between 16 and 19.

They will have to analyse a fictitious business situation and solve a business problem, before presenting their ideas to a panel of judges.

The aim is to bring schools, students and employers together to develop key employability skills in young people, and improve awareness of a career in chartered accountancy.

The regional competition is being organised by ICAEW. It will be held at Coleg Cambria with the support of Wrexham Business Professionals group, made up of local accountants and solicitors.

Business students from Coleg Cambria will be competing against other local schools in the regional heat at their Northop campus on February 27 next year.

This will be one of up to 48 heats which are expected to involve 3,500 students nationwide. The regional champions then go on to compete in the national final which will take place in June 2015.

David Jones, Principal of Coleg Cambria said “I am delighted that the ICAEW BASE competition is being hosted at Coleg Cambria, Northop.

“I look forward to welcoming participants to the college and to personally experiencing one of these exciting events. Coleg Cambria shares the ICAEW’s passion for learning and progression, and encouraging young people into the vitally important world of professional accounting.”

Chartered accountant Gill Atkinson, a founder member of the Wrexham Business Professionals, was pleased the group was supporting the regional heat of the competition.

She said: “One of the core purposes of Wrexham Business Professionals is to foster and encourage the professional development of the next generation of accountants.

“As a business person and an employer and from what our clients tell us, the business community like to clear training and career paths from school to further and higher education and into work.

“That means providing the right people with the right skills – small and medium sized businesses don’t have the skills to manage that transition themselves and need that support to come from the educators.

“The BASE competition is a great way of generating more interest in accountancy as a great career so we can build a firm foundation for the future of the profession.”

Find out more about BASE

Want to get your school involved? Please contact Alex Pilkington on 01925 594284 or email alex.pilkington@icaew.com.