Hannah: mixing netball and tax

Tax Associate Hannah Knightbridge joined us as a school leaver in 2023, and in 2024 was selected to play for the England Future Roses Netball team. Studying alongside working full time is one thing, add in playing netball at this level is quite another. This is Hannah’s story about how she chose an apprenticeship, and has prioritised work and netball in a way that works for her, and the firm.

Apprenticeship over University

I didn’t want to go to university mainly because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to study. I did A-Levels in Economics, History, and Politics, and while I liked these subjects, I didn’t feel passionate enough about any of them to study them for three years. That’s when I started exploring the apprenticeship route. I did some work experience in consulting and tax at another professional services firm and I loved it. I realised that this was the career path I wanted to pursue, and I applied to Grant Thornton.

From the moment I applied for the role and throughout the onboarding process, I felt really supported by the trainee recruitment team. They made regular calls to check in on how I was feeling before each interview stage, which really helped ease my nerves. This whole experience left me with a fantastic first impression, and since joining it’s clear this is a firm that really values its people, as candidates, and as employees.

I have learnt so much about how the firm operates in my first year, through my day to day role and different projects I have been involved with. I’ve already had the opportunity to attend client meetings, which has given me great exposure to the role our team plays. One of the many highlights I have had this year, is being able to build such strong relationships with people within our team, which has  made my year extremely enjoyable.

Netball and tax

I've always been really into sports and I got into netball when I was eight at school. Since then, I have played with Brentwood Netball Club before being picked for the Essex Netball Academy, and in 2021, I made it into the U17 Netball Premier League London Pulse Squad which is a netball super league team.

Over the past three years, my netball career has flourished and in April I reached a personal high point when I was selected to play for the England Future Roses netball squad. I have gone from playing in the U21 London Pulse team and for New Cambell, a women’s team in the Premier League, to being scouted for the England U19 Academy and chosen to play for the England Future Roses squad, which is Netball England’s second team.

I was a bit apprehensive about managing my work and sports commitments, but I've had amazing support from my manager, team, and the firm. When I told my manager in April, he was really understanding and supportive. I was concerned about how the firm would approach it, especially with mid-week training camps, but the support and flexibility has been incredible. Everyone has been really understanding, and together we worked out an agreement that allows me to balance both. I have actually taken the decision to delay some of my exams, which will mean I qualify 6-months later than my peers, but it allows me to focus on both netball and tax when I need to.

Learning to balance

Balancing my netball commitments with other areas of my life is nothing new to me – although juggling work, exams and netball took a while to adjust to. At the beginning, it felt overwhelming, and I was worried about fitting everything in. But I've learned a lot about time management and prioritisation from my team, and now I know I can handle it all. It just took some time to figure it out!

I am now in the middle of my netball training programme and have found it challenging managing both. However, my team have been extremely accommodating which has definitely made it easier. By planning all of my work and handovers, I am able to make it clear to my team when I can pick work up and when I need to hand it over. The team have been really understanding, and by working this way I am able to enjoy and thrive in both netball and work at the same time. 

The main piece of advice I would give to others who are juggling commitments inside and outside of work is to try and have good time management. Whilst balancing commitments is difficult, if you are organised with your work, and have good time management, this will make it much easier to get your work done on time and will enable you to use your spare time for your other commitments. 

The best part of my job is the variety. Every day is different, and I get to work with a wide range of people. Being in a large team allows me to build new relationships, learn about different clients and processes, and tackle a wide range of tasks. It's never the same routine with the same people.