Apprentice Accounts Assistant

Fred. Olsen Travel was established in 1988 with family values at its heart with a passion to create unforgettable holiday experiences. As one of the UK’s most established travel companies, we continue to provide an environment where our people can thrive, and where growth and great culture go hand-in-hand. We are proud to provide an outstanding customer service, choice and value for money through our distinct specialist areas.

With 28 retail travel branches distributed across East Anglia and the South Coast, our retail team are on hand to offer holiday advise whenever needed. We are also the UK General Sales Agents for Star Clippers, Amadeus River Cruises, Pandaw River Cruises and American Cruise Lines. Additionally, from our Head Office in Ipswich we operate Fred. Olsen Business Travel providing a full corporate travel service and Fred. Holidays specialising in tailormade holidays in Rail and cruises, as well as Go Cruise and Travel Franchises.

Our mission is to be a world class provider of travel products and services with a reputation for outstanding customer service, unrivalled choice, exceptional quality and value for money.

Our Accounts team, based at our Ipswich Head Office, have an exciting opportunity for an Apprentice to join the team. You'll be welcomed into a supportive and friendly team where full training will be provided. While you gain hands-on experience, we'll also help you work towards your Level 2 AAT qualification. This is a fantastic opportunity to start your journey in finance with real-world experience, a nationally recognised qualification, and a great team behind you every step of the way.

We’re continuing to grow and are excited to offer a fantastic opportunity for an Apprentice to join our team and take their first step into the world of Accounts and Travel. The successful candidate will need to have a basic understanding of Microsoft Office Programmes (including Excel) and be IT literate. You will work closely with team members to be trained on the basic aspects of the department. As this is an apprenticeship, we’re looking for someone who’s curious, motivated, and genuinely excited to learn.

Initially you will be trained on the following:

• Learning the booking and financial systems
• Reconcile Direct Debits
• Coding and registering purchase ledger invoices
• Process Travel-ledger payments for authorisation
• Process Purchase Ledger BACS payment for authorisation
• Assisting the Purchase and Sales Ledger Manager/Staff with ad-hoc jobs when required

With experience the above duties will be added to in line with your training and qualification.

This is a Full-Time position working 35 hours per week (Monday - Friday 9:00am - 5:00pm)

This is an Apprenticeship; the successful candidate will work towards the AAT Level 2 qualification which has an estimated course duration of 15 months, this will be delivered by Suffolk New College and will therefore require attendance to a day release to College once a week. The rest of the time you would be based at our Head Office (Fred Olsen House, 42 White House Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP1 5LL)

As an equal opportunity employer, we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We want to ensure that you feel supported throughout the application process and provide reasonable adjustments where necessary and requested. If you require any reasonable adjustments as part of your application and interview process, please do not hesitate to let us know.

We know our people are our biggest strength, and we’re determined to continuously enhance the way we manage, develop, and lead. Here at Fred. Olsen Travel we are proud to be accredited by Investors in People, and we take pride in putting our employees first.

Fred. Olsen Travel offers a wide range of exciting employee benefits including but not limited to Bupa Private Medical, Life Assurance, Enhanced Maternity & Paternity Pay, Discounted Travel, Cruise Concessions plus retail discounts and cash back incentives through our MyBenefits scheme.

Attached to this advert you will find a full overview of the fantastic benefits we offer, along with a detailed Job Profile for this position.

Our values are:

Customer Driven: We strive to look through the lens of each customer to ensure we continuously put their needs and expectations at the heart of everything we do.

Valuing Diversity: We believe differing views and experiences make us stronger. By working to create a representative and inclusive business, we can deliver the right solution to our customers in the right way.

Investing in people: We believe that by continuously seeking to grow personally and professionally develop our people, we can improve our future today.

Winning Together: We deliver our best outcomes and results when we all pull in the same direction, creating a positive team spirit where people feel valued, support each other and share in success together.

Doing the right thing: We pride ourselves on doing what is right and building trust in every situation with our people, customers and community.