51Âþ»­

Thousands of 51Âþ»­ students graduated in July after years of hard work. We reported some of their stories in our Class of 2015 series...

Returning to 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­) to be awarded a First in Economics and Finance BSc (Hons) is the perfect end to three years of study for Wills Lewis.

Wills has spent the past month working in Hammersmith, London, in his new role as a consultant for financial advisers Leyton, but is coming back to Leicester with his family for the graduation ceremony at Curve theatre.

He looks back on his time at 51Âþ»­ very fondly and is grateful for the experiences that helped him stand out from the graduate crowd and get a job just days after his final exam: “The best thing about coming here is the opportunity. If you only leave university with a degree then you’ve missed out.”

Wills said his course had a strong practical element, which had also proved invaluable: “The lecturers have come from industry and have a great perspective on how things are changing. The course is really current and there’s a great mix between theory and applying that to what’s happening in the world today. Plus on the financial side we get exemptions from CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) and ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), so if we wanted to become accountants we’d take two fewer exams than normal.”

There was a great opportunity to put the theory into practice when, between his second and third years of study, he secured a paid internship at IBM in central London, working as a financial analyst for a year: “I worked with a team on what was known as a ‘troubled account’, so initially the finances and the relationship with the client weren’t very good. However by the time I left we had really turned it around and it was great to be part of that.

“I found the client had been billed incorrectly for 18 months. I had to go through 60,000 lines of spreadsheet data and found 15,000 of them were wrong. I moved them all individually – it took 47 hours over three weeks – and recovered £30,000 of missed revenue.”

Wills also gained valuable experience at the CBI at Easter after a chance encounter at a Royal Economics Society policy lecture by Chancellor George Osborn at the Bank of England. He started talking the man next to him in the audience, who worked for the business lobby group, and at the end of the day asked if he could have a placement.

During the fortnight’s experience he prepared briefings on newly-released inflation figures for BBC interviews and compiled reports on GDP growth: “It was good fun, if a bit daunting with some seriously clever people working there – a PhD from Oxford or an MSc from Harvard seemed the norm – but I got on really well with them and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.”

Through the award-winning Square Mile programme, which uses 51Âþ»­’s academic expertise and a network of student volunteers to offer potentially life-changing services in the Leicester community, Wills took part in the innovative Play Dough programme: “We taught children in 20 schools across Leicestershire about stock markets – supply, demand and how prices change. I was at Stokes Wood Primary School and the youngsters were brilliant, really enthusiastic.”

De Montfort Students’ Union now offers students more than 120 societies as well as 40 sports clubs to choose from and, in his second week at 51Âþ»­, Wills joined the Rowing Club, becoming a coxswain. “It has massively enhanced my experience here. It’s been brilliant fun and you build really strong relationships. The club became a second family and I’ve made friends for life.”

He continued the sport during his year in London – joining the Thames Rowing Club – and it also helped him secure his new job: “During the interview process I had to give a presentation on something I was passionate about – which was rowing. Less than an hour later they called to offer me a contract.”

Wills believes his time at 51Âþ»­ has expanded his horizons: “Leicester was a complete curveball compared to Suffolk, where I came from. I’ve met people from around the world and built up a great network of contacts. Two of the first people I met on my course were from Jamaica and Nigeria, and they’re my best friends now. I really love learning about new cultures – I think it broadens the mind and 51Âþ»­ is great for that. There’s a really good vibe here that just doesn’t exist at any other university I’ve visited.

“I’m a big fan of the Vice-Chancellor as well. There’s a load of useful statistics you can look at and since he’s been at 51Âþ»­ all of them have been on the up. I think he’s really good for the university and speaks to the students a lot about their ideas. There’s someone strong at the helm to take us forward.”