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For many in our group, this was the first time we had ever travelled to Canary Wharf and we were not sure of what to expect at KPMG. One thing that struck us was the size. We believed that KPMG was a small company, but this was definitely not the case. KPMG has a very modern building, which caught our immediate attention; consisting of 13 floors, with some amazing views which we explored later in the day.

When we first got there, we waited in the very comfortable waiting area and shortly after we were met by the WWF consultant and a member of staff who worked in identifying fraud. They escorted us to a large meeting room which was to be our base for the day.

In the room we met other members of staff who were supporting the Sustainable Futures programme for careers and sustainability at KPMG.

We started off the session with a game of human bingo which was a great way to find out facts about the KPMG staff and HABS students all engaged in this. We learnt lots of interesting information, for example, one of the staff named Tom, has appeared in a TV show.  As the day went on, all the KPMG staff gave an insight into the different types of jobs there are at KPMG and the types of backgrounds they had all came from, which showed the diversity and unbiased selection of the company. We also had the opportunity to question some of the staff and were able to see how they went from a range of different job opportunities before deciding they wanted to work for KPMG. 

Before lunch, we were given a tour of the building to see and get a feel of ‘life at KPMG’.  We saw how they ensured that there were multiple work and breakout areas for their staff and the different types of meetings rooms to accommodate staff and client needs. We saw the broadcasting room and the various offices. We took part in a staff allergy awareness quiz and received free cookies from their catering team. As we were nearing the end of our tour one of the staff showed us pictures of her caring for a beehive that they protect, that is located on the rooftop of that building. As it was also earth day we were able to take part in a recycling activity that they were holding for their staff.

After lunch we had another speaker telling us about work experience opportunities for Year 13 and university students. Then we were given a real client problem to solve, so we began our preparations to pitch our ideas. These presentations were based around how we can use technology to improve sustainability. In teams we discussed identifying scrapped materials to recycle, and refurbishing different tech items including creating new and easy ways to encourage the return of used electroncis by consumers. As we neared the end of the day each group presented to the KPMG staff, pitching their ideas and solutions to the client problem. They agreed that some excellent ideas came out of this activity.

We thanked WWF and KPMG for the amazingly insightful day. We learnt a lot about KPMG but also about ourselves and opportunities that are open to us. We were also able to develop key skills as part of this day such as teamwork, resilience, creativity, and problem solving. The WWF Sustainable Futures programme has really help support our engagement to environmental action at HABS and helped us with our environmental focus as individuals.

By Samya Azhar and Mary Zenawi

Year 10 Sustainability Group Students