Ben Newton was bursting with pride when he took his seat at the table for a meeting of the top brass at Deloitte last week. The 30-year-old, who joined the professional services firm 12 years ago, has just been made a partner — whose pay, on average, is £1 million. For anyone to join those ranks so young is a big achievement, but for Newton it is even bigger — he was the first to have made partner on its Brightstart apprentice scheme for school leavers.
Deloitte started its Brightstart scheme to widen its hiring pool and offer people a route into work rather than through university.
Newton said: “I grew up in Dorset. My dad left school at 16 and was a soldier in
