Setting and Scoring Goals: Meet Nick Grimes

As someone who grew up in a sport-loving family of finance professionals, it seems only natural that Nick would be drawn to both fields. At age four, he started playing football alongside his brother – now captain of Swansea City – in a team their father coached. Later, at school, he was having success with his maths exams and taking on extra maths qualifications. After graduating university with a degree in strength and conditioning in 2020, it was time to look for a career.

“There’s a lot of family ties to accountancy,” Nick explains. “Being quite good at maths, it’s something I was immediately interested in pursuing. Plus, I was quite realistic in terms of where football was going. I didn’t know if it would be a full-time job.”

Several members of the family, including Nick’s father, are accountants. And it was someone in Nick’s network that first put him in touch with Griffin Chartered Accountants, where he is now assistant manager and has been pursuing the ACA since 2020. “I came in for three days of work experience and I’ve not left,” he says. Nick is looking to qualify in July 2024, having postponed his final exam to help the firm through a busy audit period.

But a packed calendar doesn’t mean he is hanging up his boots any time soon. Nick played for a handful of clubs before joining Taunton Town in mid-2019. Two seasons ago, the team were promoted to the National League South, the sixth tier of English professional football.