Here at Deloitte we believe your life outside of work is as important as your life at work, so much so that we support our employees in some of their extra-curricular activities. In 2013 Deloitte and British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS), the national governing body for higher education sport announced the beginning of a brand new partnership. The partnership aims to identify and offer support to club captains and other talented students to develop their leadership, communication and team skills in a business context.

Oliver attended our annual BUCS Deloitte Leadership Academy in November 2014 and will be joining our 2015 graduate scheme in Consulting. He served as rugby secretary and Athletics Union President at Imperial College London, all while studying Chemistry with Molecular Physics and doing a year in industry.

We grabbed a few seconds with him and had a chat about his role and what impact the BUCS Deloitte Leadership Academy (BDLA) had on him.

Name

Oliver Benton

University

Imperial College London

Course

Chemistry with Molecular Physics and a Year in Industry

Sporting role

Rugby Cub Secretary, Athletics Clubs Chairman 

How has the BDLA supported you in your role?

BDLA has supported me in my role by equipping me with skills that have directly impacted how I work with and manage other volunteers. The whole two days in Hereford were fantastic and provided a great opportunity to meet both people in a similar position at different universities around the country and some really inspirational characters.

I'm still in touch with several and use them as sounding boards for ideas. Particularly useful was the second day; success depended on communicating effectively under intense pressure. Combined with the incredibly interesting negotiation training, I've been a lot more effective in my roles this year because of BDLA.

To find out more about our partnership with British Universities and Colleges Sport click here