THE PROFESSIONAL SECTOR!

I attended a great meeting yesterday morning chaired by Tony Peddar, the current Master Cutler,  to look at how we might extend the Cutlers' 'Made in Sheffield' scheme to the professional services sector and how Workwise could support companies in the sector by helping deliver their ambassador programmes.

The Sheffield city region has a vibrant and successful professional services sector and is the location of choice for a variety of recognised firms, companies and partners. Within a one-hour catchment the private service sector employs 45.5% of the workforce, and legal, financial and business services generate a substantial element of this employment. Sheffield is home to HMRC, KPMG, Grant Thornton, Irwin Mitchell, Nabarro, DLA Piper, and the global IT shared service centre of HSBC, the largest private sector employer in the region. In addition, the city holds significant operations of Banco Santander, Aviva, HBOS, RBS and Nationwide.

We believe that the Cutlers Made in Sheffield scheme needs to develop in every sector, and look forward to working with colleagues who are passionate about the opportunities within the professional services sector. It would be great if another group of Cutlers' 'Made in Sheffield' ambassadors have the opportunity to work in a variety of legal, financial and commercial organisations, working on projects and challenges and hearing about the experiences of those working within this important aspect of the Sheffield economy. We believe that this could provide a fantastic opportunity for those young people who are interested in careers in the sector and give the colleagues working in the sector the opportunity to work with and develop relationships with a group of young people who could be the professional sector employees of the future!

We are looking forward to developing this exciting additional element of the Cutlers' Made in Sheffield programme.