Building the Skills of the Financial and Professional Workforce of the Future

CARDIFF, Wales, May 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones AM will today, Monday 14^th May, launch the University of Glamorgan's Centre for Financial and Professional Services at an event for the business community in Cardiff Castle.

The new Centre will deliver opportunities for up-skilling the growing sector's workforce, making Wales an attractive option for inward investment.

The University has been working closely with the Welsh Government for more than a year to develop new courses and training that will provide the right skills for those entering the workforce. The aim is to meet the demand for skills in sector.

As well as traditional models of study, the Centre and its courses will allow the University to accredit training delivered in-house by companies towards higher education qualifications. This raises the recognisable and transferable skills profile of employees in the financial and professional services sector.

Julie Lydon, Vice-Chancellor of the University said, "Glamorgan's pedigree as a university founded by business for business makes it unique in Wales, and our major presence in the capital city makes us a natural partner for both the business community and the Welsh Government.    

"The launch of the centre for Financial and Professional Services responds to the demand from these key growth industries in the legal, financial and professional services sector.  We are providing businesses and workers with a flexible and innovative way of increasing their overall skill base and individual employability. This is good news both for the companies' bottom line and the Welsh economy as a whole." 

First Minister Carwyn Jones said, "This exciting new centre will provide a major boost to the financial and professional services sector in Wales, a sector that we want to see grow and thrive.

"Wales needs to be attractive to businesses and organisations looking to base their operations here and the opportunities provided by the University of Glamorgan's new Centre will ensure that we can offer a highly skilled workforce.

"Global Finance brands like Lloyds Banking Group, Legal & General, Admiral, Zurich, HSBC, MoneySupermarket.com, Tesco Finance and Go Compare all have major Head Office support functions here in Wales. They are here because they have found a pool of highly skilled and professionally qualified people. Wales already employs 124,000 skilled professionals in this sector and the aim is to grow this to 200,000 by 2021."

Courses have been designed in consultation with the Welsh Government's expert panel, Sector Skills Councils, Professional Bodies (including the CII and CILEx), and individual employers. Where possible, the courses are endorsed by the industry bodies themselves.

Professional recognition of courses ensures that they are both relevant and of the highest quality, nationally and internationally recognised and are portable not only between companies but between countries.

Stuart Popham QC, Vice-Chairman EMEA, Citigroup Global Markets Limited will give the keynote lecture at the opening. He said, "The University of Glamorgan is to be congratulated. The focus of the new Centre is absolutely right. It will go a long way to ensuring we have a properly skilled and trained body of people working in financial and professional services. Wales has a great opportunity to attract more financial and professional companies creating jobs and growth is the supporting economy."

Note to editors:

Facilities at the new centre include a mock courtroom with state-of-the-art technology where students can hone their advocacy skills in a realistic environment in a courtroom setting.

There will be an Equity Trading Room with screens featuring breaking news, stock market data and personal finance advice to brokers and dealers the world over. The Trading Room will allow students to take part in simulated share dealing in a real-time environment.

Contact: Alex Harden, +44-1443-483362