THE chairman of Merseyside Young Professionals (MYP) says the organisation’s membership has reached record levels as it continues to expand its reach beyond city centre lawyers and accountants.
Helen Kelly, a real estate lawyer at DLA Piper, says the organisation is benefiting as more people use networking as a tool to advance their careers.
More than 200 individuals and companies are members of MYP, a not-for-profit group led by a committee of volunteers that organises monthly networking events.
Those events include its annual ball, held last month, and a forthcoming Champagne tasting event.
Ms Kelly said: “We are trying to push into new sectors.
“We’re doing a big push into the creative industries at the moment, and Ed Ford, from Rippleffect, has just joined our committee.
“We have had conversations about getting more into manufacturing – people who work on the periphery of the city, rather than the city centre.
“We want to get away from the fixed view of MYP as being for bankers and lawyers.”
MYP does not have an age limit for membership.
Ms Kelly said: “Our predominant audience is people in their 20s and 30s in junior or middle-end positions in their careers. But we do have more senior people there because they enjoy our events and they want to access our audience.”
MYP’s committee includes secretary Nicola Bates, a director with Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management, and treasurer Richard Gormley, of Duncan Sheard Glass.
Its past events have attracted speakers including Bank of England governor Mervyn King, while 120 people attended MYP’s Question Time-style political debate at FACT in June.
Ms Kelly says young professionals are paying more attention to networking events, including those run by MYP, as they try to build connections to help them grow their careers.
She said: “People have got to take a bit more responsibility to say ‘What skills do I have? What are the extra things I can do to make sure I’m special or valued?’
“People have started to realise all the more how important their contacts and networks are.
“I’ve seen with my own eyes when people have been made redundant. There officially aren’t any jobs. But people will make room for good people.
“People have realised they’ve got to be known and respected – not just that they’re great socially, but that they’re good at their job.
“The way networking is going, there’s less focus on glamorous and expensive events and it’s more back-to-basics. It’s about face-to-face meetings, having a coffee, making really valuable connections.
“We try to do different things to get people networking without realising they’re networking.”
THE MYP Champagne Tasting event will be held at The View Two Gallery, Mathew Street, Liverpool, on December 3.
For information, visit www.myp.org.uk
