Its kind of like the oscars for young professionals in Birmingham. Run by Birmingham Future and Forward, Birmingham Young Professional of Year is an award ceremony which recognises the massive contribution that a number of young people make to the region. As the Apprentice, I was invited to be part of this fantastic evening, and it was certainly that.
Held at the ICC, and attended by about 500 people, it was something that I had been looking forward to for a while. As you will be aware, I’m passionate about the city, and events like this are key to ensuring that young people within the city are involved in its development, and that the work that they do is recognised. I actually had a personal interest in the awards, with two people I know very well through my year as the Apprentice, were actually up for awards. Graham Nicoll, my professional mentor, was nominated in the finance category, but was unfortunately not successful in picking up the award. However, Graham has only been in the region for a short while, but has achevied a massive amount… I have complete confidence that a BYPY award will be with Graham in the coming years. My second mentor, Anthony McCourt of Wragge & CO, who I sit on the Graduates Into Employment Committee, was successful, both in the Legal Services catergory, and as the overall winner of BYPY. Anthony has been a fantastic support for me this year. Moving to a new area, taking on a very new role, and being involved in so much, it has been great for me to have Anthony there as a sounding board, and he is truly deserving of the award. I am sure that a great year is ahead for Anthony, and I am sure that he is going to be a big part of the city for a long time to come yet.
The truth was that each of the 21 nominees for various awards during the evening deserved to be mentioned. There is so much going on in the city, in so many areas. I was lucky enough to meet a lot of new people during the evening, some inspiring young individuals and some people who have been involved in the development of so much of the city. The event itself is testament to what a great city that Birmingham is, and to the work and dedication of the Birmingham Future team who organise the evening. They put on a brilliant event, one which they should be proud of, and one which will be hard to follow.
So in all, as a young, new member of Birmingham’s professional community, I was honoured to be part of an event which celebrates the future. One day, I hope to make my own mark on the city, I’m still finding my feet and working out what skills I can bring to the city. Whatever I aim to do, it will be tough to follow in any of the footsteps being taken by those involved now, and I am sure that the work that they are doing now is turning Birmingham into a real destination for the future for all young professionals. Its a future that again, I am proud to be part of.
