Claire Sofield: My Time as Future pro Chair

Guest blog by Claire Sofield

On Wednesday 25th July, our Future pro chair, Claire Sofield, Owner Manager at Four Recruitment officially stepped down from her year-long post, making way for Doug King, Director at Deloitte. Here, Claire shares her highlights from her year as Chair…

So the last year has been one I’ve thoroughly enjoyed as chair of future promanchester.

I got asked to be involved with the committee originally about five or six years ago, and at the time, I probably thought commercially, I wasn’t savvy enough to chair a committee, which was putting on all kinds of events to help develop young professionals. Plus, there’s always that challenge of time!

About three years ago, I decided it was the right time, plus there are never enough hours in the day, but you make time for those things that matter.

I was delighted to be voted in by my peers as vice chair a couple of years ago, but felt sick at the thought of having to do the Made in Manchester Awards (MIMA) speech the following year.

I’ve met some great people, whether it be those on the committee, staff at pro-manchester, or the people I’ve met at the numerous events that have been held. One of the many things I like about Future pro-manchester is that we put real thought in to the content of the breakfast seminars and roundtables that are put on. Instead of churning out relatively standard material, we’ve really thought about what we would want if we were at the start of our career. This has led to some really well-attended events, including the role of a mentor, financial planning and some really inspiring success stories from MIMA winners.

This piece can’t be written without talking about the Made in Manchester Awards. This is an awards dinner that, in my opinion surpasses any awards dinner aimed at young professionals. It’s fun yet credible, really engaging, organised fantastically well and fairly judges Manchester’s best talent. To open the event earlier this year was a real privilege – albeit a nervewracking one.

Being chair has also meant I’ve managed to raise the profile of my two charities of choice, the British Lung Foundation and Sam’s Gift. In total we’ve raised approximately £8,000, which is something I’m really proud of.

Finally, thanks to the staff of pro-manchester for their efforts and continual hard work and for all those on the committee that have supported me. Good luck to the new chair and vice chair, Doug King from Deloitte and Hannah Johnson, from Carter Corson.