The 93% Club

Last week, leading property company JLL sponsored the first northern event for The 93% Club in Manchester to help promote social mobility and equal opportunity across the North of England.

Hosted at JLL’s Manchester headquarters, Landmark, the ‘Level Up’ event focused on what the buzzword actually means, and what can be done outside of London to move the needle on social mobility, bringing together students, academic, employers and business leaders for a day of learning, discussion and networking. Businesses from across the North also hosted pop-up stands where students could meet potential employers, which was also supported by an evening networking event.

The 93% Club is known as the UK’s least exclusive members’ club, made up of the 93% of people who went to state schools in the UK. Despite the large proportion, state school attendees occupy a much smaller percentage of top roles across the UK.

Katie Rainer, Capital Markets Training and Development Manager at JLL, commented: “We know that social mobility continues to be a significant problem across the UK, but more specifically in the North of England and sadly across the property industry more widely. Although the sector has made strides over the last few years, there is still much to be done so being involved in events such as this is very important. It was fantastic to meet so many ambitious young people at the end – the future of the North looks very bright!”

Andrew Frost, Head of UK Capital Markets and Residential at JLL, added: “We were delighted to partner with the 93% Club for this important event. I feel passionately that this industry has so much to offer and needs to do much better to showcase its opportunities to a broader group of your people. A career in real estate capital markets, for example, may not be top of mind for state school leavers but it should be! Fast-paced, exciting, flexible and dynamic, it has all the ingredients for a fulfilling career. We strive to recruit great people from every walk of life, individuals from a variety of backgrounds and experiences – this is critical to ensure we have the best team on the field for our clients every time.”