Member Spotlight: Joe Williams, Trainee Solicitor, Weightmans

1. Introduce yourself

My name is Joe Williams and I am a trainee solicitor at Weightmans. I have worked in the legal sector for 4 years now (although sometimes it feels like 10!)

2. Career highlight

The biggest highlight of my career so far was being shortlisted in 2024 as ‘Paralegal/Trainee/Apprentice of the Year’ for the Manchester Law Society.

3. Name three words that describe your personality

Tenacious, adventurous and adaptable

4. What’s the best thing about pro-manchester

The best thing about pro-Manchester is how well it encapsulates the city’s collaborative spirit. I sometimes try and imagine being a young professional in London and just how hard I would have to fight to even get a toe into the business community, something that many of my colleagues and friends who work down South call a ‘closed club.’

Pro-Manchester serves as such an easy and hassle-free gateway for individuals such as myself to enter the business community of Greater Manchester. Every day, I receive regular updates, communications and effectively given a buffet of opportunities. Which means the only thing I need to do, as a young professional, is take my fill of the opportunities that pro-Manchester lays out on a platter for me.

5. What are your priorities for 2025

My priorities for 2025 are: committing to my ongoing pursuit of self-improvement, building my network and enjoying the journey and the process.

6. What do you think are the most important things going on in Manchester at the moment?

Manchester is undoubtedly the place to be for a young professional starting out their career. The city has arguably become the second most important city in the UK. You can practically feel the buzz of activity and investment pouring into the city during your commute to work.

It’s hard not to get swept up with the ambition of the city to become the ‘London of the North’ and to really feel like you are in the epicentre of change. How can you not get excited when you hear headlines such as: ‘Stockport is the New Berlin’ or when you hear grand statements like the ‘New Trafford stadium will be the UK’s answer to the Eiffel Tower’?

However, as a lawyer in training, it’s my job to curb my optimism and to view all this with a pair of cynical lenses as well.

While the growth of Greater Manchester will undoubtedly benefit and transform the North West and beyond, it’s important to recognise the influx of challenges that comes with any rapid growth. For every £1bn that comes in by way of investment into the city comes another conversation around the growing affordable living crisis in the city and the issues we’ve faced as a city in our transport and infrastructure to keep up with the strain of surging demand.

7. Favourite meeting place in Manchester

Castlefield – it may be an obvious answer, but I used to make it part of my commuting walk into work (even if it did add 10 minutes onto my journey!). Now I’ve moved further out the city, I’ll find any excuse to go back there.

8. Are their any particular types of businesses that you would like to meet

I would love to meet other professionals in the business community who are also at the start of their journey. When it’s all said and done, we are the ones who are going to inherit the changes and challenges of tomorrow. How better to navigate this evolving landscape than to do it together?