pro-manchester Welcomes New Chair

Alistair Cree, Partner in Eversheds Sutherland’s core corporate group, has taken up the role as pro-manchester’s new Chair.

The post, which is elected annually, has most recently been filled by Jane Forbes, Partner at PwC. The Chair is accountable to the board of directors and represents pro-manchester members to ensure the organisation is ran with members’ interests at heart. Alistair took the reins at pro-manchester’s Annual General Meeting on Thursday 12th July.

Originally from Northern Ireland, Alistair has lived in Manchester since 2002 and is a huge advocate of Manchester being a great place to do business.

Alistair joined Eversheds Sutherland in 2006, becoming a partner in the corporate team specialising in M&A and equity capital markets work in 2014.

Of his move to Manchester, Alistair says: “I soon realised that Manchester is not a second best to London, or frankly a second best to anywhere, rather it is a fantastic place to live and work, with its own unique cultural identity, unique vitality, drive and purpose.”

Speaking at pro-manchester’s AGM this week, Alistair outlined his plans for his year as Chair.

Alistair aims to help pro-manchester to support Manchester’s business community to grow even further: “To me, one of the key aspects of generating growth and focusing on the future, is to ensure that young people, whether they be people coming out of Manchester’s universities, or indeed graduates from around the country, or internationally, view Manchester as a place they want to live and work.

“A great statistic that I saw recently is that half of the global population is under 25 and that whilst 25% of the workforce is currently under 25, within 10 years, 40% of the workforce will be under 25. These people are globally wired, entrepreneurial, collaborative and change-orientated, and we need to make Manchester and its business community relevant (and attractive) to them.

“If we can promote Manchester to people coming through, as a city that can give you the best of both worlds – top rated work within an environment that ticks the boxes on the work/life balance, this is a powerful combination. We need to make Manchester famous for it.”

Of his new role, Alistair said: “I am very excited because I’m a great advocate of Manchester and it gives me a real opportunity to push the city, its businesses and the professional services sector forward for the benefit of the members.”

Of Alistair’s appointment, pro-manchester Deputy CEO, Sam Booth said: “We’re delighted that Alistair is taking up the role of pro-manchester Chair for the next year. Alistair brings with him a wealth of experience in the Manchester business community and we’re looking forward to seeing what we can achieve together over the next 12 months.”

pro-manchester raises money for its chair’s chosen charity at various events throughout the year, raising nearly £3,000 for Smart Works Greater Manchester last year. Alistair’s charity of choice is The Booth Centre, a charity which aims to bring positive change to the lives of people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, and help them plan for and realise a better future.