DONCASTER PROFESSIONALS SHOW A UNITED FRONT
Doncaster’s professional and financial services businesses have united to form Pro Doncaster with the intention of raising the profile of the of the professional and financial services industries in the town, and maximizing the number of Doncaster businesses using Doncaster professionals. Pro Doncaster is part of Doncaster Chamber of Commerce, a business membership organization with over 1100 members in the town.
The idea for Pro Doncaster came from Doncaster’s new Economic Strategy, which was published earlier this year. The Economic Strategy includes ambitious plans for Doncaster to become a city of international significance and identifies five key sectors that will drive that growth; one of the five is Business Professional and Financial Services (BPFS).
Head of Policy at Doncaster Chamber, Daniel Fell, commented: “As the voice of Doncaster business, the Chamber wanted to ensure that our focus matches the aspirations of the Borough. We have 144 BPFS businesses in membership. We are the only organization that is truly representative of professional and financial services businesses in Doncaster and we believe that Pro Doncaster will be central in delivering growth in the sector.”
As well as trying to keep as much professional services spend in Doncaster as possible, the group will also look at ways of keeping the spend of its members in the Borough and, as a large employer of graduates, address the issue of the low percentage of graduates from Doncaster who return to the town to work after graduation – currently 1%.
Pro Doncaster is one of the Chamber’s eight Focus Groups; the groups provide forums for businesses large and small to share best practice and champion their industry.
The Chair of Pro Doncaster is Kelvin Fitton, a partner at Smith Craven Chartered Accountants and Doncaster born and bred. He is confident that the new group will have real impact: “Doncaster has a huge number of first class professional and financial services businesses, and Pro Doncaster wants to ensure that the sector grows and that Doncaster’s business community knows that it doesn’t have to go to Sheffield or Leeds”
Businesses interested in participating in Pro Doncaster should contact Daniel Fell on 01302 640113 or dfell@doncaster-chamber.co.uk.