ABCUL’s Young Professionals Network Hosts Conference Event

Friday 26 January 2024

Each year at ABCUL’s conference, the Young Professionals Network (YPN) host its flagship event for young professionals to engage in interactive discussion and networking with their peers from across the country. At this month’s ABCUL annual conference over 30 members of the YPN attended the event hearing from expert speakers covering the important and relevant topics that impact the credit union sector.

Chair of the YPN Network, Luke McGilvray (1^st Class Credit Union) said:

“This year’s Young Professionals Network event was a great success, our event space was full of young and eager credit union professionals aiming to learn and develop. The session brought about some great discussion and encouraged the attendees to share their thoughts and opinions. One of my highlights was meeting many new faces, people who had never attended a YPN event or an ABCUL conference before.

The Young Professionals Network is important to me because I have a passion to help, encourage, and develop the young professionals of the credit union sector. The network brings together young professionals from across the country to share ideas, make new connections and learn from one and other. This is one of the reasons I believe the YPN is vital to the success of the credit union sector.”

In the first half of this year’s event, delegates heard from James Richards, Business Development Manager at Commsave Credit Union. The session focused on the key financial ratios that drive your credit union, and how the various roles in the business affect these on a day-to-day basis. James said:

“I was delighted to be part of the YPN event at conference. It’s so impressive to see such an array of talented young people together, showing themselves to be the leaders not just of tomorrow, but of today. The YPN is a fantastic resource for the sector and I would encourage any young person in a credit union to get involved.”

Speaking this year, President and CEO of COOPR8 Consulting, Mike Mercer engaged in dialogue around the aspirations and perspectives that make for a great cooperative leader. Mike said:

“It was a pleasure to work with the ABCUL Young Professionals group in Manchester. I encouraged all of them to self-identify as Emerging Leaders. They are the future for cooperative finance in the UK. From what I witnessed, the CU movement should be excited about their talent and enthusiasm!”

Looking ahead to the future, the YPN Steering Committee will continue to host digital webinars for its members exploring different themes focusing on the important issues within the credit union movements. Plans are also in place for a summer face-to-face event.