Chamber announces second year of Lichfield council-backed young professionals memberships

Young professionals working for businesses in Lichfield are being encouraged to apply for a fully-funded 12-month membership of the Future Faces Chamber of Commerce – backed by Lichfield District Council.

Future Faces, the young professionals’ division of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, is a network for 18 and 35-year-olds.

It provides them with an opportunity to take part in professional development opportunities, grow their networks through a range of events, participate in awards and join mentoring programmes.

Lichfield District Council is sponsoring 10 Future Faces memberships for 2024.

During 2023, seven organisations based in the district - including Palletways, Seated Furniture, Access Bookings, Adcocks Solicitors, Lichfield Garrick Theatre, Legionella & Fire Safe Services and CT Planning - successfully applied to enrol members of their staff onto the programme.

Lichfield District Council are now set to fund a new intake, as well as continuing to offer memberships to their own staff.

Janice Silvester-Hall, cabinet member for High Streets and Visitor Economy at Lichfield District Council, said: “This is the second year that Lichfield District Council has supported Future Faces membership for young people after a successful first year.

“We are really pleased to be able to support young people across the District to become business leaders of the future.

“Through this programme our own District Council ‘Future Faces’ have also benefitted from meeting and learning from peers and inspirational leaders from the private sector at a range of events and engagement opportunities.”

Fiona Rouse, Lichfield and Tamworth Chamber president and operations director at PI-KEM, said: “It’s fantastic that the team at Lichfield District Council see the benefit of offering this support to our local business community.

“As a business owner myself who has put many of our young employees through the Future Faces programme in recent years, I can absolutely see the benefit of encouraging the next leaders in your business to get out, meet their peers, learn from senior figures across the business community and learn skills that will hold them in good stead as their careers progress.”

Sophie Poduval-Morrell, Future Faces Chamber manager, said: “Our division of the Chamber is open to any young person working in business from anywhere across Greater Birmingham and the support of Lichfield District Council has been a huge help in further promoting the opportunities we offer throughout Staffordshire.

“In the last 12 months we have seen a marked increase in members from the Staffordshire area join amd welcomed Adam Gadbsy, an operations manager working in Tamworth at PI-KEM, onto our executive committee.”

Any business with an office in the Lichfield District Council catchment area can put forward a maximum of two staff for the funded places by downloading an application form.

Contact Lichfield and Tamworth Chamber of Commerce division director, Chris Brewerton for more information by phone on 07753453624 or email c.brewerton@birmingham-chamber.com

Pictured: Lichfield District Council CEO Simon Fletcher (second left), Future Faces manager Sophie-Poduval-Morrell (third left) and president Kasim Choudhry (back row, fourth from left) with some of the council's first Future Faces cohort