Laura Salter- Looking back on 25 years of BYPY

Photo credit: Birmingham Post

This year, we are celebrating 25 years of the iconic BYPY Awards. The awards highlight the exceptional talent and skills of young professionals across Greater Birmingham, while also giving the overall winners the chance to open doors in their careers that they might not otherwise have been able to open.

As part of these celebrations, we spoke to the overall winners of the awards, dating right back to the very first winner in 2000 to last year's winner.

Next up is our winner from 2018, Laura Salter. Laura is an award-winning FCA-authorised financial planner, providing independent financial advice to help individuals achieve their goals and objectives.

Have a read below to find out how winning BYPY felt for Laura..

What category did you win?

I won the Finance Category and then overall BYPY in 2018.

Tell us about yourself…

I am a Director and Chartered Financial Planner at Forvis Mazars LLP, responsible for leading the Birmingham Financial Planning team and Independent Women nationally.

I have extensive experience in advising owner-managers, family owned businesses and senior executives in businesses where personal financial planning, business planning, succession planning and inter-generational issues are interlinked.

A 2022 graduate of the Executive MBA at Aston Business School, I am a Trustee and Chair of the Finance Committee at CORE Education Trust. I am a founding member of the Financial Vulnerability Taskforce, an independent body established to address the way in which the profession identifies and addresses aspects of client vulnerability.

Where were you working for at the time of winning your award?

Forvis Mazars throughout (although it was Mazars at the time).

What does your career look like now?

I chose to stay and develop my career at Forvis Mazars. However, I have also taken positions at CORE, LoveBrum and Financial Vulnerability Taskforce alongside this, all contributing towards the goal of creating a supportive environment in which all who live and work in the region can thrive.

What did winning BYPY do for your career? Have you had any other big achievements or award wins since?

It is impossible to know what my career would have been like without BYPY, but I am certain it has been one of the most defining moments to date. To be launched right to the heart of the region, and to be given the opportunities I was, has made me a better person, citizen of the region and therefore professional.

I found my voice and built an incredible network, well beyond my years. In addition, I was given the opportunity to study an Executive MBA with Aston Business School, which I completed around my full-time role and graduated in 2022.

In terms of additional recognition, I was named Rising Star in the Women In Financial Advice Awards 2018 and have appeared in New Model Adviser’s ’35 Under 35’ Advisers multiple times. I have also achieved significant recognition internally and the skills and experience gained through BYPY and my Executive MBA have fuelled my progression to Director within Forvis Mazars.

Why should people apply for GBYPY?

It is a unique opportunity to broaden your horizon’s; meet people you would never otherwise have met and learn from the incredible people we have in the region. GBYPY is not something that you apply for to obtain inward recognition, it is an opportunity to make a real difference in the region and meet people who care just as much as you do. 

How did winning BYPY feel?

Life changing; it launched me to the heart of my city and through it I found my purpose and my voice.