Developing the next generation of financial leaders
Cardiff Business School, aided by the Welsh Development Agency, is introducing the leadership development scheme to give the increasingly important financial services sector of the Welsh economy added competitiveness.
There are now some 1,800 financial services enterprises in Wales, ranging from micro businesses to key players such as HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Legal & General, Zurich and Admiral Insurance. Together they employ some 28,000 people and contribute five per cent of Wales’ GDP.
Cardiff Business School, part of Cardiff University, has adapted its highly successful and widely praised ‘Sustaining Profitable Growth’ leadership programme to meet the specific needs of the next generation of leaders in many of these companies.
The programme will be delivered by the Business School’s new Leadership, Enterprise and Economic Development (LEED) unit, whose director, Brian Morgan said:
“Financial services generally are facing a range of challenges on issues such as driving high performance and sustaining organizational change. Meeting those challenges will require innovative and effective leadership of the highest calibre - and we aim to offer financial services in Wales the best leadership development in the UK.”
Wales’ buoyant financial services sector has not only increased in stature but also in size during the past twelve months - with the creation of over 1000 jobs across a broad range of industry-leading businesses.
ING Direct, Picture Financial and Credit Services Europe have set up operations in Wales, whilst Lloyds TSB Insurance, Zurich, Admiral, Principality and HSBC are expanding operations in Wales, jointly creating 1,000 new jobs.
Since the early 1990s a range of UK and global financial services companies have set up and expanded their operations in Wales, including HBOS, Lloyds TSB, HSBC, Zurich, GMAC, Legal & General and GE.
There is a healthy insurance sector in Wales, led by home grown giants Admiral Group. Similarly finance companies such as Yes Loans & Mortgages Ltd, Firstplus and Picture Financial are performing well. Yes Loans is carving a substantial niche for itself in the consumer finance market and has increased turnover from £300,000 to £3m since it formed in Cardiff three years ago.
Financial services companies frequently cite the key benefits of Wales to be: the availability of quality staff, low attrition rates, high productivity and efficiency - the key foundations for profitable business.
GMAC is set to expand its UK Headquarters in Nantgarw, Treforest, and recruit an additional 100 people by the end of December. The company, which relocated from the South East of England to Wales in 2000, is adding a customer service and debt collection functions to the operation.
GMAC provides automotive finance through Vauxhall, Saab and Chevrolet dealers.
