A new group focused on the keeping the UK’s professional services sector globally competitive and set up to support the work of the Chancellor’s High-Level group, held its first meeting today.

The Professional Services Global Competitiveness (PSGC) group will look at medium- and longer-term issues affecting the Professional Services sector. The group is co-chaired by the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Kitty Ussher MP and Sir Michael Snyder, Senior Partner at Kingston Smith LLP.

Professional services make a vital contribution to the UK’s continued leadership in financial services and supporting a globally competitive industry.

The PSGC group will meet monthly, and report back to the Chancellor’s High-Level Group on City Competitiveness, which aims to promote London as the leading international financial centre. The resulting analysis should enable the High-Level Group to prioritise the challenges for the UK-based Professional Services industry and related public policy challenges.

Kitty Ussher MP said:

“The Chancellor has prioritised making London and the whole UK a globally competitive financial centre. The Professional Services Global Competitiveness group will be key to achieving this aim, and represents an essential partnership between government and industry. The Government is committed to working alongside people from the professional services industry to build a debate on public policy that will benefit both the financial services sector and the UK .”

Sir Michael Snyder said:

“I am delighted to have been asked by the Treasury to jointly chair this group with Kitty, which I believe will provide a vital boost to the professional services industry in the UK. Professional services make a huge contribution to the success of London as a financial centre. The group draws on considerable expertise from across the entire industry, and has already made good progress in identifying several priority workstreams.”