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The formation of the Greater Peterborough Professional Bodies Group

During the early 1970s there was growing concern nationally among professional people about the status of engineers and managers generally. By January 1975 there was a mood among professional people in Peterborough to create a common forum. This was called the Peterborough Professional Bodies Group, with originally eight constituent members representing eleven institutes. In 1996 we decided to amend the name to Greater Peterborough Professional Bodies Group to reflect our links with the wider Greater Peterborough area.

Expansion of the Group's Membership

Over the years the Group has expanded its membership, within the criteria that a member institute should:

1. be truly professional in its aims and objectives and in its regulations governing membership;

2. have a branch covering Greater Peterborough and an active presence in the area.

The present membership is listed on the Constituent Members page. We now have seventeen constituent bodies and we extend a warm welcome to other professional bodies to join with us as members of the Group or to work on specific projects.

Aims and objectives

Through a combined programme of events, published as the Peterborough Diary, which is widely publicised in the Peterborough area, the Group aims to illustrate the professional nature of the day-to-day work of its members, their contribution to and influence upon the life of the local and indeed the national community.

The Group has progressively become a sounding board for professional and managerial matters locally. Issues include the Urban Regeneration of Peterborough and the Built Environment, Environmental Development of Peterborough, and most recently the development of the University Centre in Peterborough,.
 

Structure and Activities

1. The co-ordinating committee comprises officers of each member institute and meets several times a year to review activities, to agree areas of future co-operation and to consider membership applications. The Chairman is elected from among the members.

2. We also work together to plan the Diary for the coming year in terms of subject interest, joint sponsorship of events and special major events.

3. A formal Dinner is held each year, at which a guest of national and/or local standing is invited to be the after-dinner speaker and to lead an open discussion on a matter of common interest with local relevance. Guests from outside Greater Peterborough have included Ministers of State and senior academics. Last year we debated the very relevant topic of whether government cuts in funding to Universities will reduce access to higher education. We had a very enjoyable dinner and debate with inputs and views from the Director External Affairs at Loughborough University, the Director of Peterborough University Centre and our local MP Stewart Jackson. At this year's dinner on 4 Feb 2012 the focus of the debate will be on whether our current training and education in the widest sense fits people for employment i.e. whether people have not only relevant vocational skills but whether they have the necessary interpersonal skills and attitudes to make them productive employees.

This is a very important topic during these challenging times where people are finding it more difficult to get jobs, but where senior figures for industry and commerce are saying that they can't fill vacancies because applicants are do not have suitable skills.

Finance

As a contribution towards administrative expenses, each member institute pays a membership fee of £20 p.a.  The production costs of the diaries are shared between the member institutes.

The only additional costs are those incurred from time to time by the Group's participation in local education and training initiatives.

A Special Message to Young Professionals

We welcome interest by young professionals in joining our member institutes. If you want to know more about a particular institute, please contact a committee member for further information. Contact details are in the institute committee pages at the rear of this Diary.