Page 43 - Regional Employment & Skills Plan

The financial and professional services sector encompasses a number of different areas and is primarily made up of service based industries. The sector ranges from legal and financial services through to professional consultancy and similar occupations.
The financial services sector which covers the areas of banking and insurance is a critically important industry for the UK as whole. ‘The UK is the leading exporter of financial services across the world. Its trade surplus in financial services is double that of the next largest trade surpluses recorded by Luxembourg, Switzerland and the US.’87
The financial services sector is also a highly productive industry which contributes significantly to the economic performance of the UK. ‘At 11.8% of the economy, industry output is above the 7.4% combination to UK employment, indicating that productivity levels are well above the average for the UK economy overall’88
Although the financial services sector is traditionally associated with ‘the city’ in London and the South East the industry has a significant presence within Wales and the south west and mid Wales regions
The legal sector also forms an important element of the financial and professional services sector and has been an area of growth for the UK. ‘Solicitor demographics indicate that the profession, overall, has grown by 34.8% between 2004 and 2014. As at July 2014, 130,382 solicitors held current practising certificates. During the decade from 2004-2014, the proportion of practising certificate holders who are women increased from 40.5% to 48.2%.’89
Although the sector faces a number of external challenges relating to the provision of a number of legal services there remains a strong demand for employment. ‘Significant numbers of barristers, solicitors and other legal professionals and associated professionals are likely to be needed between 2015 and 2020. An additional 58,000 workers needed within the legal activities sector.’90
Demand/Change Drivers
• Digitalisation of services
• Regulatory changes
• Increasing customer expectations
Employers Voice91 Significant Challenges
• Digital transformation and awareness
• Ability to recruit the right level of talent in
specialist fields.
Recruitment Difficulties
• Specifically in the IT/Digital space due to market value salaries and geographical locations.
Drivers of Change
• Government digital agenda
• The requirement to extract greater insights from
data to understand customer behaviour.
Barriers to Training
• Accessing courses in the higher education sector that are aligned to the needs of the business can be a challenge.
43
87 https://www.thecityuk.com/research/key-facts-about-uk-financial-and-related-professional-services-2016/ 88 https://www.thecityuk.com/research/key-facts-about-uk-financial-and-related-professional-services-2016/ 89 http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/support-services/research-trends/future-of-legal-services/
90 http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/support-services/research-trends/future-of-legal-services/
91 RLSP Large Company Survey & electronic survey (April- June 2016)
Regional Employment & Skills Plan South West & Mid Wales Aspirational Economy