The East Midlands Personal Assistant Network (EMPAN) is joining forces with
the West Midlands-based PA Forum.
It will create a Midlands-wide body for personal and executive assistants to network,
attend events and undergo training, operating under the PA Forum banner.
East Midlands Chamber Company Secretary and Executive Support Manager Lesley
Young, who has run EMPAN, believes it “marks the start of an exciting future for our
profession in the East Midlands”.
She said: “As business support professionals, we have a unique view across our
businesses and organisations, which we should continue to recognise and promote. We
need to be the change we want to see, and the support and knowledge we share in our
networks can give us the confidence to make this happen.
“I’m really looking forward to expanding on the terrific work of the PA Forum and
working with EAs and PAs across the East Midlands.”
EMPAN was established in 2014 when it brought the Leicester and Leicestershire
Personal Assistant Network – set up by Lesley in 2006 – into an expanded network that
also included Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
What has EMPAN done to date
Identifying a need for networking and training for members, it ran six city-based and
one region-wide events per year and was a finalist in the first ever Manchester PA
Awards External PA Network of the Year in 2018. It stopped running its own events in 2019 as activity was embedded into East Midlands Chamber’s events and training programmes. But its activities will now move under the umbrella of the PA Forum, which was founded by Daniel Skermer in November 2016.
Multitude of networking opportunities for its members
Despite being a primarily West Midlands-based regional network, it adapted to develop a
wealth of content to support the business community virtually during the pandemic,
which has opened new channels to connect with audiences across the country.
It now offers events including virtual educational seminars during lunchtimes, in-person
networking events, a quarterly virtual coffee club, annual learning and development
conference and the West Midlands PA Awards.
There is also a PA Forum membership portal packed with information and resources, job
opportunities, special offers and a membership directory.
Daniel said: “Since the launch of PA Forum, I have always looked to our neighbouring
regional networks for support and guidance and have always admired the wonderful
work Lesley and the East Midlands Personal Assistant Network has done.
“It has been truly inspiring, so I was humbled and overwhelmed that Lesley reached out
to suggest our partnership and I am so excited to work with her, side by side, continuing
to build on the solid foundations supporting all levels of the executive and business
support community in the region.
“Together we will also launch the East Midlands PA Awards 2023 and are actively looking
for committee members who would like to get involved within the region and support us
in creating a fantastic journey of reward and recognition. We can’t wait to get started.”
For more information about the PA Forum, visit pa-forum.co.uk or email daniel@pa-forum.co.uk
PA Life sends it best wished to the new PA networking body!
