Mary to be voice of youth for chamber

The 26-year-old, an adviser at Hampshire-based financial firm Prosperity’s Scottish office in Melrose’s Dingleton Road, said she hopes to bring a more youthful perspective to the chamber’s board of directors.

This having been declared the year of young people in Scotland, the chamber is looking to boost its appeal to younger professionals and entrepreneurs and believes Mary can help with that.

She moved to the Borders from Lancashire seven years ago and has since built up a wealth of experience in the finance industry here.

She has also been an active member of the region’s business community, setting up the regular Network Borders event to engage with like-minded professionals keen to develop their business connections and expertise.

More recently, Mary has turned her focus to developing the Borders as a better place for younger people to do business.

Working with Developing the Young Workforce Borders, she has been taking part in careers fairs and teaching personal financial planning classes at high schools throughout the region on request.

On top of that, thanks to her involvement with Scottish Borders Young Professionals as treasurer and a committee member, she is playing an active part in shaping the future of business in the Borders.

Chamber chairman Jack Clark said: “We are very pleased to welcome Mary Hemingway to our board of directors and believe that she will be a tremendous asset in further integrating the chamber’s future plans to encourage young business people in the region.

“Mary’s strong involvement in local business strategies, via her work with numerous associations, is an exciting new voice for us in this currently ever-changing business environment.”

Mary says she is looking forward to the opportunity of using her experience to work to further develop initiatives already being undertaken by the chamber.

She added: “Scotland’s year of young people is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the work of young people in the borders in a variety of sectors, which can often go unnoticed.

“I am encouraged by the chamber’s active role in developing the next generation of skilled professional and entrepreneurs and am very excited to be on board at this time.”

For further details of the chamber’s activities, go to www.borderschamber.com