A new initiative putting the spotlight on business expertise and knowledge in St Albans was launched last week.

A group of local professional services firms have joined forces with the district council to raise the profile of St Albans as a City of Expertise.

It was launched last week at St Albans City Station to mark the fact that the city is only 20 minutes from central London and is a centre for professional services expertise on the local, regional and national stage.

Eighteen local professional services firms are members of the group together with the council and St Albans District Chamber of Commerce.

St Albans is home to around 80 chartered accountancy firms, 50 legal firms and many chartered surveying companies.

The idea of bringing local firms together to put the spotlight on the expertise and knowledge in St Albans came out of the council’s economic development work.

It has been led by council leader, Julian Daly, who said: “St Albans has long been a service hub with its historic market and its important transport links. This gives us a legacy of businesses with top quality accounting, financial, legal, surveying and related skills.

“St Albans is in the top 10 areas for employment in professional occupations in England and has expertise and knowledge to rival top London firms.”

Lisa Bates, executive director of St Albans Chamber, added: “The St Albans Chamber is proud to be part of this business led initiative.

“The aim is to recognise and promote St Albans as a city of expertise to the wider community. We want as many people as possible to know that we have city expertise right here on our doorstep.

“St Albans is a thriving dynamic business arena, a great place to work and start a professional career too. We have an amazing CV, a talent pool that rivals anywhere else in the country”

A City of Expertise website - www.cityofexpertise.com -has been developed to showcase the skills available in St Albans along with a logo for use on local firms’ corporate literature. Posters promoting St Albans as the City of Expertise are in place at St Albans and Harpenden stations and key entrance points to the district.