One of our most valued partnerships is with CMC Markets and the Peter Cruddas Foundation. We have spoken to Lord Cruddas, the Founder of CMC Markets and the Peter Cruddas Foundation, who has given us insight into the journey he has taken to get to where he is today, as well as touching on how imperative the relationship between CMC Markets and Making The Leap is in changing young lives for the better.
“I grew up in Shoreditch in a flat with my Mum and Dad, my older brother, and my twin brother. I found the Scouts helped me escape the City and I enjoyed the mentoring and Teamwork, and I was also a keen footballer and was Captain of my school side Shoreditch Comprehensive.
At the age of 15 I left school to help my Mum with the household income. I first worked for Western Union where I learned to type and use a telex machine – a machine you could use to send instant messages – well before the internet and emails!!! I learned from my experiences and worked my way up to become a FX Dealer and then Head Dealer of a bank. I then moved in 1989 to set up CMC Markets plc as it is known today.
I rented an office on London Wall in The City in 1989. It was me, a telephone, and my knowledge I had acquired over the years. I came across the Internet – a new thing in those days – and adapted my dealing business to go online. That changed everything as I was at the front of the crowd and was soon a leader in the field of online trading. I opened an office in Hartford where my team had expanded to employ IT experts, Sales and Marketing people and Administration Teams to ensure the business was running smoothly.
In 2007, I sold 10% of my company CMC Markets to Goldman Sachs for £140,000,000. My business was worth more than £1 billion!! This gave me the opportunity to establish the Peter Cruddas Foundation, which is set up to “Help Young People Achieve More”.
Making The Leap is exactly what I want to do, and that is to help young people progress and enter the world of work. To date I have given over £16,000,000 to charities, and I enjoy nothing more than supporting charities meeting the unmet need for young people.”
The Peter Cruddas Foundation and CMC Markets have been kindly sponsoring our Social Mobility Careers Fair since 2016 which has helped many of our young people in their career journeys. Why did you first get involved and why is it important to you to sponsor this event?
“Making The Leap and The Social Mobility Fair were brought to my attention, and
Lord Cruddas opening the 2016 Social Mobility Careers Fair
I just liked what they were doing and what the fair did for young people keen to become employed. My fellow Trustees fully support this partnership.
200+ people attending an Employment Fair with 50 “live” jobs on offer is brilliant and The Foundation did not hesitate to become the first sponsor of the event and we have been with MTL ever since. CMC Markets joined in the matched funding with The Foundation when the fair incorporated more training for young people both pre and post the event.”
CMC Markets have shared entry level career opportunities to Making The Leap and as a result young people who have attended our programmes have now joined your organisation. What have been the benefits to CMC Markets of having young people join your business through Making The Leap?
“Let’s be clear – the opportunity was given to your students to apply to CMC Markets but, they were appointed on merit as they pitched themselves against other candidates from recruitment agencies.
CMC Markets is a great company to work for and to be around, so the benefits work both ways:
We: employ an engaged, focussed, and dedicated person.
They: receive industry training and an opportunity to progress their career at CMC Markets as well as starting out at a friendly City Company that invests in its staff.”
In 2020, Making The Leap were incredibly grateful to be chosen as a partnership charity for CMC Markets for the next three years. What does this partnership mean to you and why is it important for CMC Markets to support Making The Leap in this way?
“This is a new venture for CMC Markets and Making The Leap was a “Go to Charity” through our existing relationship. You are the final stage of this proposal – Work Ready Young People.
Coming out of the pandemic, CMC Markets wanted to focus on a long-term intervention through a 3-year Partnership with 3 charities to help young people in and around London from Primary School Age through to being Work Ready. The 3 charities are Action for Children, Yes Futures, and Making The Leap.
We are excited at the results so far, even in these challenging times.”
During our partnership with CMC Markets, we have successfully placed several of our Fellows into great positions there. One of these Fellows is Emmanuel, who secured a full-time role at CMC Markets in 2018 and has continued to thrive there ever since. We reached out to him to find out what the opportunity to join CMC Markets after his time at MTL meant to him and how he has progressed since joining the organisation:
“Having studied economics at university, I had always aspired to work in financial services and gain an understanding of financial products. When the opportunity came to join CMC Markets came, I made sure to grab to firstly secure the role and then take advantage of the opportunity by seeking ways to move internally at CMC. In the almost 3 years I have been at CMC, I have progressed from a junior team member to a senior member of the Client Management desk, supporting management on various projects such as competitor analysis and employee training. I found that client services helped me speak to people of various backgrounds with ease so it could be said I am now comfortable addressing a wide range of stakeholders.
I have since taken on a new role, working with, and reporting to the Data Protection Officer. I have learnt a lot during my time at CMC and I will continue to learn with my new position. I am strongly in favour of CMC’s partnership with MTL and it fills me with joy whenever another fellow joins the organisation as it shows CMC’s commitment to social mobility.“
Read Emmanuel’s full story here.
