On 30th June over 70 QUAL members and Queens alumni of all ages met at 25 Canada Square for the Association President’s Summer Drinks. The 16th floor room boasted fine views of the ultra-modern Canary Wharf city zone and we were delighted to be hosted by Citi who welcomed everyone and gave a compelling story of the origins and emergence of the Citi Service Centre in Belfast’s Titanic quarter. John Healy, Site Head of Belfast CSC described how the multi-disciplinary facility had grown to over 1,800 employees with more roles being added and how it was a showcase within Citi for its entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to client service.  Citi Country Officer for the UK, James Bardrick, gave a resounding endorsement of the qualities of the Belfast centre and how it has grown through its own success and with considerable cooperation from Queen’s university as a source for talent in technology, law, finance and human resources. James praised Queens for its responsiveness to the needs of employers and the growing financial services sector in Northern Ireland. Association President, Cormac Bradley, thanked John, James and everyone at Citi for making it such an enjoyable and constructive experience. He also announced two upcoming events with one on the 14th of September being a joint initiative with QUAL and the Queen’s City Leaders Group to corral support for the Queen’s City Scholars Programme and the annual dinner on the 11th of November 2015 at the Royal Thames Yacht Club, Knightsbridge, with guest of honour Professor Louise Richardson. Professor Richardson, native of Tramore County Waterford, is Vice Chancellor of St Andrew’s University, a respected political scientist and has recently been announced as the incoming vice chancellor of Oxford University, the first woman to hold the post in the university’s history of over 800 years.