On Friday at the AGM and Spring Assembly I was delighted and honoured to have been re-elected as the Chamber President.
It is a role that comes with a proud heritage as well as a real sense of duty. Part of the role is ceremonial but the majority of it is very much focussed, and rightly so, on making sure that the Chamber responds and reacts to its members needs. And now more than ever it is vital that, as a business community, we come together, we support each other and we focus our efforts not just on our own individual businesses but the wider community too where our businesses are based and where we and our employees live.
Since October 2019 when I was first elected President the world has changed remarkably. I don’t need to go into details as for us all this is living history but we cannot escape the impact of the last two and a bit years and the changes it has meant for everyone.
It was this sense of reaction to those changes that I focussed on at the Spring Assembly and the response to it that will shape the Chamber’s actions in the year ahead.
There are two distinct approaches that we will be taking this year. The first is a pro active stance to make sure that, with all the talk about levelling up and different initiatives being launched, we start to work to put some meaning to these. At Assembly we heard about the recent announcements in the Levelling Up White Paper about GM being named as an Innovation Accelerator and getting new, trailblazing devolution status. These are important things but unless we quickly turn these fine words into something tangible then we will just be going round in circles.
My campaign focus this year is ‘Connectivity and Innovation for Growth’ looking at transport issues, wider connectivity between people and businesses as well as what role this plays in innovation. I believe that the need for people to connect to help innovate is greater than ever but the current ability to do so can’t meet this demand so, unless we do something about this, progress will be held back. We will quickly be developing what this looks like and how you can get involved so look out for more information soon.
The second approach is very much about gathering intelligence and evidence on what businesses are experiencing at present. For over 40 years the Chamber has gathered vital intelligence using the Quarterly Economic Survey and that will continue. In addition though and reflecting what many businesses are experiencing the Chamber will also be asking for direct evidence on the impact that the many rises in costs are having. Whether that’s wage inflation, rising overheads or price hikes in raw materials it’s important that we can present the evidence of this to help identify future help and support. So, when you see an ‘ask’ for feedback please help with this so that decision makers get an accurate picture of what is going on in the real world – not some forecasts or estimates.
These are incredibly challenging times but it’s important that through the Chamber you know that help, support and connections are available.
Having had a lot of activity curtailed over the last few years through the pandemic I am keen to make sure that this, my last year in office, makes up for lost time and that local businesses know that the Chamber is here for them. There is a lot to do but I know that together we can make a difference.