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Protecting your business

Key Contacts General Enquiries:
0845 641 1641  
goodbusiness@hwchamber.co.uk


Herefordshire Area Council:
Ray Stone, Vice President,
areacouncil@hwchamber.co.uk


Worcestershire Area Council:
Jim McBride, Vice President,
areacouncil@hwchamber.co.uk

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Member Representation

There are two Area Councils, one in Herefordshire and one in Worcestershire.

 

Each Area Council comprises of a maximum of fifteen members. Representatives are drawn from the business community that makes up the membership of the Chamber of Commerce, generally those businesses will be located within the geography that they represent.

Each Area Council meets six times per year; three meetings are by county and three are joint meetings. Representatives ensure that there is two way communications between members and the Chamber of Commerce Board.

Each Area Council elects a Chair person. The Chair will also act as Vice President of the Chamber and become a member of the Board of Directors.

One third of the Area Council membership will resign per annum. Area Council members will therefore serve a three year term. Area Council members can stand for re-election through a process which will be advertised to the membership.

Ray Stone of Ingstone Associates in Herefordshire and Jim McBride of Lesk Engineering in Worcestershire Chair the Chamber Area Councils, representing them as Non-Executive Directors on the Chamber Board. 

For a full list of Area Council representative click here  

 

Strategic Aims

  • To ensure that two way communication is provided between the members and the Board
  • To ensure that members are maximising the services and support available to them
    • To provide a strong local, sub-regional view of members needs and of representational and lobbying issues

    Key Responsibilities

    • To maintain close contact with members at a local level to help provide guidance to the Board and Chief Executive

    • To ensure that local networking activities are taking place and to support those activities
    • In conjunction with the Executive to maintain close contact with local key players such as Members of Parliament, Councillors, Council officials etc.
      • To identify key issues that needs to be taken up by the Chamber
      • To actively support Chamber membership recruitment and retention initiatives
      • To approve new member applications

      • As and when necessary to approve the automatic resignation of a member business

      Area Council Achievements 2010/2011

       

      Broadband - The Chamber campaigned hard on broadband infrastructure, working closely with BT and allpay.net to improve services to industrial areas across the two counties. In 2010 we worked with Herefordshire Council to deliver a strong message to Westminster regarding Herefordshire's primitive rural broadband access, culminating in Herefordshire being selected on the government's High Speed Broadband project.


       

      Carbon Reduction - Despite reductions in funding, the Chamber increased its activity by sitting on the Carbon Reduction Group. The Chamber still sits on this group, and works with the strategic aim of raising awareness regarding energy efficiency, waste disposal, and green energy investments.


       

      Defence - Working with UKTI, the Policy team worked to provide local defence businesses an audience with Peter Luff MP, Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology. This gave member businesses a forum to outline their difficulties in working with MoD procurement.


       

      European Representation - In 2010, the Chamber worked with West Midlands Chambers to co-ordinate a regional visit to European Parliament. Taking a delegation of local businesses, the Chamber met key decision makers in Brussels to describe first hand the barriers to business growth across the two counties.


       

      Local Enterprise Partnerships - Working with the coalition government's localisation approach, the

      Chamber has worked to engage with the new LEP structures. Sitting on the board of the Worcestershire LEP, and on the Herefordshire Business Board of the Marches LEP, the Chamber has ensured that the interests of local businesses will be considered when designing future policy.


       

      Old Livestock Market Redevelopment - The Chamber mobilised its consultation efforts regarding the redevelopment of Edgar Street. After hosting a consultation event with Stanhope, the Chamber used a strategy of questionnaires, telephone calls and emails to gauge member business opinion. In finding strong support for the project, the Chamber compiled a policy position paper for Herefordshire Council, with the project receiving planning approval in April 2011.


       

      Planning - With a localisation agenda coming from Westminster, the Chamber has worked hard to engage over the issue of planning. Working with planning experts from Savill's, the Chamber held a planning event explaining the changes to planning applications and processes for 2012. 


       

      Procurement - With public sector budget cuts across the UK, the Chamber increased its efforts to engage local public sector bodies over the issue of procurement. Hosting a number of procurement forums, the Chamber promoted the cost efficiency of SMEs to the local authorities, whilst working to clarify the procurement processes of local bodies for member businesses.


       

      Quarterly Economic Survey - The Chamber worked hard to increase its QES performance, in terms of increasing the response rate and report quality. In Q1 2011, the responses rate had doubled that of Q1 2010, with the Chamber producing a 10 page report instead of 2. This was significant at policy level, with the Bank of England MPC carefully monitoring the QES results in their decision to stabilise the interest rate.


       

      Business StartUp Day

      The Chamber hosted an event with schools across the two counties promoting innovation, entrepreneurship and fiscal planning. Whilst student groups entertained an industry panel with their start up ideas, they received high level industry insight and advice from leading business figures from across Herefordshire and Worcestershire. 


       

      Mazak Day

      Working with high school children of a lower age, the Chamber took a group of over 100 children to the Mazak factory in Warndon. After receiving a factory tour, the children were given a task of presenting to a panel of Mazak experts including senior management, before receiving insight on the various career paths involved in modern manufacturing.


       

      Visit Our Schools and Colleges Week

      In 2010, the Chamber took representatives of Rolls Royce and Sequani into Kingstone High School to engage in careers presentations. Sequani discussed the career paths in life sciences with advanced science students, whilst Rolls Royce discussed the economic performance of the company and the career opportunities. Strong careers links were forged, and the Chamber is keen to continue connecting the next skills generation with the career opportunities available.