Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce held its 2023 AGM at the Doubletree by Hilton, Festival Park on Wednesday, welcoming new Chamber and LAAB presidents.
The event marked the end of an era as the Chambers’ CEO Sara Willaims OBE oversaw her last AGM in charge following her announcement to retire back in September.
Kate Beardmore handed over the presidency of Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce to incoming president Steve Timmis, director of Stoke based accountancy firm, Sempar. The new local area Chamber presidents for Stafford and Staffordshire Moorlands are Geoff Barton from Canalside Farm Shop & Café, Great Haywood and Tom Wilkinson, director of Alton based Beta Commercial Finance.
The meeting started with a presentation from guest speaker, Graeme Chaplin, Agent for the Bank of England West Midlands Agency and a member of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee.
His presentation covered inflation, interest rates, labour market and wages and business investment and spending.
Graeme Chaplin, Agent for the Bank of England West Midlands Agency and a member of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee
Outgoing Chambers president Kate Beardmore then reported on the year to April 5th, 2023, and significant events since then, referring to the Chambers continuing engagement and representation on behalf of businesses and the wider community.
Kate Beardmore said: “It is testament to the Chambers’ amazing team and the range of relevant benefits and services, that despite worsening economic conditions membership is roughly where it was this time last year at around 1000 firms including 28 patrons.
“More people are using the members lounge at the Chambers’ headquarters, Commerce House and there has been a marked uptick in firms using our four protection and peace of mind benefits, Chamber HR, health & safety, legal and tax services.
“We continue to facilitate a busy and varied programme of events from networking events, meetings with our MPs and member forums right up to our big headliner events, Confidence Live, Let’s do Business and the Chamber Business Awards and last year we facilitated 239 events attended by over 3000 people.
“For me personally, the proudest moment of 2023 was gaining The King’s Award for Promoting Opportunity which recognised our social mobility programmes that help people from disadvantaged backgrounds into successful working lives. This includes Positive Pathways which supports local refugees into employment, and our Boosting Women in Business programme.”
Other highlights included the launch of the Daily Focus website and newsletter in association with Stoke based creative agency, i-creation, which now has over 11,000 individual subscribers and the Chambers’ appointment as the designated employer representative body for the Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP).
Paying tribute to Sara Wiliams, Kate Beardmore said: “There is so much that Sara has achieved in her time at the Chambers, all of which has centred around her deep-rooted belief in enabling and building confidence, particularly in the Chambers’ work to empower women, drive sustainability and encourage diversity.
“Sara leaves the Chamber in a really good place in terms of people, finances and governance and whoever the board choose as her successor has a firm foundation to support and nurture talent and truly represent the business community in Stoke and Staffordshire.”
As part of the formal proceedings of the AGM, Kate Beardmore handed over the presidency of Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce to incoming president Steve Timmis.
Steve said: “I am really excited to be taking on the presidency at such a pivotal moment and I am looking forward to working with fellow board directors to build on Sara’s incredible legacy.
“Like any business we will be looking at what the Chamber needs to do to thrive. Luckily, due to the Chambers’ sound financial and reputational footing we will be able to be act strategically rather than just reacting to external conditions. I will also be looking at what we can do to create new income streams.
“Sara has made the Chamber a force for inclusion and diversity and has taken the lead in sustainability and environmental issues. It is crucial that the Chamber continues to lead the way in these matters.”
