Chamber Members tell the Doctor their problems
Posted by Carly Roper on Friday 4 May 2012
St Helens Chamber opened its doors to businesses last week (27th April) to raise awareness of the wide range of services available to businesses through the Chamber.
Guests were treated to an Olympic themed breakfast and lunch with foods from around the world, as well as being put through their paces, competing in the Wii Olympics challenge.
Guest speakers at the event included Shane Noden from the Personal Training People, who provided some hints and tips on how to keep fit with a busy lifestyle and Dr Adam Marshall, Director of Policy and External Affairs at the British Chambers of Commerce.
Dr Marshall, who splits his time between meeting with businesses, meeting with politicians and working on solutions to the issues facing business, described himself as “the eyes, ears and mouth” of the Chamber Network in Whitehall.
Talking about the outlook for the economy in 2012, Dr Marshall stressed the importance of the Quarterly Economic Survey, and how heavily the Treasury Department and Bank of England rely on the findings to guide their decisions. “The survey findings for the first quarter of 2012 gave a mixed picture”, he said, “but were far more positive than some of the official statistics are indicating.”
Dr Marshall also works closely with the Department for Business to provide workable solutions for the key issues affecting business. “It’s a constant battle”, he said. Currently he is encouraging government to do more on access to finance, to support investment and to reduce the cost of doing business on a day to day basis.
Another issue high on the agenda is skills. Dr Marshall said: “Higher and Further Education are not set up to provide the skills to young people entering the labour market to fill the skills gaps we are seeing in businesses. We are trying to change the cycle of the learner being king and funding being lead by learner requirements rather than by business and employer needs.”
Throughout the event Chamber staff were on hand to provide information on how the Chamber is working to address the skills gap locally, through its business-led Apprenticeship programme.
As well as taking away a wealth of information, two lucky Members also went away with an extra bonus. Alan Dootson of DB Professional Security Services was the lucky winner of two tickets for the 2013 Chamber Annual Dinner in the business card draw and Emily Kelso from Haydock Park Racecourse won an hour’s personal training session with the Personal Training People, after securing the winning time in the Wii Olympics challenge.
If you were unable to attend the Open Day but would like to learn more about becoming a Chamber Member or any other Chamber service please contact us on 01744 742000, visit www.sthelenschamber.com or email info@sthelenschamber.com
Commenting is now closed.