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BCC influence continues to grow

As we start the New Year I am writing to give you an update on the work of BCC in 2009 and also to look forward to some of the challenges in 2010.

2009 was an eventful year. After correctly calling the recession in mid 2008 we saw the economy fall off a cliff in the last quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. However we at the BCC were able to report a significant increase in optimism in the third quarter. This now needs to be translated into solid economic growth.

All through these difficult economic times I have never ceased to be impressed with the Chamber members who I meet. Businesses that are proving resistant and have also continued to grow. These are businesses of some substance. Whether they are companies selling oil services into Kazahkstan, wallpaper into Russia, steel into China or auto components into Germany, they are businesses, often family owned, that provide the backbone of the economies and communities across the country.

Our influence has continued to grow. Measured not only in the direct access we have to Secretaries of State and Ministers, but also how our views are constantly sought out – after the PBR in December I came back into the office to four calls from Ministers who wanted to explain and get our reaction to the announcements by the Chancellor. We have had a number of Policy successes – pushing the expansion of Quantitative Easing, access to Finance, delaying the implementation of the Working Time Directive, the contribution of the Business Payment Support Services, the freezing of the small firms rate of Corporation Tax, the continuation of the Enterprise Finance Guarantee, and the avoidance of mandatory Gender Pay reporting. We have recognised the role of Europe in influencing Policy, opened a small Brussels office and will work to get the business message to UK MEPs and the Commission.

All of this has been supported by high profile media coverage which positions the BCC as the voice of business. I was invited to accompany the Foreign Secretary to Saudi Arabia in April, and Lord Mandelson to China in September. I would suggest the reason why our reputation is high is because we reflect, in a way that no other business organisation is able to do, the true business sentiment expressed through Chambers of Commerce, the length and breadth of the country.

In 2010 we will be influencing the new Government though the BCC’s three policy campaigns – on infrastructure, regulation and trade – to ensure that the conditions are ripe for recovery and growth.

What I can say with certainty is that the role of businesses in generating growth will assume even greater significance. No longer will the public sector be the driver of growth. Neither will it be Financial Services. It will therefore fall to our core members to provide key growth, be that domestic or through global trade.

We need to think what a change of Government could bring, not only in terms of cuts in public expenditure, but also in the role of the State. The last decade has seen a substantial growth in the role, responsibility and power of the State. What of a future where this model is replaced by a much greater focus on community where local groups take on responsibility for resolving their own problems.

Are Chambers ready to rise to the challenges of providing Civic Leadership, of highlighting the fundamental role that business plays in the community, and of a wider social role in working with the young, the unemployed and leading effective regeneration? We now need to act not only as cheerleaders but also to be seen as people that can provide answers and real solutions to deeply ingrained problems in many parts of this country. Can we do this? My visits to Chambers across the country tell me clearly and unequivocally – Yes.

In the case of Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, the BCC leans on the Chamber and its members to provide the expertise in oil & gas and general energy policy which feeds and informs our work with government.

I am an optimist by nature and I know that there is something very special and unique about what we do and the values we represent. We are ideally placed to meet the undoubted challenges of the coming years. We need to work cohesively as a network of Chambers and businesses, to help those facing difficulties and the BCC will provide leadership.