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members - the heart of AGCC

Over the last six months we have been working away on your behalf to refresh your Chamber.

The first decision was the easiest to make. We wanted to re-state that members are at the heart of the Chamber, and that members are ambitious that this region should play a big role in the future of the country. So we revised our ‘aim’ to read: Our members at the heart of the Chamber: Our Chamber at the heart of a strong and sustainable economy in the City and Shire. Our region at the heart of a prosperous country. In the many meetings that I have had with members since joining the Chamber, this was the message that you gave me: you want your Chamber to make sure that the business community is playing a key role in securing the best future for your business, for the region, for Scotland and for the UK.

 

Secondly, we wanted to sharpen the objectives of the Chamber to be relevant, succinct and deliverable, so that we can manage our resources to provide first-class support to your enterprises:

 

  • Objective One: To deliver ‘the ultimate business network’ benefits to members
  • Objective Two: To provide added value through the provision of first class paid-for services
  • Objective Three: To be the voice of business - lobbying for a better operating environment
  • Objective Four: To work with partners to secure effective economic development
  • Objective Five: To continuously improve the performance of AGCC to give exceptional value for money to members and partners.

 

The new senior management team at the Chamber will be taking responsibility for delivering these objectives. Seona Shand will be heading up activity under objective one as Head of Membership; the work under objective two is divided into ‘business support’ under Gordon Prentice and ‘export support’ under Jon Woodwards; Kate Yuill will lead our policy and campaigning work contained in objective three; and I will take a personal lead on objective four – working closely with ACSEF. We will take team responsibility for objective five – don’t be shy about letting us know how we are doing.

 

Finally, behind the re-focusing of the organisation and the management team are a series of key decisions and policies – which is where you as a member will start to see the difference – where the activity of the Chamber will start to translate these aims and objectives into real value for you and your enterprise. Some of the headlines are:

 

  • The plan is to develop sector-groups within the membership, so that we can start to tailor the provision of services and benefits. Some of the sectors under consideration include: tourism; food & drink; oil & gas/energy; and retail. We will consult you as these sector groups unfold.
  • There will be a renewed emphasis on working jointly with a wide range of partners to provide you with the best benefits and services. This will range from the British Chambers of Commerce at national level to colleague business support agencies in the region. We will strive to drive out duplication and sharpen the standards of our service to you.
  • We have set an ambitious target to grow the number of members of the Chamber from 1235 at the end of 2009 to 1750 by 2013, and will translate this support to real value for you.
  • The plan is to secure larger amounts of public funding available for business support – from a wide range of sources – and this will emerge as improved benefits and services to you.
  • AGCC will play an active role in the launch and delivery of Scottish Chambers International (SCI) to improve yet further the export support to the region.
  • We will work with you to get the business message over to government in the 2010 and 2011 elections, and make sure that everybody knows that it is business that generates wealth. We plan to become a campaigning chamber – focusing on the issues that constrain your enterprise, and starting with transport.
  • The Chamber will continue to play an active role in ACSEF, to deliver the ‘game-changing’ investment to the region.
  • Finally, the chamber will continue to drive down costs and improve efficiency to give you excellent value for money.

 

When we have delivered on these planned changes, we will be able to claim that Our members are at the heart of the Chamber: Our Chamber is at the heart of a strong and sustainable economy in the City and Shire. Our region is at the heart of a prosperous country.

 

The team at AGCC wishes you all a safe and prosperous year in 2010.