GLASGOW BUSINESS OCTOBER 2015


CONTENTS/PRESIDENT 22


Vic Emery, President president@glasgowchamberofcommerce.com


Healthy Chamber’s next phase of growth


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Meetings were held in Glasgow Chamber of Commerce at the end of August to begin work on the business plan for the next three years. As the senior management,


members of the wider team and advisers have been carrying out that work, we have been reflecting on the strengths of Glasgow Chamber and the depth of its relationship with the business community. The numbers will tell a strong


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story about the health of Glasgow Chamber and of its achievements over the last few years. One of the achievements that I am personally most pleased with is the development of the President’s Club, with more than 200 members in the ‘home team’ and an increasing number of ‘friends of Glasgow’ in many different parts of the world in the ‘away team’. Our Platinum


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News Agenda


Glasgow News Member news Partner news New members


Events Training


Glasgow Talks Features 6


10 12 16 55


18 19


Past and forthcoming events 20 Glasgow Business Awards 44 Inspiring City Awards


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Big interview: Annemarie O’Donnell, Chief Executive, City Council 22


Focus on Leadership: Being Bold in Business


Gymnastic Championships


Corporate hospitality Private education


Column BIG Talks


Cover image: Muhammad Yunus photographed by Peter Devlin


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Growing Glasgow’s economy 30 IT


32 37 40


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Partnerships are another area of growing strength for Glasgow Chamber, featuring some of the biggest names in the city region’s corporate make-up including ScottishPower, Aggreko, STV and Edrington. It is a pretty healthy collection of organisations by any measure. Our total membership is also


growing, being joined by businesses of all sizes within the local economy. Along with continual efforts to grow the membership, we are constantly searching for new member value. Much of our recent discussion focused on what we are currently doing for members and what we can do to improve on that. One specific area that your Chamber is working on is the drive to increase international trade, a theme that is vital for so many businesses and the health of the economy of the city and the country as a whole.


Similarly, another strong theme has been the work the Glasgow Chamber network has been doing on the issue of youth employment and developing the young workforce and their contribution to our businesses for today and tomorrow. We have also maintained our


strong commitment to arguing the case for infrastructure – we are and will continue to be strong supporters of the City Deal and champions of the growth of Glasgow Airport. So as we look to the business


plan for the three years ahead, we think Glasgow Chamber is in reasonably good health. A key part of our function as a Chamber is to ensure that we properly and fully represent the views of our membership. To that end, we are introducing a Policy Panel,


a group of about 100 members who


will regularly give us feedback on how they


view issues in the city. It is being developed as a more detailed tool for keeping in touch with what the members are thinking.


Understanding member opinion, understanding member value – these are vital parts of Glasgow Chamber’s work. We are close to the key businesses in the city and represent enterprises of all sizes, from major corporates to smaller businesses. We are determined to ensure that we are working for the benefit of all our members. We are also freshening up our events programme and refining our communications.


As the business plan will show,


there are many positive indicators of the current strength of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, but we shall strive to develop and improve on those over the next three years.


Glasgow Business . 3 www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com


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