GLASGOW BUSINESS FEBRUARY 2016


CONTENTS/PRESIDENT 17


Neil Amner, President president@glasgowchamberofcommerce.com


Our constant drive to improve members’ value


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I would firstly like to say a big thank you to Vic Emery for his sterling work in steering Glasgow Chamber as President over the last two, very eventful, years for the city and its economy. He has given me a hard act


to follow and I am looking to the support of Glasgow Chamber members, and the staff team, to do just that.


As a Chamber we have just


agreed our Business Plan for the next three years. As we move ahead we do so from a solid base with a strong and growing membership and on the back of a year of achievement in 2015.


In this, the first of the years


covered by the new Plan, we shall focus on improving our value to Members. We shall


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News Agenda


City Roundup Member news Partner news New members


Events


Past and forthcoming events 18 Training


Glasgow Talks Award-winners profile


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6


10 12 17 47


Features Economic Progress


The Glasgow City Deal


15 reasons to be cheerful about 2015


Health and Safety essentials


Grade A office space is back on the rise


Column BIG Talks


Cover image: Glasgow’s City Deal continues to flourish


do this by looking at the operations of Glasgow Chamber, re-examining all the ways we communicate with Members and investing in our customer relationship management system. We shall be reviewing and


22 24


28 34


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updating our events and training programme, expanding our international trade offering and refreshing the membership packages to reflect our recent experience and feedback from Members. In this first year we shall also


be consolidating our progress in projects by focusing on the successful delivery of the three strategic agreements that we have in place. All of these efforts will be firmly


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focused on increasing the impact that these programmes can have on the prosperity of Member businesses and the wider city economy. Your Chamber will also support


Glasgow City Council in their launching of the new Glasgow


Economic Strategy and the delivery of the City Deal as it develops and begins to deliver tangible benefits. We shall be refreshing and


reinforcing the message that Glasgow is a great place in which to do business and in which to invest. In doing so we shall be supporting the City Council, the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau and Glasgow Airport in the growth of inward investment, major events and new air routes.


I am delighted that this year will see the launch of our Glasgow Business Growth Fund to support growing businesses in partnership with The Watson Foundation following its donation of £100,000. Under Vic Emery’s presidency your Chamber took an in-depth look at both youth opportunities and international trade. We will


continue to work on those areas. In my first year as


President we will tackle another issue


of real importance to the


success of the Glasgow economy. We are becoming used to winter


months with more extreme weather conditions, which puts a strain on our transport, flood management and power infrastructure. Equally, many members express concerns at the future for our energy system and the speed at which they can access superfast broadband even in the city centre. I will therefore lead a review of


resilience of the city’s infrastructure from a business perspective aiming to engage proactively with the relevant bodies to address concerns. Glasgow Chamber is in good health and has a wealth of opportunity for further growth. Working together with our partners in the wider ‘Team Glasgow’ we look forward to dealing positively with the opportunities and challenges we face in our businesses and as a city.


Glasgow Business . 3 www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com


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