CHAMBER NEWS


Chairman of theBoard


As Chair of the Chamber’s Board of Directors, Phil Stanyer is integral in helping shape the organisation’s vision for the future. He spoke with Business Network Editor Nathan Fearn about his career and his role in driving the Chamber forward.


On 1 February 2016, Phil Stanyer became the Chamber’s first Chair of the Board of Directors. Accountable to the Board and


acting as a direct liaison between the Board and the management of the Chamber, it is a role that requires leadership and management skills in abundance. It also requires a passion for business in the East Midlands and an in- depth understanding of the Chamber’s visions, values and an appreciation for how it carries out its objective of being the go to place for answers in business. Such attributes aren’t acquired


overnight and, as Phil explains, are the result of a long, varied and, ultimately, successful career. “I qualified as a chartered


accountant and went straight into the industry, initially as Company Secretary in a manufacturing company,” explains Phil. “They then appointed me to the


role of Finance Director when I was 26 and I stayed there for a few years before moving onto another business in the same role. That business grew quite rapidly during the late 1970s and early 1980s and so we looked to expand the business; I identified one of our competitors and we made an acquisition. Consequently our Group Chairman saw some potential in me and invited me to join his business in the motoring sector.” Following a period in the


motoring industry, Phil’s next career steps would – unbeknown to him at the time – result in a permanent move to the region he now represents through the Chamber. “I was still young enough to have


great ambition so I became involved with a larger company in Leeds and was responsible for finance for a large sector of the group,” says Phil. “We were taken over in 1986 by


Coalite, in Derbyshire, and they had a complementary business and the objective was to merge the two divisions into one and I was given


30 business network July/August 2018


‘The Board itself, apart from its legal obligations, is able to use those skills and knowledge to help steer the direction of the Chamber’


the opportunity to move to the Midlands to run one of their subsidiaries. “From there we grew the


organisation quite rapidly to the extent that the parent company was bought out, which caused us some challenges with our sector of the business being put up for sale. I subsequently sought new opportunities and started working for a company in Nottingham in 1993. I only went there initially on a three-week project but stayed for 13 years running the business until we sold it in 2006.


“From that point on I decided to


start advising businesses, particularly those facing challenging times as well as those which were growing, and that’s where I have been ever since.” While he hails from Yorkshire, it


is clear that Phil struck up an instant affiliation with the East Midlands business community which continues to this day. “I became involved at quite an


early stage with business life in the area,” he explains. “One thing you can find when running a business is that it can be


quite lonely at times and you do need to interact with other people, not necessarily in the same sector but certainly people who have the same types of challenges and who are looking for new opportunities. I have networked with a lot of people across Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire down the years and built some very good relationships that are still there to this day.” Networking with the region’s


businesses is something Phil is well accustomed to as a Chamber Board member. But what exactly is the role and function of the Board and how does it assist Chief Executive Scott Knowles and the wider Senior Leadership Team? “It’s the glue that holds the


organisation together,” explains Phil.


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