POLITICS
‘What we need to be better at is shouting about our successes, or members’ successes, celebrating them and sharing best practice so others can learn and improve’
But much of the work that lies ahead will be
actually placing the great work that we and our members already do more prominently in the imaginations of those we work with - championing and profiling activity already taking place in this space. Why is this important now? It’s not possible to say what’s going to happen
to the UK economy over the coming months, but in terms of UK politics, it’s clear that Pandora’s box has been opened and some pretty unpleasant forces have been let out. If things don’t go well, then it is feasible that
different voices on the left and the right of politics will look for scapegoats. The private sector can’t be allowed to be
made that scapegoat, and yet already we see that starting to happen with certain announcements and proclamations from our political leaders. The manifestation comes in the guise of
giving in to the temptation to sensationalise in the media, or to portray issues in simple binary terms – wholly good or wholly bad, with little context between – which is incredibly unhelpful to the person in the street. These developments should be recognised as
a challenge to the private sector, which needs to be very much on the front foot and standing ready to demonstrate that whatever the UK economy looks like in the years to come we are the solution, not part of the problem. As a Chamber, we know that businesses do all
this already. Our latest CSR survey – the full result of which will be revealed in the spring - found that almost seven-in-ten (67%) businesses undertook CSR activity to get more closely involved in their communities and over a third (34%) said they expected CSR activity to increase over the next 12 months. But what we need to be better at is shouting
Adam Marshall, British
Chambers of Commerce Director General
purpose as a Chamber that exists to support businesses to grow. Given the changes taking place, we think the
time has come to make it more central to what we do. We think we need to be more overt, more vocal about our belief that when businesses succeed, the localities they’re based in – their communities - succeed. Through employment, investment and giving
back, a local economy that functions well for businesses, equally functions well for the wider community. To this end the Chamber Board took the
decision recently to update its vision, to be a Chamber that exists “To enhance local businesses and communities”. As part of this we’ve introduced two new
goals: ‘To demonstrate and strengthen the link between successful businesses and thriving local communities’ and ‘To support the development of the current and future workforce in the East Midlands’. This doesn’t mean that overnight there will be
a whole raft of new activity – although absolutely there will be some great new schemes and initiatives coming soon.
about our successes, or members’ successes, celebrating them and sharing best practice so others can learn and improve. As a Chamber, we’ll be working over the
coming months and years to make sure we put that right. There are some pretty fundamental
conversations to be had over the next few weeks, and the outcome of those conversations could reverberate around UK PLC for years to come. One fundamental that we must reaffirm, stand
by and hold up as truth, however, is that successful businesses and thriving local communities go hand in hand. Regardless of what our politicians may or may
not do over coming months, we’re on the side of all those who live, work and do business in the East Midlands and there’s a symbiotic relationship between all of us that can’t be broken by the machinations of politics.
business network March 2019 49
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