CHAMBER NEWS
Chamber welcomes Eileen Richards MBE as Chamber president
Richards MBE as she was inducted as president of East Midlands Chamber. The founder and managing
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director of Leicester-based ER Recruitment took over the chains of office from Dawn Richards at the Chamber’s AGM in December. It was the first time the event
had been held virtually, with members able to tune in from their laptops to observe the ceremony and get an insight into both the past year for the Chamber and what 2021 will bring. Eileen, who takes the
Leicestershire chains of office, said: “I strongly believe that in business, we can all only succeed if we have the right people working alongside us, whether this be within our internal teams, or externally through business, and organisations such as East Midlands Chamber. “2020 has been a year that we
never could have imagined but going forward, working in collaboration and supporting one another is what will get us through 2021.” In her speech, Eileen reflected on
a quarter of a century in the recruitment industry, specialising in multiple sectors across the country. She spoke about her business,
set up in 2013, has been built on values of “understanding an individual’s and a business’ DNA, building strong relationships and offering excellent customer service”.
onnecting, communicating and collaborating are the key ingredients to success, claimed Eileen
Did you know?
Rolls-Royce is the longest-serving member of East Midlands Chamber, having joined the former Derbyshire Chamber of Commerce on 15 April 1908
Scott Knowles
Eileen Richards has taken the Leicestershire chains of office
Alongside Jean Mountain, Eileen
co-chairs the Enterprising Women network and she joked they are “known as the Ant & Dec within the group”. “In all seriousness, this is an amazing platform, and we have kept in touch with our members virtually throughout lockdown with some outstanding webinars hosted by our members,” she added. “Our vision is ‘connecting,
The Chamber AGM was delivered virtually for the first time
growing and succeeding’ and we are currently preparing for our awards next year with some incredible sponsors.” The new president announced
East Midlands Development Corporation could deliver ‘long-lasting transformation’
A new organisation that brings together business and political leaders from across the region has the potential to be a “huge gamechanger”, believes Chamber chief executive Scott Knowles. He said the Chamber would provide its backing to
the East Midlands Development Corporation, which was set up in October to develop long-term plans driving a series of large-scale development sites such as the Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station and HS2 station at Toton. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to bring long-lasting
transformation to the East Midlands economy,” he said during an AGM speech that looked ahead to 2021. “We’ll be very supportive of that agenda.” Scott said international trade will be a key focus
Ex-president Dawn Edwards 46 business network February 2021
over the coming year and the Chamber would be ready to support members on additional administrative burdens, while helping to meet the needs of businesses during the post-Covid economic recovery.
Reflecting on the “Build Back Better” agenda that
has become a key policy soundbite, he told members about how the Chamber will increase its activity around the Sustainable East Midlands campaign, which aims to increase engagement among businesses with the low-carbon agenda. He added: “We think there’s a fantastic opportunity for the East Midlands economy to focus on the outputs of what a sustainable economic drive might bring.” Other key 2021 projects for the Chamber include
the Generation Next network – which was launched in 2020 to help develop the region’s future business leaders and retain its best young talent – supporting projects stemming from the new UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which will replace European-funded programmes, and the Kickstart scheme, which has already signed up more than 400 employers to bid for about 1,500 work placements aimed at getting young people into the labour market.
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