Hampshire’s voice of business has laid out its growth aspirations for the county and Britain as a whole.
The rallying call for a more enterprising, better-skilled trading nation came from Stewart Dunn, chief executive of Hampshire Chamber of Commerce.
He spoke at the organisation’s fourth annual Talking Business Conference and Exhibition, attended by 120 delegates on Wednesday 22 October.
Mr Dunn’s speech resonated with the inspirational work being done by three guest speakers at the event, two of whom are entrepreneurs and the other in charge of a business that supports thousands of jobs and generates hundreds of millions of pounds to the economy in Southampton alone.
Entitled A Business Plan for Britain, The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) manifesto, setting out a five-year plan for a thriving economy, has been adopted by the Chamber and at other accredited chambers through the UK.
Mr Dunn said: “To achieve these aspirations we at the Chamber, as the voice of business in Hampshire, believe passionately that business must be at the heart of local growth.
“By doing so, and ensuring business growth takes centre stage in local decision-making and procurement, it will boost the economies of our cities, towns and the county.”
Other job-creating successes by the Chamber were outlined:
· The Solent Growth Hub, a partnership between the Chamber, local authorities and universities acting as a one-stop shop, has signposted firms to available business support finance. To date, 9,000 businesses have been contacted, with 750 directly visited and nearly 200 jobs created.
· Creation of 80 jobs through Future Solent, a project which assists growth through low-carbon initiatives for Hampshire-based companies investing in jobs, technologies and skills. Funding is from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, with the Chamber, local authorities, energy companies and universities working in partnership keen to stimulate sustainable growth whilst reducing carbon footprints.
· Forty signed memorandum of understandings with Romanian chambers to help businesses in Hampshire take advantage of competitive rates, manufacturing capacity and labour costs. The initiative is called BRIDGE.
· Export support – to date more than 1,500 businesses in Hampshire have been seen, with the Chamber co-ordinating export help and advice to local firms in conjunction with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and BCC. Of these, 117 have been referred to UKTI and other organisations, such as funding bodies, to boost export initiatives.
Solent region’s role in the global economy was highlighted by James Cooper, the chief executive of Associated British Ports.
He spoke of how the 4th largest port in the UK by tonnage supports 11,000 jobs in the region, including 5,000 at the docks, and boosts the local economy to the tune of £750m.
One of the latest export successes in Hampshire is The Yes Yes Company, based in Petersfield, with co-founder Sarah Brooks outlining how the business, which produces organic personal lubricants for pleasure and health, began.
Such is the commercial success in a market worth £1.3 billion, including orders from the NHS, licensed patents and ‘white-label’ agreements, award-winning Yes Yes now exports 55% of products to 92 countries.
The third speaker was Paul Thomas, the managing director of Lead Forensics, a leading provider of online lead generation technology, and telemarketer MarketMakers, employing 400 people and a regular in The Sunday Times’ 100 Best Places to Work (small business category). The business has offices in Portsmouth and Atlanta.
A questions-and-answers session was also held on a range of issues, with a panel of six speakers from companies and organisations with a strong presence in Hampshire.
They were Marc Long, head of employment at law firm Clarke Willmott, mechanical engineer Jan Ward, who founded Corrotherm International, a supplier of equipment to the oil industry, Andrew Edmonds, head of assurance and business services at accountancy and investment management group Smith & Williamson, Mark Baulch, the regional co-ordinator for the Overseas Business Network initiative, Gareth Roberts, the managing director of Bishops Printers, and Mr Thomas from Lead Forensics.
Two honorary life memberships for services to Hampshire Chamber, and the predecessor chambers of Portsmouth and Southampton, were conferred to Steven Howarth of Portsmouth-based Leonard Gold and David Knott of Winchester’s TKL Architects.
A new red-and-white corporate look to the Chamber’s marketing material was unveiled, under the ‘You’re Better Connected’ strapline.
The conference was held at British American Tobacco’s facilities in Southampton.
It was chaired by Andrew Finney, the Chamber president and chairman of HCR Group, an employee relocation and property management company in Basingstoke with 112 staff.
