Business Representation

Whilst the Chamber of Commerce is a non-political organisation, a key activity of a Chamber is to canvass on behalf of its Members. Although we cannot take up individual cases, we can lobby for policy change, new policies to be developed and for Local Authorities, Scottish Government and Westminster to be more business friendly.

This year saw CEO’s from across the whole UK Chamber Network come together on a weekly basis to share the issues of our members and to lobby both Westminster and Holyrood for those sectors that were often missed out of the range of grant support being issuing across the period.

Not all of our asks were successful, but roundtables held with all the leading Ministers allowed us to put across your views and led to the Chamber network being consulted on many of the changes prior to implementation. Several roundtables were open to members to allow them to have dialogue directly with the Scottish Government.

Thanks to all our members who participated in a range of surveys over the year making us truly the Voice of Business in Ayrshire. Your input is crucial to the formation of our strategic direction and to allow us to represent your views.

Our thanks also go to Liz Cameron, Charandeep Singh and the team at SCC for support in this work and to our local MPs and MSPs who support our lobbying activities.