CONNECT BCC DIRECTOR GENERAL VISITS THE CHAMBER

The Chamber were delighted to welcome Shevaun Haviland, Director General at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), to our first roundtable event of 2023 at Huntingdon Racecourse.

Shevaun attends regular B5 meetings with BEIS, she also has links with the chancellor and briefings with the Prime Minister. Shevaun was previously at the Cabinet Office where she led Business Partnerships. Shevaun joined the UK government in 2016, ran the Inclusive Economy Partnership, and spent two years leading business relations for No10.

It was extremely beneficial for the companies attending and Shevaun to discuss the current challenges, opportunities and barriers to growth.

Shevaun commented: “My recent visit to Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce gave me a valuable insight into the brilliant innovation and entrepreneurship of thriving British businesses in the area, as well as the challenges facing local firms.

“I really enjoyed meeting many of the Chambers’ business patron members from across the Cambridgeshire area at Huntingdon racecourse. We discussed opportunities and barriers to growth, which included trade challenges stemming from Brexit as well as the difficulties businesses are facing in finding people with the right skills, particularly in the engineering and hospitality sectors.

“Many of the businesses I met offered practical solutions to some of these challenges, including utilising flexible working patterns to entice workers back into the labour market – which we in the BCC are advocating for at local and national levels.

“My visit also included a trip to the new offices of Paragraf, a local firm that produce graphene-based electronic devices. It’s always great to get to see the work of our UK businesses on the ground, and I’d like to thank the Paragraf team for taking the time to meet with me.

“A special congratulations also to Dr Tom Williamson and all at ARU Peterborough for their recent success in securing levelling up funding. This is vital to the prosperity and growth of the area, and I look forward to watching their progress into the future.

“I’d like to thank the team at the Chamber for their time and hospitality. These visits

Building connections

The Chamber provides many opportunities for members to widen their network of business contacts at events across the county.

In February we were delighted to hold at event, supported by Novotel Cambridge North, to raise awareness and funds for Maggie’s Cambridge, our Charity of the Year.

Novotel generously catered for 50 people to attend this event at no cost so that all ticket sales could be donated to the charity. Those attending were able to hear more about the Charity and their plans for a new centre on the Addenbrookes site. Saiman Miah, Senior Architect at Mott MacDonald – Architecture and Wellbeing Interventions on Commercial Projects, explained the role of an architect in projects such as the Maggie’s Centre are pivotal to my role in representing the Chamber network at a national level in discussions with Government and in the media, in order to ensure we bring about the change needed to grow our great businesses.” build and talked about some of the work they are currently undertaking. The event concluded with Speed Networking. Turn to pages 42-43 to see what events are coming up in April and May to build new connections.

Chamber roundtable events are for Patron members and invited key local businesses in our local area to meet with our guest speaker. They have limited numbers to ensure that each person has time to join in the discussion and ask any questions they may have.