Dorset Chamber CEO talks to Marilyn Barber

To be the Chief Executive Officer of a company over the past four years has been tough for all business leaders, none more so than the head of Dorset Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which boasts 650 members and reaches nearly 18,000 social media users and 10,000 people though its monthly business magazine which is produced by Pulford Publicity.

“It’s been extremely challenging for businesses with unforeseen global challenges and we will continue to do our absolute best for our business community. We’ve done well and weathered the storm,” said Ian Girling, who celebrated the 10th anniversary of being in charge of the Chamber at the recent annual meeting.

“Our highlight of 2023 was the Dorset Business Festival, a four-day celebration that included a networking launch, a major conference and expo and the return of the Dorset Business Awards.

“With a footfall of over 800 businesses, this was the largest and most ambitious project ever undertaken by Dorset Chamber.”

The festival will return in October and will be over a two-week period.

Highlights of 2023 included the re-launching of The Dorset Apprenticeship Awards, the delivery of the first stage of the Dorset Local Skills Improvement Programme, the launch of a Future Leaders Forum and a continued focus on health and wellbeing initiatives as well as its vision of ‘Enabling Better Lives through Business’.

2024 is a very special year for the Chamber as it will be celebrating its 75th year.

“It was started by a group of engineers – engineering is in our blood,” Ian said. “Chambers can be traditional, but they also need to be relevant.”

He added there had been a lot of changes to the business world in the last 10 years, including the introduction of technology such as artificial intelligence, and the Chamber had adapted and evolved.

Ian said he was really proud that the Chamber had raised awareness of the menopause and the importance of women in the workplace.

The pandemic was a particularly difficult time for Ian.“I was in my office on my own for 12 months during which time I produced around 50 videos which I put on LinkedIn and which received thousands of views. I was worried that businesses would collapse, but my team worked well.”

He said there was a gap of 577 days during which time no face-to-face meetings were held.

Dorset Chamber was named as one of the top five chambers of commerce in the UK during 2023.

Find out more about Dorset Chamber on their website https://dorsetchamber.co.uk/