Brighton & Hove Chamber AGM

Brighton Chamber members gathered on Friday, 31 May for an AGM with a difference.

“We’ve done the AGM a little bit differently this time,” explained Chamber president Julia Chanteray, “we didn’t think members wanted a big fancy dinner this year.”

Instead members were given a warm welcome by The Martlets hospice, whose hospitality in providing tea and coffee and a great space for the meeting was appreciated by everyone.

Julia announced that in 2012 the Chamber had more members than it has done in the recent past, and that its wide range of events was extremely well attended.

“The Chamber has been taken more seriously in the city on a political level. We have been able to push things that are on the business agenda much more firmly,” she went on to say.

Progress on this front has included work with the Living Wage campaign, the only business-led living wage campaign in the world, and the Business Support Partnership, which strives to forge closer links between business people and the council.

Julia also touched on the Chamber’s popular programme of events, including our Wayfinder sessions, offering confidential peer support; our “amazing” centenary summit and our “phenomenally successful” bite-sized learning events.

A small loss was recorded for 2012, mainly due to subsidising the Chamber rooms, which have now been closed down. However, this was a much smaller loss than the year before, and this year we are on course to make a small profit.

It was announced that the Chamber would be changing its constitution this year, and that the role of the large executive board would be taken on by the smaller existing board. This streamlining of our structure will enable us to be more responsive to our members.

When asked about looking into new ways of networking, Julia replied that facilitated networking took place at the new member meetings, and added that there is a similar session for creative businesses coming up.

Chamber director Sarah Springford then closed a concise and productive meeting by giving an outline of our exciting programme of upcoming events, including The Big Debate: State of the City on Tuesday, 9 July.

The minutes of the 2012 AGM, the accounts and changes to the articles of association were all passed, and all board member nominees were re-elected.

Written by Rosalind Branagan
@rsb_2013
www.jwtrainee.wordpress.com

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