Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce visits Shropshire
The Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce recently visited the county to speak with local business owners, and to see first-hand the work being done by Shropshire’s own Chamber of Commerce.
John Longworth visited the Chamber team at their Telford headquarters, before heading off to local civil engineering and building firm McPhillips, and taking a tour of the Chamber’s dedicated training and meeting room facility at The Academy in Shrewsbury. “It’s been a fascinating day, and I’ve really enjoyed exploring a little of the county as the Shropshire Chamber of Commerce team have shown me around” he explained.
“I’ve been very impressed with the work that the Shropshire Chamber has been carrying out on their members behalf, and they are certainly punching above their weight in terms of the volume and quality of events and networking opportunities they provide” he explained.
John has enjoyed an illustrious career in business including roles as an Executive Main Board Director for Asda Group Ltd, and has held senior Director positions at Tesco Stores Ltd and the CWS, and public roles with the likes of the British Retail Consortium and as economic spokesperson for the Confederation of British Industry.
“I’m trying to work my way across the country visiting all of the Chambers within the British Chambers of Commerce organisation” he explained, “and I’m eager to hear first-hand what business owners are experiencing – both opportunities and challenges – so that we can provide them a national voice.”
Richard Sheehan, Managing Director of the Shropshire Chamber of Commerce explained: “We were thrilled that John was able to make the time to come and see us and he was really complimentary about our organisation and the work that we’ve been doing. We were able to share our members’ real concerns about infrastructure issues such as road and rail links, broadband speed and reliability, the growing costs of overheads like energy, and access to an appropriately-skilled workforce. He’s taken all of this away and will be actively seeking opportunities to support us, and our members, in best resolving these difficulties where we can.”
“It’s a national picture in many cases” added John. “We need to make it as easy as possible for businesses here in Shropshire, and across the UK, to do business and through discussions like the ones we had today, we’re collating a list of infrastructure projects to put to the Government and to help our members continue to thrive and grow.”
