TO BE AVAILABLE ON THE DORSET CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY WEBSITE MINUTES

Transcription

1 TO BE AVAILABLE ON THE DORSET CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY WEBSITE MINUTES Dorset Chamber of Commerce & Industry Council Meeting at 4.30pm Thursday 13 th September, Poole Harbour Commissioners Present: Chris Slocock (CS), Helen Stacey (HS), Ian Cambrook (IC), Ian Girling (IG Nicola Newman (NN), Steve Bendell (SB), Tony Brown (TB), James Aiden-Smith (JAS), Vicki Hailes (VH), (minutes) and Suzannah Reid. ACTION Dorset Chamber of Commerce & Industry will be shown as (DCCI) throughout the Minutes. 1. Welcome & Resignations (CS) welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced the new DCCI Gateway Advisor, Suzannah Kennedy before inviting table introductions. Apologies were received from Chris Palmer, (CP), James Lattimer (JL), Julia Cohen (JC), Kimberley Davies, (KD), Mandy Holford, (MH), James Stelfox (JS), Paul Collins (PC) and Simon West (SW) (CS) suggested working through a couple of the agenda items prior to Finn Morgan s presentation on the delivery of the new Gateway programme. 2. Minutes of the Ambassador Meeting held on 19 th July 2018 (CS) proposed the minutes, these were seconded by (IG) and agreed unanimously by the Council. The Minutes were signed as a true and accurate record of that meeting. He then invited (IG) to update on the two actions. (IG) said both actions were had been completed and updated that in addition to the 24-point Brexit plan circulated to the Ambassadors, the BCC were circulating the results of a recent survey on Brexit. (IG) said that over two and half thousand businesses had taken part and this would also be circulated to the Ambassadors. (VH) to circulate BCC Brexit survey to Ambassadors (IG) said that with the uncertainty around the Brexit deal it was important that DCCI were prepared and able to offer practical advice, He said therefore an event was being planned around in early April and would include possible key/ministerial presenters. (IG) said he welcomed ideas and suggestions from the Ambassadors. 1

2 3. Dorset Gateway Service (IG) began his presentation saying that following the closure of the Business Link service eleven years ago there had was a hole in the business support infrastructure. He said that this has been filled to some extent by the Dorset Growth Hub and latterly now by the Dorset Gateway Service. He explained that by DCCI providing a single point of access signposting to both public and private range of solutions this would help businesses negotiate their way around the services and support available. He explained about the various enquiries DCCI could expect and Suzannah updated on a couple of enquiries she had already received to date. (IG) spoke about the targets that would need to be achieved in order to fulfil the criteria of the bid and said that 300 business would need to be targeted, with 150 of those businesses taking up external growth services with a follow up on 100 of those businesses. (IG) concluded his report saying that the bid had come at a good time for the Chamber affording DCCI strong positioning both operationally and strategically as a central point of businesses support. He then introduced Finn Morgan, Business Engagement and Dorset Gateway Manager LEP. Finn began his presentation outlining the four elements of the Gateway Service. He said that two of the delivery services were being managed in-house by the LEP and that the bid writing service and the custom brokerage service had been sub-contracted. He gave an overall view of the companies involved in the delivery and supply of services and explained that the LEP were responding to a much-needed change in order for Dorset to grow. Finn explained more about the role that the custom brokerages service would provide signposting businesses, i.e. pre-start, start-ups and growth to the most appropriate support available. He said this would provide opportunities for businesses and organisations across the region and this strategy would link in with Dorset s strategic local economic plan. Finn concluded his report and invited questions. (CS) asked if this would further strengthen the role of LEP with businesses engagement and Finn said that the national trend towards LEP s had changed and they were now looking where they could add real value, drive growth and add productivity. He said the LEP had a real opportunity to refresh it s offer and (CS) agreed saying he was encouraged by the strengthening relationship between DCCI and the LEP. He thanked Finn for a very interesting presentation. 4. Dorset Chamber Policy Watch Sep 2018 (IC) presented his policy report Sep 2018 (a copy of which is attached to and forms part of these Minutes) to Council prior to the meeting. (IC) commented on a number of issues, some of which have been noted below. He began his report with an update on Brexit outlining the 3 divorce issues that the UK and EU have provisionally agreed and summarised the current state of play. He updated that there was no change on the Government s growth deal over the summer period and reported on the Apprenticeship Levy. He said that new figures had begun to show an improvement in Apprenticeship starts and said that this might be because the Government had 2

3 lifted some of the restrictions on the transfer of apprenticeship service funds. (IC) said that more changes were necessary and overall figures showed a fall of almost 25% uptake of apprentices compared to the same point last year. Around the table it was agreed that a lot of negativity still exists around apprenticeships with the misconception of cheap labour still prevalent with apprenticeships not being viewed as a positive opportunity. He concluded his report on an update on the works being carried out on the A338 to improve the Blackwater junction. This raised a general discussion on the scope of involvement the Chamber could assist with and (IG) confirmed that he had spoken with Bournemouth Echo to voice his concerns on behalf of local businesses. He said that DCCI had been vocal in its support and he had been invited to by Dorset County Council to attend a stake holder meeting and would refer to the points raised by the Ambassadors this afternoon. 5. CEO Monthly Update (IG) updated that the October Business Partner renewals had gone well with all Business Partners renewing their membership. He said that Events manager, Vikki Southern, had now left DCCI and the position was being advertised. He stressed that it was important the right person be recruited to fill the role but in the meantime the DCCI team were working to ensure the smooth running of the events programme. He updated on the recent China Conference and said this had been well attended and that the planning for forthcoming Careers and Enterprise show on 26th September was going well. (IG) said that 75 businesses had signed up to exhibit at the show with 4,000 students expected to attend. (IG) concluded saying that DCCI had entered the British Chambers of Commerce Chamber of Year and reminded Ambassadors that the AGM process would be starting soon. He said those at the end of their three-year term would be contacted in due course and to please confirm if they wished to stand for another 3-year term. 6. Any Other business There being no further business the meeting concluded at 6.10pm. Dates of next meetings: Council Meetings all commence at 4.30pm venues tbc Thursday 22 nd Nov 8. Board Meetings all commence at 4.30 pm at Chamber House Thursday 11 th Oct Thursday 13 th Dec 3

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8 Monthly DCCI update Any Other Business There being no further businesses the meeting concluded at 6.10pm. Dates of next meetings: 2018Council Meetings all commence at 4.30pm venues tbc Thursday 13 th Sep Thursday 22 nd Nov 8

9 Board Meetings all commence at 4.30 pm at Chamber House Thursday 30 th Aug Thursday 11 th Oct Thursday 13 th Dec 9

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