Chamber Initiatives
The BCC has been approached recently by CEOs, who wish to share and showcase new ideas and initiatives with their CEO colleagues. This is very much welcomed as it increases Chamber engagement and collaboration within the Network, helping to identify which initiatives would benefit from, and be suitable to potentially having national exposure, rather than just local. It would build capacity within the Network to develop and implement new ideas without, necessarily, being reliant on scarce BCC resources to drive and implement.
The most effective means of showcasing new ideas is to give CEOs an opportunity to speak at one of the regular CEO calls.
We felt it would be a good idea to establish a simple process to manage such requests and to ensure CEOs have some information on an initiative/idea, prior to it being discussed on a call, so that they have time to review and consider. The call is the mechanism for Chambers to showcase and discuss their ideas with the Network. The objective is to ensure all Chambers have the same opportunity to have their ideas discussed and considered. Any proposal will be considered – e.g. commercial, policy, social, community-based. Those that align to, and would help deliver, the BCC’s strategy / business plan would be identified as such by BCC and this would be noted.
Please see here for the new initiatives process description and form. This form will need to be completed by any CEOs with ideas they want to discuss.
Earlier in the year Corin Crane, from the Black Country Chamber, discussed an LGBT initiative on a CEO call, that the Chamber wants to pursue. We asked Corin to complete the initiatives process / form. Please find this attached here along with the original proposal here.
This initiative will be coming back to the CEO call on Wednesday 19 August for discussion.
Should any of you have any queries about this process or the LGBT initiative being proposed by Corin, then please do not hesitate to contact Joy Shewring.
OTHER NEWS
UK Business Heroes – Celebrating Businesses One Story at a Time
To recognise the incredible work that businesses are doing right across the UK, in the most challenging of years, we will be launching the UK Business Heroes Campaign internally to the Chamber network on 1 September. The campaign will pay tribute to them, recognising their contribution by giving them the UK Business Heroes stamp, demonstrating that that they have gone the extra mile to support their local community during the Coronavirus outbreak.
How it will work
We will be asking you for stories about how a business – or an individual – has helped during the outbreak. You can submit up to 25 businesses or individuals, from 1 – 30 September, and they can be made up of members and non-members. Please note that this will not be an external call for entries, we are asking Chambers to nominate businesses.
We will be looking for businesses that have:
| • | Helped their local NHS and care homes |
| • | Transformed into an e-commerce business, working to get essential supplies to people |
| • | Supported the most vulnerable in their local community |
| • | Pivoted their production lines to produce critical parts or products |
| • | Made a massive difference |
| • | Gone the extra mile for some other reason! |
From October, all nominated businesses will receive a UK Business Heroes stamp to use on their marketing materials, so their customers, partners and suppliers know what a fantastic contribution they have made. We will also showcase their stories by sharing a selection of case studies, across a range of business sectors, sizes and locations, to show the diversity of the businesses within our network.
If you would like more information on this please contact Carla Robinson.
‘Countdown to Change’ Webinar Series
We are launching a brand new series of events – four topical and interactive webinars, designed to count down to the end of the EU Transition period.
They will be full of practical information and advice on what businesses need to do now in order to be prepared for the changes on 1 January 2021. They will also guide businesses through the jargon and complexities of Customs processes to ensure they understand what change is required.
Hosted by Customs expert Liam Smyth, these highly relevant and engaging webinars will guide businesses through the complexity of change in our import and export processes, systems and controls from 1st January 2020. There is more information here and please contact Liam if you have any queries.
Webinar dates for your diary:
| • | Webinar 1: 100 days to go – Tuesday 22nd September, 15.30 – 16.30 |
| • | Webinar 2: 75 days to go – Friday 16 October, 10:00 – 11:00 |
| • | Webinar 3: 50 days to go – Wednesday 11 November, 10:00 – 11:00 |
| • | Webinar 4: 30 days to go – Tuesday 1st December, 10:00 – 11:00 |
How the bookings will work:
So that you retain the relationship with your members, we ask that each Chamber promotes and takes bookings for each date. You will see below a deadline date for each event when guest numbers need to be sent to Julia Watson. Once she receives your numbers for the event, then she will send you a link out to you to forward to guests so they can join the call.
It’s important that she receives these numbers to ensure that we have the right capacity for attendees on zoom. We don’t want to turn your members away, so we need to allow time to prepare for an upgrade if needed.
Deadlines for participant numbers to Julia:
| • | Webinar 1 – noon 15 September |
| • | Webinar 2 – noon 9 October |
| • | Webinar 3 – noon 4 November |
| • | Webinar 4 – noon 24 November |