The Scottish Borders Chamber of Commerce has taken another step in its redevelopment with the creation of a new website which directors hope will provide a ‘go-to’ online presence for local businesses.
After a few years where the local chamber struggled with direction and volunteers, it has been regenerated by chairman Trevor Jackson and a team of board directors that represent businesses large and small across the region. Roz Haughey has also been appointed as full-time Membership Engagement Manager and Jackie Roberts heads the Chamber’s administration as it powers up.
With support from the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, Scottish Government and the Scottish Enterprise EcoSystem Fund, it launched into 2024 with a ‘Big Small Business Festival’ run over four days in March. That attracted several hundred delegates to a series of workshops, seminars and meetings from Peebles to Eyemouth, and began to plot a strategy that brings the Scottish Government closer to rural business and Borders firms closer to government policy.
With the launch of the new SBCC website, Mr Jackson said: “The Borders needs a strong presence and profile in the business world, because we have good, knowledgeable business people here, whether they are one-person operations, budding entrepreneurs or in large-scale businesses that have been going for many decades and finding ways through the challenges we face to keep growing the Borders economy and workforce.”
“The festival was a great opportunity for us at the Chamber to tell people that we exist, that we’re growing again, and that we are there to support them. But crucially it was also a great week of listening to discussions and debates among local people and hearing first-hand what support they need to survive as a business and grow.”
“One of the big things to emerge was support in building the Borders business community’s profile, and so that is a big area for us at the Chamber. We have launched a new website as the first step in a process of improving communications, public awareness and working with our local media and national media to ensure the Borders is not a forgotten land but plays a key role in developing the Scottish economy and its global presence, and, in turn, benefits from policy and funding going forward.”
He added that discussions are ongoing with local businesses around the development of the Chamber and invited those not currently members to get in touch.
“The website is key to that for us,” he said. “It will develop over the coming months with more and more input from local businesses, and we will use it as a route to understanding issues, what our local businesses need to thrive, and to re-strengthen the network. We are firmly focused on building a strong, collective identity for the Borders, with all its variety and expertise, and establishing a network that supports all businesses from the very small and those just taking their first steps to the big employers.”
“Our new strapline is ‘Vision, Visibility and Voice’, because that’s what we want for the Borders, and we are now working hard with local businesses to put substance behind that.”
The new-look Scottish Borders Chamber of Commerce, and its events and network plans, can be found at:
borderschamber.com
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