The Chamber of Commerce Network is proud to celebrate International Women’s Day 2021

International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. The campaign theme for International Women’s Day 2021 is ‘Choose To Challenge‘. A challenged world is an alert world. And from challenge comes change. So…

BCC gives initial response to Budget 2021

Giving his reaction to the Chancellor’s budget, Dr Adam Marshall, Director General of the BCC, said: “There’s much to welcome in this Budget for business communities across the UK. The Chancellor has listened and acted on our calls for immediate support to help struggling businesses reach the finish line of this gruelling marathon and to begin their recovery. Extensions to furlough, business rates relief…

BCC welcomes new Brexit support fund for SMEs 

Commenting on the announcement of the fund, Suren Thiru, Head of Economics at the BCC, said:   “This is a welcome first step in dealing with some of the major issues that small businesses trading with the EU are facing. With their finances already under a significant squeeze firms, particularly those which export, are inevitably encountering difficulties in adapting to the complexities of…

BCC/Totaljobs: Increase in businesses attempting to recruit in Q4 despite November lockdown, while some sectors left behind

Results from the British Chambers of Commerce Quarterly Recruitment Outlook (QRO), in partnership with Totaljobs, found that while there was a modest improvement in the overall number of businesses attempting to recruit in Q4, sectoral disparities remain.  Fieldwork for the survey was carried out between 2 and 26 November 2020, during the second lockdown. It…

The UK’s impending departure from the European Union will bring change for businesses of every size and sector

While some companies are already planning for the challenges and opportunities ahead, Chambers of Commerce believe that all firms – not just those directly and immediately affected – should be undertaking a Brexit ‘health check’, and a broader test of existing business plans. Time spent thinking through the changes that Brexit may bring to your…