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Chamber Council Minutes 7th March 2008 Print E-mail
Friday, 04 April 2008

The meeting was held at the Holiday Inn Royal Victoria.

 

Present: Nick Williams (Chair of Chamber Council), Nigel Tomlinson (SCCI), Paul Reeves     (SCCI), Brandon Jones   (First South Yorkshire Ltd), Laurence Gavin (Irwin Mitchell), Jonathan Hunt (Wake Smith Tofield), Peter Wood (Sheffield Technology Parks), Paul Hancock (Bright Finance), Bob Cushing (Wired Workplace), Julie Byrne (Sheffield College), Yuri Matischen (MLS), David Child (Aspire & Transform), Yvonne Beach (University of Sheffield), Hermann Beck (Holiday Inn Royal Victoria), Philip Gregory (PWC), Alison Hurndall (HR Media), David Moody (Lord Lieutenant), Helen Rana (SCCI), Edward Highfield (Sheffield City Council), Tracy Viner (Tracy Viner Ltd), Michael Shepherd (PKF), Richard Edwards (GJ & Hall Ltd), Ken Torres (Torres Pumps Ltd), Tim Hale (Champion Hire Ltd), Paul Jagger (Past President of SCCI), Richard Wright (President of SCCI), Tracey Williams (SCCI)  Apologies:John Barber (BE-SY), Suzanne Liversidge (Halliwells), Lucinda White (JCI), Brenda Jordan (SCCI), Peter Lee (Beachcroft LLP), Graham Walker (Natwest), John Hayward (Chesterfield Cylinders), Simon Walker (John Lewis), Jill Davies (Westfield Health), Julie Readman (BLSY), Steven Davis (EEF), Chris Booth (SHU), Gordon Bridge (Master Cutler), Anita Brough (Russell Richardson), Jon Stewart (Siemens VAI), Keith Shivers (MJ Gleeson), Nick Tovey (Wardell Armstrong), Jay Bhayani (Watson Esam), Bernd Klein (Universal Alloys & Metals)

Chamber Council paid tribute to Derek Dooley, who died this week. Nick Williams welcomed Brandon Jones and Yvonne Beach to their first meeting of Chamber Council. 

 

  1. Presentation
Yuri Matischen spoke about private sector engagement with the London 2012 Olympics.  He explained the five key strands of the plan leading up to the Olympics, and stated that the www.Competefor.com website is where Olympics-related tenders are advertised. Yuri added that Sheffield business cannot afford to wait for Olympics opportunities to come to them; they must go out and create opportunities for themselves. Following the presentation, Chamber Council members directed various questions towards Yuri, including asking when the British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) games will take place in Sheffield.   Yuri responded that the BUSA games will take place from 13th to 17th March 2008, and will continue to be held in Sheffield for the next three years.  The event has not been publicised very widely as there is no organisation in Sheffield which deals with PR of this sort at present. Edward Highfield suggested asking Brendan Moffett to present at Chamber Council in the future to speak on this wider issue. Yuri stated that Creative Sheffield had been instrumental in keeping the World Snooker Championships in Sheffield, and that is the sort of engagement that is needed to attract and retain high-profile events to the city. Yuri said that the Olympics website has a great deal of information if any Council Members wished to find out more.  Nick Williams wished Yuri all the best, and thanked him for the presentation.  

 

  1. Previous Minutes and Matters Arising
 The action point which stated that Stephen Mitchell would arrange a group to look at election procedures will be carried forward to the next meeting.  Richard Edwards requested that this be actioned within the next week.  Action:  Richard Wright will follow up the election procedures group meeting with Stephen Mitchell. Ken Torres raised the issue of the Sheffield Chamber cabinets at the Town Hall and the related agreement with Made in Sheffield.  Ken suggested moving the cabinets to a more prominent place, to raise awareness of the brand.  Nigel stated that he will be speaking to Brendan Moffett, Phil Roberts and Charles Turner to discuss the cabinets in the near future. In relation to the action point regarding a new format for the AGM, Paul Reeves reported that a full review was currently taking place of the events function within the Chamber and commented on an example that had been used in Rotherham in association with First Group where the AGM would encompass a presentation on successes from the previous year and also look to celebrate local business achievements. In relation to the action point about people with legal expertise helping with standing orders, Nick Williams reported that nobody has come forward.  Tracy Viner suggested approaching Suzanne Liversidge. Nick Williams also reported that Nick Tovey had drafted an official feedback form for presentations given at forum meetings, in order that they can be constructive and consistent in their feedback. Tim Hale thanked Paul Reeves for producing name badges for Chamber Council members. With regard to the point discussing the successor for the Chief Executive of Sheffield City Council, Nick Williams and Richard Wright have visited the local Labour party and will meet with the Liberal Democrats next week to discuss this and other matters.  The Council are considering Nick and Richard’s suggestion of the Chamber giving input on the business side of the job description, or to make comments to ensure that business interests are reflected in the selection procedure.  John Mothersole has been appointed as interim Chief Executive.  Rumours about making the position lower profile have been rejected by Jan Wilson. Chamber Council members ratified Tracy Viner, Nick Williams and Hugh Firth as Chamber representatives on the Herbert Hughes memorial fund. In relation to Ken Torres’ issue with Capita, Ken reported that he has received two further letters from MPs, but none yet from government ministers.  Action: Ken will speak to Helen Rana about this matter to see if the Chamber can have further useful input.  

 

  1. Matters to be raised by Members of Council
 Ken Torres raised the issue of having a time limit for profiles of Chamber Council members to be listed. Tracey Williams agreed to add a list of actions at the end of the Chamber Council minutes from now on. Richard Edwards raised the issue of Chamber Council minutes not having been uploaded to the SCCI website since last year.  Nigel Tomlinson stated that there are problems with the website and a new tender document has been produced to try to rectify this through the design of a new Chamber website. Ken Torres commented that Enterprise Rent a Car has withdrawn as a Chamber patron, and asked why this was.  Paul Reeves responded that ERAC no longer have the marketing spend to sustain their patronage and withdrew from patronage at the end of 2006.  However he went on to state that Chamber patronage is at its highest ever level of 10 patrons.  

  1. Board Report
 Nigel Tomlinson reported that from 1st April 2008 the International Trade Centre will no longer be a funded body at SCCI.  The partnership in South Yorkshire will be retained but will have to be a fully commercial model.  Nigel stated that there is already a substantial commercial model in place, and they are going to develop new services as well as look at the Bradford model which has been successful following the loss of their funding some years ago.  Nigel highlighted the need to work out a well thought out strategy, with the possibility of applying for other public funding for international support in collaboration with Creative Sheffield in due course. With regard to the press coverage surrounding the loss of funding for the ITC, Nigel stated that the Chamber had defended itself against various unfounded accusations, and had held a number of meetings and discussions with Yorkshire Forward personnel since.  There will be a further press statement jointly released over the next couple of weeks. Richard Edwards stated that it is important to work together with Yorkshire World Trade Forum, of which he is a member.  Nigel Tomlinson agreed, stating that it could contribute to the Chamber as a lobbying group and to monitor Y&H IDB’s performance on international trade, and that he was keen to meet with the group to discuss working together.  Richard Edwards suggested that he, Ken Torres and Bernt Klein meet with Nigel.  Nigel stated that all three South Yorkshire chambers must be involved in the meeting as they are the core partners of the SYITC. David Childs asked about the bigger picture, suggesting a mapping exercise to take into account the different levels of businesses in the economy.  Nigel stated that he is aware they need to take their time and plan effectively for a future funded international trade proposal for the sub-region, should the partners deem that to be appropriate. Ken Torres asked how Yorkshire Forward could withdraw the funding so easily.  Richard Wright explained that there was an option in the contract to withdraw if the Business Link contract changed.  Nigel Tomlinson added that he has received notification from the BCC that all Chambers in the country have undergone a review of their funded international trade support activities and many will lose out post-April 08. Bob Cushing asked if the Chamber was planning on taking on any larger delivery contracts to be offered by the new Business Link provider, Y&H IDB.  Richard Wright stated that the Chamber is planning on doing this.  There is different competition now, as there are regional competitors rather than just sub-regional.  SCCI has anticipated this development and set up SID and taken other steps to mitigate the effect of this change.  Nigel added that it was a strange irony that at the same time as this loss, the EU were placing further contracts with SCCI for delivery of international support. Yuri Matischen suggested that perhaps the Chamber has relied too much on public money as an organisation supporting business and entrepreneurs, and maybe it is worth asking members to pay a little more in fees to become independent and gain more ability to influence the different agencies.  

 

  1. Forum Activites Report.
No objections were raised to the information contained within the forum activities report.   

  1. Any Other Business
 Ken Torres thanked the President and the Master Cutler for attending World Trade Forum event. Tim Hale asked who has the right to attend Forum meetings.  Richard Edwards stated that Chamber Council members are encouraged to attend any of the Chamber committees and can attend irrespective of an invite. Action: Tracey Williams will circulate details of meeting dates for all forums to Chamber Council.  

 

  1. Date of next meeting
The next meeting will be on Friday 9th May in the Thomas Ward Suite at Albion House.  
 List of Actions  

 

Carried forward from last meeting:
  • Stephen Mitchell will arrange a group meeting to look at election procedures.
 From current meeting:

  • Richard Wright will follow up the action point on an election procedures group meeting with Stephen Mitchell.
  • Ken Torres will speak to Helen Rana about the issue with Capita to see if the Chamber can have further useful input.
  • Tracey Williams will circulate details of meeting dates for all forums to Chamber Council
 
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