British Chambers of Commerce

British Chambers of Commerce
Abbreviation BCC
Formation 1860
Legal status Not-for-profit organisation
Purpose Chambers of commerce in the UK, and UK business
Location
Region served
Global
Membership
92,000
Director-General
 John Longworth (Resigned[1])
Affiliations Business Link
Website British Chambers of Commerce
Remarks Resigned

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is the national body of 52 accredited chambers of commerce across the UK, representing 92,000 businesses. Members range from growth-oriented start-ups to local and regional subsidiaries of multinational companies, in all commercial and industrial sectors, and from all over the UK. It has offices in both London, and Coventry. The London office is on Petty France, near the Ministry of Justice (former Home Office), and off Buckingham Gate (A323).

Director General

John Longworth has been Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) since September 2011. Mr Longworth has held a number of high-profile roles in business and public life, including stints as a senior executive at Asda and Tesco. He is currently a non-executive director of the Co-operative Group Food Ltd and Nichols plc, is a member of the Competition Commission, and is active in both social enterprise and a Midlands-based venture capital-backed company, SVA Ltd.[2]

In March 2016 Longworth resigned as the Director General following his suspension a few days earlier. Regarding the forthcoming referendum on the UK's membership of the EU Longworth had expressed views which were widely perceived as eurosceptic at a time when the BCC's official stance was neutral.

Chamber Awards

The Chamber Awards were launched by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) in 2004 to recognise and celebrate business excellence through the successes and achievements of its Accredited Chambers of Commerce and their members. To date, there have been 620 Chamber Award winners and over £250,000 given out in cash prizes. As part of recognising the significant contribution that a person under 30 can make to the success of a business, the Chamber created a new category and announced the first 'Young person in Business' award winner in November 2014, Oliver Bryssau of Origin Broadband.[3]

Annual Conference

The BCC holds an annual conference every year. The one-day event brings together business owners, Chambers of Commerce, and Ministers.

Quarterly Economic Survey

The British Chambers of Commerce (QES) is the largest and most representative independent business survey of its kind in the UK.[4] The survey has been in existence since 1989 and the survey results are widely reported in the national media.

International Trade

Export Britain is the online resource by the British Chambers of Commerce which showcases opportunities in key international markets, and links UK exporters to support available from British Chambers and business groups both in the UK and around the world.[5]

Accredited Chambers

The British Chambers of Commerce is the top-level business network in the UK, made up of 52 accredited chambers of commerce across the country. Together they represent 104,000 businesses, totalling 4,800,000 employees.

The 52 accredited Chambers are:

North East

South East

South West

North West

West Midlands

East Midlands

East of England

Yorkshire & the Humber

Wales

Northern Ireland

Scotland

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-eco/2016/03/05/97002-20160305FILWWW00048-gb-suspension-d-une-personnalite-pro-brexit.php?pagination=2#nbcomments
  2. ↑ "British Chambers of Commerce - John Longworth". Britishchambers.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  3. ↑ "Chamber Awards". Chamber Awards. 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
  4. ↑ British Chambers of Commerce Quarterly Economic Survey BCC. 2014. Retrieved on 16 June 2014.
  5. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20150222045501/http://exportbritain.org.uk/about-us.html. Archived from the original on February 22, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)

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