Latest Updates From Surrey Chambers CEO – November 2023

30th October 2023

 

Surrey Business Awards

We had a great night at the Surrey Business Awards last month. The evening was a great opportunity to do what we love to do at the Chamber, which is to network with the business community. The highlight was the presentation of 15 awards, including many gained by Surrey Chambers members. Notably, Croxsons were crowned overall Company of the Year, ramsac, Large Business of the Year and Employer of the Year and login business lounge took Start-up of the Year. The Community Hero award went to Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey and Sussex and Something Big were recognised as Chamber Member of the Year. Mandira’s Kitchen and Tenscare were also Highly Commended in their categories.

In spite of all the challenges thrown at them, Surrey businesses find ways to continue to flourish and show incredible resilience and innovation. We had a fantastic set of entries, and those of us judging had a very difficult task of choosing winners as every single business had an amazing story to tell.

Skills

Skills remain a key focus of the chamber as it is the people in our organisations, who deliver the successes we are familiar with. We need them to be suitably trained and we need to be able to access the training and skills necessary. There are more details in the magazine, but we have now launched our Opportunities tab allowing Employers and training providers to more easily link up and work together to ensure the best prepared workforce of the future.

Surrey County Council have announced the launch of a Careers Hub covering the whole of Surrey, ensuring standardisation in the provision available. The team has started work with the county’s secondary schools, special schools, and colleges with the aim of ensuring every young person can find their best next step. We will be encouraging businesses to get involved by offering workplace encounters, support schools directly as an Enterprise Advisor, or strategically guide the work as a Cornerstone Employer. Businesses need a strong and agile workforce to thrive and grow, and the County Council together with the Careers Hub will support our businesses to secure the workforce of the future.

Keeping businesses UpToDate

We love making sure our members are well informed about the many aspects of running a business. Our latest signpost could be a game changer. Looking after your workforce is key and Chamber members, Crossroads Care Surrey have just launched their Employers Hub for Unpaid Caring, a new resource to help employers support carers in their workforce. Regardless of the size of a business, research shows that by supporting unpaid carers and using a flexible working approach, you will have better staff retention, reduce recruitment and training costs and increase productivity.

Meanwhile in Westminster

The world of business representation has never been more important with the upcoming general election and the need to make sure whichever party is elected; they understand what is needed to support businesses. The national chamber network is stronger than ever enabling us to have an effective voice in Westminster and have a real influence on policy decisions. At the recent party conferences, we were front and centre representing business interests and will continue to challenge present and future governments to support the wealth generators of our society-the businesses.

Surrey Chambers of Commerce can be reached on 01483 735540, info@surrey-chambers.co.uk, @surreychambers www.surrey-chambers.co.uk