Policy
Doncaster Chamber is “the voice of Doncaster business”. The aim of the Chamber’s policy function is to help support a Profitable, Productive Doncaster; the Chamber does this by proactively addressing the issues that affect the success of the local economy.
The Chamber can work to address the issues affecting the local economy because it is a completely independent organisation that is owned by the local business community. Likewise, the Chamber’s 1,200 strong membership base provides members with strength in numbers and ensures that key partners and decision makers sit up and take notice of what they are saying. Businesses typically join the Chamber because they want to create and access more commercial opportunities. The Chamber can facilitate this by helping businesses raise their profile and by brokering new business contacts through events and networking. On the other hand there are many issues that act as barriers to further business growth whether they be related to difficulties accessing procurement opportunities, failings in the transport system or skills shortages in the local area. It is essentially the job of the Chamber’s policy function to identify where the pain in the local economy is and to then work with key stakeholders to remove those barriers and engender a better climate for further business growth. The Chamber’s policy position on a range of key business issues are detailed within our Policy Manifesto.
To ensure that the Chamber accurately reflects business opinion it delivers a range of Focus Groups which are open to all Chamber members. The groups provide an excellent forum for Doncaster businesses to address the issues, concerns and opportunities pertinent to them, as well as providing an opportunity for members to network and share best practice. The Chamber runs the following sector specific focus groups: Construction Doncaster, Creative and Digital Doncaster, Pro Doncaster, Retail Doncaster, Transport and Logistics Doncaster, and the following two cross cutting groups: Knowledge and Enterprise Focus Group, Employment and Training Focus Group. The Focus Groups all feed into an overarching Chamber Policy Council which serves as the eyes, ears and voice of Chamber members.
These groups, combined with regular research work, ensure that the Chamber can truly talk with authority on behalf of the local business community and that it can work with partner organisations to get the best possible deal for local businesses. The Chamber is committed to working with partner organisations to deliver Doncaster’s Borough Strategy for the benefit of the town’s businesses and communities. As such, the Chamber takes a holistic view of the town to ensure any work undertaken to improve the economy also contributes to improvements around health, safety, aspirations, the environment and so forth.
The Chamber is pleased to work in partnership with a range of local and regional stakeholders and organisations including: the Mayor of Doncaster, Doncaster MBC, NHS Doncaster, Doncaster College, Business Link Yorkshire, Yorkshire Forward, and the town’s MPs. Through the British Chambers of Commerce network the Chamber also has access to national government. Nationally the Chamber movement has over 100,000 member businesses employing over 5 million people. This means that your voice really does count and that members are never more than two phone calls away from the most senior decision makers in the country.
If you would like to know more about the Chamber’s policy work please contact:
Dan Fell
Head of Policy
T: 01302 640113
E: dfell@doncaster-chamber.co.uk
