Changes at the top for Bath Chamber

New leaders have been announced for both the Bath Chamber of Commerce and for the Initiative in B&NES.

Frank Collins was elected President at the Chamber’s AGM after Theresa McDermott stood down after a four year stint. Brigid Musselwhite, the Deputy Chief Executive of the Royal United Hospital will be his deputy. Meanwhile, Jonathan O’ Shea, Chief Executive of St John’s Hospital, has become Chairman of the Initiative in succession to Colin Skellett, from Wessex Water, who will remain as Chair of Future Bath Plus. They will be supported by Ian Bell, who has been made Executive Director for both the Chamber and Initiative in B&NES.

It will be the third time Frank, Finance Partner at Mogers Solicitors, has been Chamber President since he first came to Bath in 1991, and as he told members at the AGM, he’s relatively optimistic about the area’s future prospects.

“Obviously we are going through a difficult economic period but I sometimes think there is a tendency for people to talk themselves into despondency, making a tough situation even worse and producing a self fulfilling prophecy of gloom.”

“My attitude is we should emphasise the positives and be pleased that we have a number of reasons to feel confident. As the Chamber’s economic barometer has regularly shown, Bath continues to perform at above the regional and national average on a range of measurements.”

“The most important thing is that the Chamber serves its members well and contributes to discussions about how economic growth can be best managed and so bring prosperity to everyone when the upturn comes,” he said.

Over at the Initiative in B&NES, which works closely with the Chamber, although with a separate membership, Jonathan O’Shea, is planning for a period of listening and learning.

“St John’s Hospital is an 800 year old charity which has considerable commercial property holdings in the area, currently second only to the Council itself, and therefore it is right that the organisation plays its part in shaping the future of Bath and North East Somerset.”

“However, I have only been in the post of Chief Executive for just over a year so I am conscious that I need to immerse myself in the issues of concern to the business community, but also to the rest of society as a whole, especially those who have fewer advantages such as the old, the sick or the homeless,” said Jonathan.

One of the first people he spoke to was to John Savage, Chief Executive of GWE Business West, who leads the Initiative for the whole of the West of England.

“He explained that for twenty years, the Initiative activity centred in Bristol has encouraged the involvement of businesses in key issues, such as transport, housing, economic development, education and skills.”

“All of those topics are  underpinned with a desire to produce a sustainable, high quality of life for everyone, including the disadvantaged. That is an admirable concept and one that chimes well with the values of St John’s which has to run as a successful business in order to help those in need.”

“The Initiative in B&NES is a strong partnership between business and the Council. It provides an excellent basis for dialogue and exchange of information and I trust, will continue to make a real contribution to the life of the whole of the district,” said Jonathan.

For information about membership of the GWE Business West Chambers of Commerce network, which includes Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire & Gloucestershire – click here