New Chamber leaders are ready to step up

Three key business people in the region are taking on new and senior positions within the business community.

West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce has three new ‘president-elects’ for Bradford, Leeds and York & North Yorkshire.  The business representatives will lead and campaign for their respective areas on behalf of the local Chamber membership.

Mark Cowgill will represent Bradford; Sound Leisure’s Chris Black will cover Leeds; and Sarah Czarnecki of Gray’s Court Hotel takes on York & North Yorkshire.  Each has extensive knowledge and expertise in their own field, with years of experience of working with stakeholders and dealing with key decision-makers.  They will represent their members at high-level meetings and chair internal Chamber groups as part of the info-gathering and policy-making process in the business organisation.

Chair of the Board of West & North Yorkshire Chamber, Amanda Beresford – herself a past president for Leeds – said: “This is an exciting time for the Chamber and for the wider business community.  Yes, there are some tough decisions being taken in many businesses and life is a bit tricky for many, which is why it’s as important as ever that our politicians and other decision-makers are fully aware of relevant business issues.  We have another great team stepping up and an expert policy and representation team supporting and continuing our lobbying activities – and so I’m very confident for the future.”

Mark said: “I’m looking forward to following on from some of our recent great business figureheads, and confident about taking Bradford forward.”

Chris added: “Leeds is already a great location in which to do business but I’m sure that we continue the good work with other stakeholders to push on to another level.”

Sarah noted: “It’s a privilege for me to take on this key role right now.  We’ve a great support team helping the local business community, so we’re in good hands.”

Outgoing presidents Victoria Wainwright, Mike Briffett and Laurence Beardmore have all been thanked and praised for their sterling service over the past couple of years.

The votes were passed at annual election meetings in each of the three areas covered by the organisation, and are expected to be ratified at a general meeting later in the year.  Aqila Choudhry of Love in Care is to take on the role of Leeds Chamber Vice-President.