1 week Ago
Dorset Chamber and Dorset Council have joined forces as part of a new effort to improve the county's economy. The local authority has become the chamber's newest platinum business partner. Dorset Chamber, founded in 1949, is the county's leading business support organisation with nearly 700 members representing more than 37,000 employees.
Ian Girling, Dorset Chamber chief executive, said: "We are very pleased to welcome Dorset Council as a platinum business partner. "It is important for business and the local economy that there is a strong public-private relationship based on transparency, respect and open lines of communication. "This strengthens our strategic relationship and our ability to work together to support business across Dorset.
" Dorset Council, the local authority for the unitary area of Dorset, provides around 450 different services to 380,000 residents. It is a major employer in the area with about 4,800 staff and 82 elected councillors representing 52 wards. The council supports economic development in the county through a number of initiatives and spends more than 50 per cent of its annual budget on buying external goods, services and works from more than 6,000 suppliers locally.
Of these suppliers, 51 per cent are based in Dorset. The leader of the council, Councillor Nick Ireland, said: "It’s great that Dorset Council can build on its traditional partnership with Dorset’s Chamber of Commerce. "We already collaborate on a range of projects, so I hope that becoming a business partner will present new opportunities for local businesses and will help us meet our key priority to grow Dorset’s economy.
" The Dorset Chamber, which is ranked as the leading chamber nationally, serves as the county’s ‘voice of business’ and the only chamber in the county accredited to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). Dorset Council has two premier business partners in the top tier of its membership: AFC Bournemouth and Lester Aldridge..
