Chamber of Commerce International Trade Manager visits Preston MBA students

Lancashire Business School MBA students were given an insight into the workings of the Chamber of Commerce from International Trade Manager Neal Barfoot.
Neal is from the North and Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce (NWLCC) and spoke about the roles of the Chamber of Commerce internationally, nationally and locally.
He said: “The Chamber of Commerce in the UK exists within the private sector so it is self funded with no support from the government. Most Chambers are quite small but they are really well organised.”
After a career in international trade, with particular focus on the brass and textile industry, Neal began working for the Chamber of Commerce so that he could stay involved in trade.
Chamber history
He provided the MBA students with a history of the Chambers from the International Chambers of Commerce and the Euro Chambres to the British Chambers of Commerce and the Chambers of Commerce North West.
When talking about his role as International Trade Manager for NWLCC Neal said trade in the North West is very strong.
“There is a long history of trade in the region and we still export more than we import.”
The NWLCC represents over 1200 subscribing members and is one of 16 Chambers in the North West. The key sectors it represents are education, tourism, aerospace, food and drink, transport and finance.
Neal commented: “90% of our Chamber members are small and medium enterprises. They can access our services such as a free legal or human resource helpline and also use the chamber to lobby the government.”
Recent examples of this include protests against the plans for a super casino in Blackpool being shelved and the proposed congestion charge in Manchester.
Bigger companies are also members including UCLan and BEA Systems.
Neal invited the MBA students to ask questions about the Chamber of Commerce.
He said: “Many people don’t know what a Chamber of Commerce is or what it does and yet they exist in all western industrialised countries because business takes place all over the world.”
The students said they found his visit very useful. Siamak Esfehanian commented: “We would like to sincerely thank you for the time that you spent with us this morning. I hope this meeting helps us to develop a close relationship and a deeper understanding of the Chamber of Commerce in our future careers.”
http://www.uclan.ac.uk/facs/lbs/news/0308/chamber.html