New President for Hounslow Chamber

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Steve Mathews takes over at the helm of local business organisation

At the Annual General Meeting of the London Borough of Hounslow Chamber of Commerce on 17th March, held at Fullers Brewery, Hugh Howell stood down as President and Steve Mathews was elected as President.

Hugh Howell reported that the past year has been fantastic for the Chamber, with 27 events organised. Of these 18 have been provided free of charge. At last year’s AGM membership was running at 187, and the target for the year ahead was to exceed 200. Membership today is 220. The Executive Committee has increased in size also, with four new younger members volunteering to help with the running and development of the Chamber.

Last year saw the setting up of Hounslow for Business, the Chamber’s business arm, which is continuing to develop with the assistance of both the Economic Development Unit at Hounslow Council and Southall Regeneration Partnership. From May 2005 to the end of March 2006 it is expected that HfB will have given free business advice to nearly 100 potential start-ups and 45 of them will have started in business. In addition 18 businesses that started up less than 2 years ago will have received 90 mentoring visits.

Steve Mathews is an MBA educated business professional with 17 years experience working for a number of blue-chip organisations. He is the Commercial Sector Practice Director for IMS Interim Executives. Steve has been a member of the Chamber since 2004 and was Vice-President last year.

One of Steve’s first duties was to thank Hugh for all his hard work and dedication over the past year and to say how pleased he is that Hugh has been elected as Vice-President so his expertise will not be lost. Jon Amery was elected as the second Vice-President. Steve outlined his vision for the Chamber, which was to broaden the appeal and capability of the chamber by working with other organisations that also shared our objectives to promote local business. The next three years will be an exciting time for the Chamber. Steve is also looking forward to working with a record number of members on the Committee.

 

1st September 2005