Essex Chambers of Commerce

Essex Chambers of Commerce is a fully independent body offering a comprehensive and continuously developing range of business services.  They play an important role in representing the views and needs of business at local, regional and national level by engaging with and influencing policy development forums.  As a recognised and prominent voice for business, Essex Chambers is frequently invited to participate in the region's planning and regeneration processes.  On behalf of their members and associates they also provide informed and expert business support on a wide range of issues.

They are themselves a business - and a successful one - taking the view that to understand, support and influence business issues it is appropriate that they too should be in profit and self supporting.  Essex Chambers is entirely self sufficient and not reliant on the public purse. They are of course regularly audited in line with common commercial practice and has achieved accreditation in both 'Investors in People' and 'Customer First'.
Essex Chambers has some 2000 full and Affiliated Members, including the range of public sector 'partner organisations' and many of the largest private sector employers in Essex.

Three of the largest non-bank, businesses in membership are all part of global groups employing a total of 200,000+ individuals worldwide.

The Chamber Patron Scheme, which formalises the already strong links which the organisation had with some of its largest Member businesses, was launched in 2006. Current Patrons include Anglian Water Group, Birkett Long Solicitors, rail operator c2c (part of National Express), Essex & Suffolk Water (part of Northumbrian Water plc), London Stansted Airport and RBS NatWest.  Some 30 or so of their largest Members have stock market quotations, mostly overseas.

As the county's largest private sector business lobbying group, the Chamber is 'the voice of business' in Essex and lobbies on business issues at local, county, regional and national level.  They have adopted a very visible position on transportation gateways and infrastructure (eg expansion of London Stansted Airport, London Southend Airport, road and rail networks, expansion of port capacity in Essex), skills (gaps and shortages), business crime, 'red tape' plus other local and emerging issues (eg climate change impact, water and energy availability/infrastructure, nuclear power).

Services available to Essex Chambers Members and Affiliated Members include international trade support (documentation, technical training, awareness events, overseas market visits, etc), a full range of business networking events, various training opportunities, business information services and other 'added value' products and services including Chamber Health & Safety, Chamber HR, Chamber Primary Healthcare and Chamber Sage.

For further information please visit the Essex Chambers of Commerce website (see useful websites).