It’s a Tuesday and after rising early he goes into his office in Slough for the customary briefing meeting with his senior managers, who head a 47 strong team which help him generate an annual income of more than £4 million.

So what does Paul do? He is, in fact, chief executive of the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce Group, which includes 9 local Chambers and is one of the largest accredited Chambers in the UK, representing over 2,000 firms across the Thames Valley and Wiltshire.

“My daily diary is pretty packed from one week to the next and apart from regular briefings with our managers and other team members, to ensure everyone is up to speed on our current projects and strategies. I meet with business leaders from major corporate organisations, such as Honda in Swindon, BT, PriceWaterhouse Group, IBM, Microsoft etc. through to small and medium size enterprises.

My role is to ensure that we are close to the business community throughout all nine local Chambers – which include Slough, Swindon, Aylesbury, Oxfordshire, Reading, Wokingham, Bracknell, High Wycombe and South Bucks, West Berkshire – and to keep abreast of the latest activities and developments in each area.”

To maintain strong relationships with business leaders and the Chamber membership generally, Paul participates in numerous day time meetings and evening events; his ideal method of getting away from it all is to spend leisure hours on his small cabin cruiser, moored on the Thames at picturesque Cookham.
 
Key events in Paul’s calendar include The Windsor Debates, which is a groundbreaking series of round table discussions held on a regular basis at Windsor Castle. Exclusively for senior level business managers, the Debates are held under the Chatham House Rule and therefore provide a confidential forum for pooling strategies and solutions and identifying areas for clarification and research.

“This rolling programme feeds the views and concerns of leading UK companies into the Government’s decision-making process at both national and European levels, in support of business-friendly policies that might otherwise be overlooked,” said Paul.

“Our themes for the Windsor Debates derive from the most pressing concerns of our ‘Business Alliance’ members – which include some of the most recognisable organisations in the UK.

Current concerns include: globalisation and the digital economy; the challenge of economic change; energy and the economy; terrorism and security; and can we deliver the skills for tomorrow? Other topics generally emerge as members and sponsors are very much involved in supporting and shaping the programme,” he added.

When Paul took over as Chief Executive of the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce Group some five years ago, he took the strong decision not to seek any form of sponsorship.  “I took the view that we simply had to stand on our own feet and that if we were beholden to any group whatsoever, we would be compromising our independence and therefore we would not be able to fully represent the best interest of our member businesses,” he said.

But Paul, who trained in all areas of hotel management with Whitbread and then went on to manage large high-profile shopping centres in Reading and Slough, is certainly not adverse to his organisation making money. And one way the Chamber is achieving this is through the activities of its International Trade team, which provides advice and assistance to businesses trading with the EU and across the world.

“We now issue around 25 per cent of the UK’s entire export documentation, which is a significant achievement for our enterprising and enthusiastic team who have certainly seen their endeavours blossom and bear fruit over the past five years.

Whether companies are thinking of taking steps towards importing or exporting, or whether they are an existing exporter looking to expand into additional overseas markets, there are many trade barriers as well as regulations for international businesses to consider and we can help them find their way through this process,” said Paul.

For further information visit  www.thamesvalleychamber.co.uk 
 
February 2010