Released On 26th Apr 2018

President’s Heartbeat - 25th April 2018

Thursday 19th April saw the first outing for our new Business Leaders’ Breakfast on a beautiful clear spring morning at Yeovil Golf Club.  Business Leaders Breakfast (BLB) is devised to attract those of our members who want the big picture overview, and want input and to influence key figures from stakeholders in the business community.  I was especially grateful to Gregg Morrison and Amy Joynes; respectively, heads of Preston and Stanchester Academies, who gave of their time during the busiest part of the school day to attend, such was the draw of our inaugural speaker, the visionary John Evans, principal of Yeovil College.  John did not disappoint.

John has, since his arrival in January 2014, transformed Yeovil College from what he described as a ‘coasting’ College, and just another education establishment, into a vital part of the fabric of the Yeovil business community hub, and John spoke about how industry & education are working as one; shaping the curriculum to meet the demands of local & regional employment, and equipping students with life skills.

I took the opportunity to speak during the Q&A session, and told the attendees: Industry and education working together is critical to the success of Yeovil.  I urged those in attendance to drop me a line to register support for our new school mentoring scheme, allowing schools to call up classroom support from amongst our 110 Chamber member businesses.

The calibre of our future BLB speakers and their desire to speak, is clear evidence of Chamber contacts, outreach and influence.  So far confirmed for 2018 BLB are Alex Parmley (CEO SSDC, 21st June), and Paddy Ashdown (19th October), with other regional/national figures being lined up to come in and talk to us about how what they do links directly into, and supports the Yeovil Business community.

Thank you for your continued support for Yeovil Chamber.  If you have any issues, questions, or ideas, please contact me on 07900-491211 or president@yeovilchamber.org