It’s five years since Balls2 Marketing joined the East Midlands Chamber and today we value our membership even more.
We joined in May 2011 because being a part of the local business community is really important to us. We were especially interested in things like the Construction and Property forum (as that’s the industry that the biggest chunk of our clients revolve around), and also the training courses that we regularly attend.
The Construction and Property forum is great for Andy and Sarah, and they go to as many as they can. There’s a strong community within the East Midlands working in construction and this is a big bonus for the Chamber.
Since joining the East Midlands Chamber, we’ve been on around 20 courses in total, all with excellent trainers and subjects. Simon and Sarah recently attended the Time Management course and they have shared the skills and techniques they learned with the rest of the team to help us work more efficiently. Lauren attended the Social Media Academy when she first started working at B2M and it gave us some great ideas for our social media strategy. We love to invest in training, and with marketing being such a fast paced industry we need to keep on top of things. They’re good value for money and they’re even cheaper when you’re an EMC member, it’s great to have them so easily available to us.
The British Chambers of Commerce is a huge business network with Chambers in every region of the UK. It speaks for businesses and their interests in places such as Westminster and Brussels, and also helps thousands of companies to grow. The East Midlands Chamber is the second largest in the country, with nearly 4,000 members. As a small business, it’s great to have access to this expertise. We’re not big enough to have a dedicated person for HR, and we find the downloadables perfect for our needs. There’s also an advice line for members, so that we can get any specific advice that we might need.
By being a member, a business can benefit from a large range of events, programs and services, including networking events and campaigning support, HR services, coverage on legal expenses, and even access to local MPs. You get more of a chance to get your business heard and to gain potential business contacts.
The Chamber’s training and assessment schemes help businesses to improve the skills of their team members, and even potentially pick up apprentices to help build your business.
By becoming a member, you’ll even get a free subscription to ‘Business Network’, a monthly magazine by the East Midlands Chamber. It includes things like member news, politics and even business support. It’s a great way for you to keep up to date on business news in the East Midlands.
Every year, each chamber holds its own business awards. This year, we’ve been shortlisted for Small Business of the Year – and we’re up against some great local Derby talent including Derby Museums and HUUB Design. This year’s award ceremony for Derbyshire takes place on 16 September at The Roundhouse in Derby and will be presented by ITV Weather Presenter Emma Jesson.
