New President for Bath Chamber of Commerce

Bath Chamber of Commerce has elected a woman as President for only the third time in its 108 year history.

Brigid Musselwhite, 47, Deputy Chief Executive at the Royal United Hospital, succeeded Frank Collins, a partner at the Bath law firm, Mogers, at the Annual General Meeting which was held shortly before the Chamber’s Annual Dinner at which Olympic Champion, David Hemery, was the guest speaker.

She explained that having worked in Bath for the last six years at one of the district’s largest employers had given her an insight into both the huge opportunities but also the major challenges facing the local economy.

“I have three particular objectives for the Chamber. First to do all I can to continue to build on the effective working relationship which has been established between the business community and B&NES Council so that  Bath and North East Somerset does what it says on all the advertising and truly develops as an even better place to work, live and visit.”

“Second, to make sure the Chamber offers members real benefit by providing a strong and convincing lobbying voice in local decision making.”

“Third, I will do all I can to make sure that some of the ‘wicked problems’ get addressed, such as developing the area as an attractive place for businesses to both start up and grow by getting some key development sites moving and making sure important work on the public realm doesn’t get lost as money gets tighter,” explained Mrs Musselwhite.

After paying tribute to the contribution made during the last year by Frank Collins, she said there was every reason for optimism.

“All kinds of work is work is going on at the moment which will help in the future. Friendship links in China could pay dividends, whilst we are also closely involved in the process which may lead to a Business Improvement District, a method by which money is raised from businesses but then spent on the activities those businesses identify as priorities.”

“It is a challenging time for us all, but I am confident that by working together we can overcome the difficulties we will doubtless face and make this a prosperous community for everyone,” she added.

Bath Chamber of Commerce and the Initiative in B&NES adopted an Olympic theme for its annual dinner in the choice both of the guest speaker and the venue, the centre of sporting excellence, the University of Bath.

David Hemery CBE electrified the whole country when he won the gold medal in a world record breaking time in the 400m hurdles at the Mexico Games of 1968. And he went on to take Olympic silver and bronze in Munich four years later. Now, as Vice Chairman of the British Olympic Association, he is not only eager to maximise the sporting legacy from the London 2012 games, but he is passionate about working with business people with one aim in mind – to bring the best out of both ourselves and others.

Guests sat spellbound as they relived David’s triumph in Mexico and they listened carefully to what he had to say about how the secrets of sporting success could be translated into the work place.