Learning from old hands

Last week I was privileged to attend a special service, in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen in Bath Abbey, to mark the 850th anniversary of the St John’s Foundation. She was accompanied by Mohammed Saddiq, now Lord Lieutenant, but not long ago an active participant in our Initiative activity.

It was particularly exciting to celebrate what I suspect is the oldest organisation in the world to be a member of a Chamber of Commerce. It’s a bold claim and I am prepare to be corrected, but I suspect I’m safe in my assertion.

Conversations about economic growth often concentrate on start ups, celebrating their success as they grow and develop, bringing new jobs and creating innovative technologies. But this event gave me pause to consider the sometimes under rated importance of well established companies whose longevity provides an important backbone to the local economy.

Those businesses have often survived because they have adapted to modern conditions and St John’s is a perfect case in point. Founded in 1174 to help look after the poor, the Foundation continues to do that 850 years on, though they do it now in different ways.

In addition to providing accommodation for older people, allowing them to live independent lives, St John’s has more recently turned its attention to young people who need support to develop into a healthy, happy and educated member of the community and so have a chance to make the most of their lives. Thus they are staying true to their Benedictine beginnings, but finding a way of being relevant to the 21st century.

Many businesses that have been running for years probably started when conditions were very different from those of today. The ones which have survived and prospered will have adapted and changed, modifying the way they operate, perhaps offering different goods and services and varying the way in which they are delivered. 

However, they will almost certainly have remained true to the fundamental ethos of the business, following the pattern laid down by the founders, not slavishly following the way they operated, but learning from history to avoid making the mistakes of the past. 

We are fortunate to have a thriving economy with a significant number of new and exciting businesses, but we should not neglect praise for those who have been around for a while and continue to play an important part in providing jobs and contributing to local prosperity. We should value both and the benefits will be felt by the whole community.

If you’d like to find out more about the Bath Chamber of Commerce or the Initiative in B&NES please contact us on 01225 460 655 or info@bathchamber.co.uk.