Victoria Matthews new Membership Account Director for Bristol

Victoria Matthews has been appointed to a new role as Business West’s Membership Account Director for the Bristol Initiative, our top-level membership group made up of 160 business leaders and key individuals who want to who positively influence the way the region is shaped, managed and developed. 

Victoria has worked her way up through the company since 2017, starting as a project coordinator in the Enterprise Team, progressing to scale up business advisor, before becoming Manager of the Bristol Initiative.    

Victoria’s new role will involve working with Initiative members and key stakeholders across the greater Bristol region, to grow a prosperous, successful, and sustainable economy where both business and communities thrive. 

We spoke to her about her career, her vision for Business West and her new role heading up the Bristol Initiative. 

How has your early life and career shaped and led to where you are now? 

I grew up in Wales, so I’m a Bristol convert, but as soon as I came here, I fell in love with this city: the culture, people, and not forgetting the incredible food scene here! I immediately knew I wanted to stay.  

Having previously worked in the third sector, I have a real passion for working with purpose driven businesses. That sounds simplistic, but it’s why I love what I do. It’s so rewarding working with organisations who want to make this area more prosperous and a great place to live. How could you not be motivated by that? 

Why are Initiative Members of Business West so important for the region? 

Collectively our purpose is to ensure that we provide a strong voice for our business community, to create meaningful change. Together we help fulfil Business West’s purpose by lobbying and influencing how to make Bristol and the wider West of England region, the best place to live, learn and work for everybody.  

Business West is known for thinking longer-term, and taking action to ensure the continued success of our region. Our Initiative members contribute to this by coming together as a business community of like-minded decision makers, with a focus on productivity through innovation, skills, the green agenda and international trade. 

Some of our more visible successes have included game-changing projects such as the regeneration of Bristol Harbourside and the Cabot Circus development.   

What key projects are you currently involved in on behalf of Business West? 

We have exciting projects in the pipeline, ranging from skills projects to support some of our city’s most deprived areas, to large regeneration projects that will transform areas of our region. All will be revealed soon. We’re also continuing to work closely with our partners Visit West and Bristol Ideas, who deliver projects across the city such as the Bristol Light Festival and Festival of Ideas. 

How have you seen Business West grow in the last few years? 

It’s been a tough few years for businesses to say the least, but it’s in times of crisis that Business West and its Chambers of Commerce are most needed. We’ve been busier than ever supporting our community throughout Brexit and Covid-19. More businesses have recognised the importance of having a strong, collective voice to lobby on their behalf, and as a result, we’ve further developed our Initiative membership.  

We’re also seeing more businesses recognising the need to be increasingly socially and purpose driven, as well as profitable, and our Initiative members are a great community to drive this – to encourage businesses to think wider, and to invest longer-term in the local area. Business West has supported businesses to drive purpose throughout their organisations and we are equipped with the knowledge to do so after gaining B Corp accreditation ourselves in 2021. 

What is your vision for your role going forward? 

Building on the fantastic membership that we have, I’m excited to start working on new city-wide projects that our members can get involved with in 2023, continuing to ensure we have a voice that is representative of the business community that we serve. We have an amazing group of business leaders within our Initiative membership that are committed to creating positive change, so harnessing this is our top priority – alongside engaging with new businesses and communities. 

My role is to champion this city – I want to position Bristol and the wider West of England, as a strong, healthy, vibrant place to live, work and invest in. We want everyone to be proud of our city, and although there are significant challenges, I’m looking forward to working with our members and wider city partners to shape and influence this.