Work For Us

My journey at the Chamber started in 2011 when I was 18 years old, enthusiastic and eager to get started on the career ladder, I was excited to join the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce as the Events and Training Assistant. I have now been with the Chamber for 12 years and absolutely love my role as the Events and Training Manager which I accepted in 2016.

During my journey at the Chamber I have been given an abundance of opportunities to develop and grow, professionally and personally. I’ve received plenty of training and support from the organisation which I have found invaluable for my development and I was selected to join the Rising Stars programme which gave me even further opportunities to learn, expand my knowledge and better my department and the business. I am extremely proud of our department, not only for continuously expanding and developing our events and training courses, but for the teams innovative ideas and desire to help Chamber Members.

I believe strongly in the Chambers vision to support local businesses, and feel grateful for the benefits we as employees receive, including a generous amount of annual leave, CSR day, Westfield Health, incentives, and so many fun activities. The Chamber Team are hardworking, passionate, caring and a joy to work with.

I am in my 15^th year at The Chamber where I joined as Finance Manager and have progressed to where I am today as Director of Finance & Corporate Services. The Chamber has not only supported me in both my personal and career growth, enabling me to learn new skills and take on different responsibilities, it has also enabled me to develop as my family grew and my children became more dependant.

We are an engaging, fun, family friendly and supportive environment full of likeminded colleagues who are proud and committed to supporting our local businesses.

After a year at Sixth Form College I knew University wasn’t the right career path for me therefore, I applied for an apprenticeship role at the Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce in July 2013. I was successful in my application and started the role as Business Engagement & Events Assistant.

I split my time between events, training & membership, my varied role included booking delegates training courses and events, administration support, organised training courses at our premises and preparing for all events. The Chamber secured a tender to run the Worcestershire Christmas Fayre for 2 years; this was a really exciting time as it was a completely new project for the whole team to get involved with, part of my role was to organise all 300 coaches into the city centre.

After completing my level 2 apprenticeship I was fortunate to be offered a permanent position working alongside the Events & Training Team. I began to take on bigger projects and more responsibility; It was at this point I started to have a real passion for planning and organising events. Within the same year I had been promoted to Events Co-ordinator, in this role I help deliver a wide range of commercial business events including large business exhibitions, conferences, awards ceremonies, networking events and sector specific forums as well as visiting new venues & marketing all of our events.

I am so thankful for the opportunities that I’ve received since working at the Chamber; I have been able to attend over 20 training courses to develop my skills such as Customer Care, Advanced Excel, Effective Use of Social Media & Telephone Techniques. I joined the GDPR working group last year to ensure the Chamber is fully compliant with the new regulations.

I am continuously progressing in my role, last year we launched our new events programme in whereby Chamber members receive free & experiential networking events such as Chocolate Tasting, Meeting & Feeding the Rhinos, BBQ’s and Horse Racing days. As Events Co-ordinator I’ve have the pleasure of organising the majority of our 150 networking events as well as our showcase Annual Business Awards and largest Business Expo’s in the two counties.

Last year my two colleagues and I were offered the chance to run a networking group for young professionals to help bridge the skills gap. I am currently on the Rising Star Programme whereby I sat down with our HR Director to create a personal development plan over the next year that will further my skills and experiences.

I’m extremely grateful for the experiences I’ve had at the Chamber so far, I have really developed my skills set and with the help of my mentoring sessions now have an understanding of what I need to do to progress in my career.

No 2 days at the chamber are the same, especially in my role as International Trade Advisor.

Laws and rules are ever changing and the requirements that our customers have can vary from hour to hour, so I am never bored.

I learn new things every single day and use that knowledge to help the businesses that we work with in an abundance of ways.

Working at the Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce is great because you can see your actions making a difference instantly.

Whether it be an export document, an import customs declaration or issuing general advice to businesses on how best to ship their goods in and out of the UK you can be assured that we always do our best to help but have fun doing it and are approachable at all times. I have built some great relationships with both our members and non members during my time here already.

Alongside making a different to customers the chamber has made a huge difference to my life too. I enjoy working with both my team and the wider chamber team on a daily basis.

The chamber has afforded me opportunities relating to my continued professional development which I would struggle to obtain elsewhere. I am currently part of the rising stars program and this will be another string to my bow once completed. If you are willing to do your best then the chamber will give you back just as much if not more. Definitely the best place I have ever worked and I hope to be here for a long time to come.

I joined the chamber during a time of great change, just post Brexit. This was a very busy time for International Trade and allowed me to build some good relationships with training providers, customers and the department for international trade. Now we have left the EU the world of international trade is more complicated, businesses often need our support and guidance. Having worked in various different sectors through my working life, I can honestly say this one if the fastest moving and the most involved. I would highly recommend this area of interest to anyone unsure about what career move to make next, you will never have a dull day!. The chamber are such a supportive and fun team that even though my role requires a lot of concentration and paperwork you can still find me having a little giggle with the team in the office or a customer on the telephone when the time allows.

I joined the Chamber over two years ago.  I have never been happier in, or prouder of a business I have worked for.

Members interests are at the core of everything we do, but the level of care and flexibility afforded to the team is second to none.  People join the chamber for different reasons, I believe many are unaware of everything the chamber can do for them.

The same could be said for working here.  Multiple roles, no two days the same, great customer care, even better employee relationships.

We have recently been awarded our licence to deliver this accredited course on behalf of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, alongside Working Safely and Managing Safely.

This course focuses on improving health and wellbeing awareness across the organisation and provides practical advice and tools for managers to help create a healthy and productive place of work. Further information may be found here.

As a Working for Carers member, we understand the challenges faced by working carers (currently estimated to be 1 in 8 workers). 

Membership of the scheme allows access to valuable resources and reinforces our approach to looking after employees who may have caring responsibilities. For further information on the scheme click here.

We actively support cadets, reservists and veterans through operating HR policies,  demonstrating that we acknowledge and understand that those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces, and their families, should be treated with farness and respect.

Here at the Chamber of Commerce, we place tremendous value on the mental health and wellbeing of our team. We have a group of volunteer ‘Wellbeing Champions’ who dedicate their spare time to supporting the wider workforce raising awareness of real life issues, supporting those in need of support and offering guidance where appropriate and signposting to suitable organisations. A number of the team are trained mental health first aiders and orange button wearers – which means they are trained to support people with suicidal thoughts.

We hope that this voluntary capacity highlights the passion the Chamber staff have for each other, and the culture of care that is at the core of the Chamber of Commerce.