Struggling commerce chamber urges less red tape

At the launch of a document, Working for Business: A Vision for Sheffield, chamber leaders claimed that cutbacks had been brought about by "policy-led" problems rather than the recession.

Nigel Tomlinson, the chamber's chief executive, confirmed that the chamber would make a loss in the financial year which ends this month, but could not say how much it would be.

He added: "It's like a challenge that any business faces, you go to the wall, or you fight for what you believe in ... and take painful measures to take that model forward."

Last year, the chamber had turnover of around 3.6m.

Around 2.4m of turnover came from the chamber and the rest – 1.2m – from Senta, an enterprise agency which provides advice for business start-ups.

Despite membership reaching an all-time high of 2,700, only 10 per cent of income (around 400,000) comes from subscriptions, with the rest coming from training and other business support activities.

Mr Tomlinson said a lot of energy was wasted dealing with changes in policy.

He said: "I am trying to balance the books and trying to deal with what we are providing as a service when things are chopped and changed. At the same time, I could spend every waking moment trying to interpret what is coming out of Whitehall."

The chamber's report urges politicians to adopt a range of measures, including greater tax incentives for companies who make capital investments and an "immediate and indefinite" halt on rises in National Insurance payments.

Mr Tomlinson quoted one of the chamber's members: "What type of lunacy was allowed to run riot in London, that at a time of economic hardship and job losses, we are effectively putting a tax on jobs and job creation, with the increase in National Insurance contributions?

"It was utter madness. There's a feeling from members that a lot of policy, particularly in the last two or three years, almost

seems to have been made on the hoof. What we've seen recently, to quote one of our members, is that there seems to be initiative delinquency syndrome. They just think up another idea and off they go with it.

"There's been millions and millions of pounds poured into skills development over the last 10 to 12 years.

"What have we seen? One quango replacing another. They barely get their feet under the table and it's changed again."

He added: "When the business support simplification programme was announced two years ago, the director general of the BCC (British Chambers of Commerce), David Frost, made a prediction that this could wipe out half the net value of the English chambers of commerce network.

"I'm sorry to say, that two years on, he was right.

"What you have been left with is a situation where you have deep-seated structural issues within chambers of commerce around the country who

were deliverers (of business support).

"As a result of cutting back within the chamber itself we will probably lose, by the time we've finished, somewhere in the region of one third of staff...The chamber itself has retrenched to around 20 people.

"We plan to stay in this building (Albion House) if we can afford it. Our long-term view is to build a sustainable model. Chambers of commerce, regardless of who is in power..have to build something now which is as 'Government proof' as is humanly possible."

He said that a business lobbying group based around a city region or local enterprise partnership could work, provided that it had the support of local businesses.

Mr Tomlinson also confirmed that the chamber was still involved in a four-year-old dispute with the European Union over allegations it was owed in the region of 250,000 and 280,000.

He said the dispute related to payment for the delivery of EU-funded contracts.

Listen to business, parties are urged

Sheffield Chamber of Commerce has called on the main political parties to listen to local businesses on issues that will affect the region's economy over the next decade.

At a launch event, the chamber published a policy manifesto – Working for Business: A Vision for Sheffield – which lists concerns raised by chamber members.

The chamber is calling for Sheffield to be included in a high speed rail network and for a moratorium on new UK employment laws for the lifetime of the next parliament. It also wants more support for businesses that work in schools and universities to encourage enterprise.