'To protect, represent and support the interests of the
Suffolk Coastal Business Community.'
The Suffolk Coastal Business Forum was founded in 1991 enabling
the Council consult with representatives of the business community
about its yearly spending plans. It has a genuine influence on
Council policy.
The Forum was relaunched in 2006 and is looking for new members
as it looks to take on a more active role.
It aims to be representative of all businesses working in the
district, and meets regularly with senior Council representatives
to discuss and give feedback on Council plans. The Forum also has
two seats on the board of the
Suffolk Coastal Local Strategic Partnership (LSP)
(new window) and has discussed with the LSP how it can assist
with researching the developmental needs of small businesses, and
how to improve the local support network for the business sector in
this area.
Business needs survey 2007
To help meet the last two goals mentioned above, the Forum
working with Suffolk Coastal has published a
business needs survey (new window PDF
280KB) based on answers given by local businesses
in May and June 2007. This was welcomed by the Forum as
being a fascinating snapshot of what businesses were thinking
and facing up to.
Follow this link for help with downloading and opening PDF files.
More about the Forum
The Forum is keen to ensure that its membership remains truly
representative of existing support structures such as the Chambers
of Trade and Commerce, but also of the various business sectors in
our community: agriculture, tourism, energy,
telecommunications and geographical coverage of the whole of
the Suffolk Coastal district. It wants to recruit new members to
fill identified gaps. The Forum's current Chair is Nick
Boulter.
Nick Boulter of the Suffolk Coastal
Business Forum says "The Suffolk Coastal Business Forum will
continue to develop links and networks to support the growth
of rural economic development across the Suffolk Coastal
district. Often individuals and those employed in small and
medium-sized enterprises in rural areas face particular
problems. These are often caused by lack of access to services
where there is no Chamber of Trade, bank, post office or
training provider.
Our key objectives for the next two years will be to:
- Develop communication with business associations across the
district so that they will better support their communities and
contribute effectively to the work of the Business Forum.
- To improve awareness and take-up of business support services
to the district’s 4,000 identified businesses.
- Offer networking opportunities and to encourage their
participation in the Business Forum.
- Continue to share good practice with other agencies and
business organisations such as Business Link, Suffolk Chamber of
Commerce, Suffolk Development Agency, small business associations
and with other Suffolk Local Strategic Partnerships.
If you would like to find out how you can play your part in the
work of the Forum then email me at
nick@suffolkcoastalbusinessforum.org.uk
or call me direct on 07720 349222. I look forward
to hearing from you."
To recommend new members or suggest ideas for events or
activities, please contact the Forum's administrator Hazel Das on
01728 602876 or email
hazel.das@eidosnet.co.uk.