Chamber Conversations: Recent Episodes
North East England Chamber of Commerce
The Chamber Conversations podcast is a series of informal discussions on a whole range of issues effecting North East businesses.
Twenty five year old Ellen McCann, design assistant at Ryder Architecture, spoke to over 100 business leaders at the Chamber’s Inspiring Females conference, about her route to an architectural career. She’s also going to play a key part in an exciting project aimed at developing future leaders which will be launched in a few weeks’ time.
Hear how Doug Dinwiddie, White Digital, Emma Walker, EW Estates and Jeni Smith, Netkno set up their businesses, what inspired them and the challenges they’ve overcome. There’s also plenty to smile about on it as well.
Three of the best brains in the Chamber, Rachel, Arlen and Marianne share their thoughts on the recently released Government Levelling Up White Paper. They explain what was expected from it and what we got. Their view – not bad and certainly a decent attempt to tackle substantial challenges to unlock our potential.
St Oswalds Hospice chief executive Steph Edusei had early ambitions to be an actress, inspired by Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds. The stage’s loss is the North East health sector’s gain. As well as her full-time role Steph is also a non-exec director for Newcastle Hospitals. In the podcast she talks about how brilliant mentors helped her & how she overcame imposter syndrome. There are insights on great leadership & the importance of building networks to help you succeed.
Mike Hughes, one of the NE’s most experienced journalists with 40 years under his belt, talks about how he started out as a reporter. He is frank about the importance of getting regional business coverage right, so companies can talk about their achievements in a way that is understandable to the public. The podcast also covers Levelling Up and how there are so many positive ways the NE is already punching above its weight. Advice for budding reporters and some dos and don’t for PR people are also talked about.
As part of the conversation Mike also takes a moment to pay tribute to the late Professor Jane Turner of Teesside University, who was a passionate supporter of young people.
Tony Marshall spotted a gap in the retail fitting out market and set up his business Creative Glass as a result. Thirty years later he is still delivering beautifully crafted glass solutions to clients which have included Stockton’s historic Globe Theatre, stately homes, NHS hospitals, Hampton by Hilton in Stockton and national retailers including Jimmy Choo, Boss and Beaverbrooks to name a few.
A proud advocate for North East women in business Nadine Hudspeth, a member of Gateshead College’s executive team, tells Kay Wilson about her career path and who helped along the way. She also sets out how much the Chamber’s campaigning is needed on key issues like recovery from Covid which impacted on many women’s working lives.
Shoptimised helps its clients sell more products on-line and has grown quickly in just three years. Having a great attitude to staff well-being and flexibility is part and parcel of its success. John Cave shares his journey and why it is so important his staff can put their families first, not work, when they need to.
Media Cultured’s founder and director Amjid Khazir talks to the Chamber’s Kay Wilson about how to create a diverse business and its benefits to a company’s bottom line. Great advice on how the North East business community could help everyone to reach their potential, no matter the colour of their skin or ethnic heritage.
The Chamber fought hard for its members to get the support they needed throughout the pandemic.
On this podcast the successes and problems that were tackled are set out and how the NE performed honestly reviewed. There’s also a look to the future and the next steps needed for the business community.
Three leading thinkers in the North East sustainability sector, Laura Hepburn, Greenology, Claire Thompson, Genee and Dr Helen Goworek, Durham University Business School talk about NE strengths in this field. They also highlight the prevalence of women in the region blazing a trail in combating climate change and share their advice on how companies can become ‘greener’.
John Marshall talks to Kay Wilson about the highlights of his career, the North East’s strengths and his love of the region. He also shares advice for future leaders as well as paying tribute to Chamber chief executive James Ramsbotham as he moves on to chair on to Newcastle Building Society in the Autumn.
Kay Wilson hears the great story of how Iain Nairn became captain of the England physical disabilities cricket squad. On the podcast he talks about his love of the sport right from a young age. He also explains how his professional financial career at Leonard Curtis was helped by what he learnt through leading a national sports team.
He gives excellent advice on how to build an outstanding sporting and professional career in the North East as well as championing the benefits of employing people with disabilities.
In this podcast we hear about how two Chamber members, Revolucion de Cuba in Newcastle and the Hall Garth Hotel, Darlington are planning the best possible summer for customers. They explain how they’ve inspired their teams who are back from furlough and ensured their venues are safe and still have a great atmosphere.
The mission statement of Kromek is simple and yet so fundamentally important - to save lives and keep people safe. In this podcast Arnab Basu, the company’s founding CEO explains the company’s growth which has helped tackle challenges including detecting radiation from a nuclear power plant disaster, dirty bombs in New York and now Covid. He also explains his upbringing in Calcutta where he grew up in an entrepreneurial business family home and how education brought him to the North East.
A podcast about building a successful creative career
Photographer Christopher Owens talks about his route from Newcastle to working with celebrities on national newspapers. He outlines how he got his big break (it involved masses of chutzpah), the secret of a great photoshoot and how he keeps his mental health in good shape.
Meeks Simpson, GT3 Architects, Mariann Hardey, Durham University and Paul Smith, Art Health Solutions talk about their ideas of what would make an ideal workplace. Advice includes making meetings 50 mins instead of an hour and putting people at the heart of planning a building.
They all contributed to the Chamber report ‘The Future of the Workplace’
Teresa Peters, Accelerator Coaching, Alister Gaines, Akrivis Wealth and Stuart Coupland Coupland Leather share their stories of how their businesses are growing, what helped them overcome hurdles and the huge, personal rewards of working for themselves. A positive podcast one year on from lockdown.
The Chamber Women’s Leadership Forum leads its work championing for greater gender diversity in the NE. On this podcast Liz Mayes, The Common Room, Di Keller, Karbon Homes and Lauren Archer, Cameo Digital talk about challenges & opportunities for women at present. They also share advice & experiences of their own working lives.
Carol Botten, VONNE, Ben Fisher, Teesside University & the Chamber’s Jonathan Walker set out what they want to see in the Chancellor's Budget.
In this podcast Kay Wilson talks to Manuel Fantin, Erin Knight and Nynzi Maung, who have all lived outside the UK, about the Great Reasons to do business in the North East and why they love the region.
It has never been more important that everyone, no matter the colour of their skin, has the opportunity to fulfil their potential. Nagma Ebanks-Beni MBE, Steph Edusi and Aneela Ali share their views on what the NE needs to do to be more fair and inclusive.
Darren Hankey, principal of Hartlepool College is a passionate advocate of further education, having benefited from it himself. He talks about his own career journey and why the Chamber's campaign to get more Government investment into the sector is so important.
The Under 30s Edit, Chamber team members talk about its Great Reasons campaign with Kay Wilson and each of their unique views of working and living in the North East.
Chamber international trade director Julie Underwood, her colleagues Jack Simpson and Tom Kennedy discuss Brexit with Chamber member, Sarfraz Mian, Neue Schule
The Chamber uses research to really add power to its campaigning, in this podcast we talk about the value of statistics and how best to use them.
Guests: Vicki Shouksmith, Research and Project Manager, MMC, Arlen Pettitt and Niamh Corcoran from the Chamber Policy team.
View our Q3 Economic Survey report: https://www.neechamber.co.uk/uploads/files/cx6w79MbZHrMrHOd.pdf
MMC research: https://mmc.agency/insights/business-owners-mental-health-during-lockdown/
Three trail-blazers in the North East tech and digital sector Dr Sue Black, TechUp Women, Durham University, Dean Benson, Visualsoft and Jamie Hardesty, Sunderland Software City talk about ones to watch, future trends and getting more diversity into the sector.