One of the key aims of the Chamber is to help build a strong and thriving business community.

What that means is that we are constantly working to connect businesses so they can share knowledge, support, advise and trade with each other or make referrals. Central to this is relationship-building rather than obsessing about a quick sale (which of course is great too) – it is a much more sustainable approach that we have found our members get a lot more out of.

Businesses are always being pushed by “specialists” to identify their USP (unique selling point) but the reality is that often businesses offer very similar services and quality at similar prices. The thing that really sets them apart from the competition is the people involved and this isn’t something that is easily communicated through most marketing channels (although social media is helping) - as they say “people buy people”.

The popularity of the Chamber events reflects the value our members put on developing these relationships. With around 1,000 bookings last year we regularly have upwards of 30 businesspeople at our twice-monthly Business Breakfast Clubs – an informal opportunity for businesses to catch up with a cup of coffee (or other hot or cold beverage). In contrast, our Christmas lunch provides around 60 business guests with a more formal opportunity to come together and celebrate the year and network over a three course festive lunch. This year’s event will take place in the stylish surroundings of Boclair House in Bearsden on Thursday, December 12 and will feature a leading business speaker.

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As the Chamber community builds we are hearing more and more about the dots that our members are joining for each other whether that is through direct or indirect sales or other business benefits which in turn creates economic impact for our local economy. We want to continue to attract business to Dunbartonshire and, where possible, encourage all our businesses to “trade local” – again this is an important way that all businesses can help put something back into the local economy to the benefit of us all. We are actively promoting trading locally as part of our business support programme, D:Biz, and hope to continue to build momentum for this campaign to encourage even more local businesses to get behind it.

D:Biz has also been set up to help suppliers in Dunbartonshire secure more contracts both locally and nationally. Over the summer our first event helped prepare local businesses to tender for a landscape maintenance contract for Strathleven Regeneration CIC. There was a great turnout and it had a really positive response so we’re confident that the programme will go from strength to strength.

These are just some of the activities we are involved with to build a strong and sustainable business community. To find out more about the Chamber, membership and how to get involved please visit our website at dunbartonshirechamber.co.uk, get in touch on 0141 280 0272 or email hello@dunbartonshirechamber.co.uk.