A former president of Suffolk Chamber of Commerce has become the first representative from the county to be elected vice president of the national body British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).
Sarah Howard, who stood down as Suffolk Chamber president in June following three years in the role, has been a non-executive director of BCC for the past 18 months and takes up the role of vice president with immediate effect, following a vote at a BCC board meeting
The BCC is made up of 52 accredited chambers across the UK, together representing thousands of member companies of all sizes and from all sectors of the economy.
Sarah Howard, whose own business background is in management consultancy and software, was also previously chair of the One Haverhill organisation for more than three years and was awarded an MBE in 2015 for services to the community of Haverhill.
She said of her new BCC role: “This is a great honour for me and I’m looking forward to spending the next 12 months helping to promote the interests of business to decision-makers and supporting the incredible efforts of the 52 accredited chambers of commerce in representing their business communities.”
Francis Martin, president of the BCC, said: “Since joining the BCC board in 2016 Sarah has been a supportive presence, as we look to drive the British Chambers of Commerce network forward. I am delighted that she has become the new vice president, and I look forward to continuing to work with her in the year ahead.”
Graham Abbey, the current president of Suffolk Chamber, said: “With this new role, Sarah continues to blaze a trail of success having been chair of OneE Haverhill and my predecessor as president of Suffolk Chamber. She is also the current chair of the BCC’s UK accreditation panel. Sarah is a great advocate for business and will continue being so on a nationwide platform.”
And John Dugmore, chief executive of Suffolk Chamber, added: “Sarah’s election is also a tremendous recognition of the growing profile and success of Suffolk Chamber within the accredited network. Her new role will doubtless throw the spotlight further on our other areas of work including our increasingly successful campaigning, not least on the A14.”
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