British Chambers of Commerce

Last updated

British Chambers of Commerce
AbbreviationBCC
Formation1860;164 years ago (1860)
Legal statusNot-for-profit organisation
PurposeChambers of commerce in the UK, and UK business
Location
Region served
Worldwide
Membership
80,000
Director-general
Shevaun Haviland

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC, formerly known prior to 1996 as the Association of British Chambers of Commerce [1] ) is the national representative body of 53 chambers of commerce across the UK. The chambers represent 50,000 businesses, which the BCC claims employs 6 million people. [2]

Contents

History

The organisation was founded in 1860 as the Association of Chambers of Commerce of the United Kingdom, following a 1859 meeting of the leaders of the Yorkshire Chambers of Commerce at the Social Science Congress in Bradford. During the 19th century, the organisation lobbied regarding a range of issues, including intellectual property law, transport, bankruptcy law, and tariffs, and promoted adopting the metric system. By 1900, it had more than 50 MPs as honorary members. In 1919, the name was changed to the Association of British Chambers of Commerce. Post-World War 2, the organisation lobbied for the UK to join the European trade area. [3]

In 2016, the director-general of the organisation, John Longworth quit due his support of Brexit, when 60% of BCC members supported EU membership. [4]

In modern times, the BCC has been regarded as less prominent than its rival, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). [5] In 2023, the organisation set up the Business Council as a rival to the CBI, which had faced a crisis following sexual harassment and assault allegations. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JCB (heavy equipment manufacturer)</span> English multinational equipment manufacturer

J.C. Bamford Excavators Limited (JCB) is a British multinational manufacturer of equipment for construction, agriculture, waste handling, and demolition. It was founded in 1945 and is based in Rocester, Staffordshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confederation of British Industry</span> UK business organization

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is a British business interest group, which says it represents 190,000 businesses. The CBI has been described by the Financial Times as "Britain's biggest business lobby group". Incorporated by royal charter, its mission is to promote the conditions in which businesses of all sizes and sectors in the UK can compete and prosper for the benefit of all. In 2023, the association was shaken by numerous accusations of sexual misconduct in the organisation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Browne (politician)</span> British journalist, businessman and politician (born 1967)

Anthony Howe Browne is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Cambridgeshire since the 2019 general election. He has served as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Decarbonisation and Technology in November 2023. He is a member of the Conservative Party.

Anthony Paul Bamford, Baron Bamford, is a British billionaire businessman who is the chairman of J.C. Bamford Excavators Limited (JCB). He succeeded his father, Joseph Cyril Bamford, as chairman and managing director of the company in 1975, at the age of 30. He was knighted in 1990 at the age of 45. He has appeared in the Sunday Times Rich List, and in 2021 his net worth was estimated at US$9.48 billion. Bamford is a car collector whose collection includes two examples of the rare Ferrari 250 GTO, valued upwards of $70 million each.

Daniel Korski is a UK-based Danish political adviser and businessperson. He worked as deputy head of the Number 10 Policy Unit for David Cameron and currently serves as a vice-president of the Jewish Leadership Council. He founded the business PUBLIC, which aims to support technology companies to secure public sector contracts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservative Party Conference</span> Annual national conference of the British Conservative Party

The Conservative Party Conference (CPC) is a four-day national conference event held by the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom. It takes place every year around October during the British party conference season, when the House of Commons is usually in recess. The event's location has alternated between Birmingham's International Convention Centre (ICC) and Manchester's Central Convention Complex since 2008. Previously, it had alternated between Blackpool and Bournemouth. In contrast to the Liberal Democrat Conference, where every party member attending its Conference, either in-person or online, has the right to vote on party policy, under a one member, one vote system, or the Labour Party Conference, where 50% of votes are allocated to affiliated organisations, and in which all voting is restricted to nominated representatives, the Conservative Party Conference does not hold votes on party policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jo Johnson</span> British Conservative politician, brother of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson

Joseph Edmund Johnson, Baron Johnson of Marylebone, is a British politician and peer who was Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation from 2015 to 2018, and from July to September 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Orpington from 2010 to 2019. He currently sits in the House of Lords. His older brother, Boris Johnson, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom between 2019 and 2022.

Arthur Neslen is a British-born journalist and author. Nelsen has especially covered Middle East issues, fossil lobbies' influence on European institutions and climate change. He served as journalist for Haaretz, Jane's Information Group, The Observer, The Guardian, and as a correspondent for the websites of The Economist and al-Jazeera. NGOs credited policy changes at the European commission, international financial institutions and wildlife regulatory agencies in part to Neslen’s work.

John Murray Allan is a British businessman. He previously served as president and vice president of the Confederation of British Industry, and is a former chair of the supermarket chain Tesco and current chair of the housebuilder Barratt Developments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vote Leave</span> Campaign for UK withdrawal from the EU

Vote Leave was a campaigning organisation that supported a "Leave" vote in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. On 13 April 2016 it was designated by the Electoral Commission as the official campaign in favour of leaving the European Union in the Referendum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opinion polling for the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum</span>

The referendum on EU membership took place on 23 June 2016. Opinion polling for the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum was ongoing in the months between the announcement of a referendum and the referendum polling day. Polls on the general principle of the UK's membership of the European Union were carried out for a number of years prior to the referendum. Opinion polls of voters in general tended to show roughly equal proportions in favour of remaining and leaving. Polls of business leaders, scientists, and lawyers showed majorities in favour of remaining. Among non-British citizens in other EU member states, polling suggested that a majority were in favour of the UK remaining in the EU in principle, but that a similarly sized majority believed that if the UK were only able to remain in the EU on renegotiated terms then it should leave.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Longworth (businessman)</span> British businessman and politician

John Longworth is a British business consultant and politician. He was the director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce from September 2011 until March 2016, when he departed in controversy by breaking with the organisation's line on Brexit on the day of its conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Best for Britain</span> Civil society campaign to fight Brexit

Best for Britain is a civil society campaign, launched on 26 April 2017, to stop Brexit and continue the UK's membership of the European Union (EU). Since 2021, the organisation's aim has changed to encourage greater internationalism rather than an immediate push to rejoin the EU.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leave Means Leave</span> UK pro-Brexit political pressure group

Leave Means Leave was a pro-Brexit, Eurosceptic political pressure group organisation that campaigned and lobbied for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union following the 'Leave' result of the EU referendum on 23 June 2016. The campaign was co-chaired by British property entrepreneur Richard Tice and business consultant John Longworth. The vice-chairman was Leader of the Brexit Party, Nigel Farage.

The Institute for Free Trade (IFT) is a private, not-for-profit, research foundation based in central London. It aims to make "the intellectual and moral case for free trade" and sees Brexit as an "opportunity to revitalise the world trading system".

The Brexit 50p coin is a commemorative fifty-pence British coin that was originally struck to mark the planned withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on 31 October 2019. The minting of the Brexit coin was ordered by Sajid Javid. A total of 10 million Brexit coins, each stamped with the date 31 October 2019, were planned to be minted. In late October 2019, with increasing doubts that Brexit would actually happen on that date, the minting of the coins was "paused".

Tony Danker is a British lobbyist and former Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) from November 2020 to March 2023.

Brian McBride is a UK businessman, who was appointed President of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) in June 2022.

References

  1. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/british-chambers-of-commerce [ bare URL ]
  2. Isaac, Anna (8 October 2023). "'Our CEO has chancellors on speed-dial': Martha Lane Fox, British Chambers of Commerce president". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  3. "ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE | London Metropolitan Archives". search.lma.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  4. Ratcliffe, Rebecca; Syal, Rajeev (7 March 2016). "EU referendum: John Longworth resigns as commerce boss over Brexit debate". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  5. Pratley, Nils (26 April 2023). "If the CBI is off the pitch, hand the captain's armband to the British Chambers of Commerce". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  6. Sweney, Mark (5 June 2023). "New business lobby group launched as CBI faces crucial vote". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 8 October 2023.