It was great to see so many members at our breakfast again in October at the beautiful Kingston Maurward College – and a number of members who haven’t been for a while as they have been so busy! We had 39 people booked so it was a nice full group in the lovely Pengelly room.
The breakfast was sponsored by Tim Chappell of WPA Health Insurance. As always it is good to have more of an introduction to the work our member organisations are involved in and how they may support member businesses and individuals.
The sponsored breakfasts have proved very successful and popular with members – if you would like to sponsor one in 2024 (a few are already booked) please do contact me at or Hazel at for details and availability. As well as having a short speaking slot at the event we will also promote your business in the on line adverts and social media updates about the event so at £30 we feel it is excellent value for money!
We were also very pleased to welcome Councillor Simon Gibson who is the portfolio holder for Economic Growth and Levelling Up. It was great to hear from Simon about potential changes to the LEP’s, his desire for local businesses and Chambers to work with the council more closely and to drive forward growth throughout the whole region. Simon is undertaking a consultation in early 2024 about supporting market towns in the region and he is keen to find out from Dorchester members what works well, what could be improved and what would make things better for businesses. Dorchester is one of the success stories and they are keen to see how we can be supported further, and anything others can learn from. I think the vibrancy of the Dorchester Chamber is a good indication of the commitment of our businesses and how we can work together.
On a personal note, the breakfast marked the end of 3 years with me as President of the Chamber. It has been an honour to undertake the role, I took over from Steve Farnham in the midst of the Covid lockdowns which was difficult for everyone including the Chamber, but it has been great to see many new members joining, some old members returning and many staying with us through the difficult times. As someone said at the breakfast yesterday, Dorchester Chamber seems to be very well organised and run, that is a credit to all of the Executive members and to our secretary Hazel. It is, as always, a team effort and it has been great working with everyone. I have put my name forward to remain on the Executive Committee and whether that is successful or not I will of course remain a member and look forward to attending events as a member without so many photos of me being taken!
Our next event is the AGM which will be held at Dorset Museum on Wednesday 1st November, starting at 5.30 for 5.45. There will be light refreshments available, bookings are open on the Events page, it is of course a free event. Please do try to get along if you can – we will be talking about future plans, finding out what you would like us to do more or less of and as always having some networking time! Book using the link below.
The next breakfast is on Tuesday 14th November and will be held at Shire Hall Museum. As has become traditional we will be focussing on a couple of Charity members and will be encouraging people to think about support for them and the good works they do. Bookings are open so please do book on and we look forward to seeing you there! Book using the link below.
https://www.dorchesterchamber.co.uk/events/networking-breakfast-14-november-2023/
With around 100 members any business in Dorset with less than 30 employees can join Dorchester Chamber for business for £60p/a (no VAT).
