At Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce, we’re all about making local business succeed – and this is a commitment CEO Justin Richardson is steeped in.
An accountant by trade, Justin quickly found out he had a knack for identifying and solving business issues by focusing on people, systems, and processes. Initially brought on board at the Chamber on a temporary basis to implement a finance system and manage public sector contracts, he now leads and steers the entire organisation - with, as he’s quick to point out, the support of an excellent and dedicated team.
So, meet Justin – and learn more about his passion and vision, his plans, what he and the Chamber have achieved to date, and what his strategy is to engage with Bedfordshire businesses’ challenges and opportunities going forward.
What gets Justin up in the morning?
What comes through very clearly in speaking to Justin is his powerful sense of purpose – the absolute conviction that everything he and the Chamber do must benefit the interests of local businesses and the Chamber’s membership.
“I’m driven by the determination to support businesses and make a tangibly positive impact on them,” he says. “Our members are at the heart of every decision I and my team make.”
Justin sees change and vibrancy as his motive force. “I don’t do ‘We’ve always done it this way,’” he laughs. “One of the things I prize most highly is our ever-changing environment, driven by economic, political, and social factors, as well as by innovation. It’s always fresh and exciting, and spurs us on to deliver better.”
It’s also the sheer variety of members and other local businesses the Chamber deals with that fires Justin up. He’s delighted by the fact that the Chamber’s members include everything from start-up one (wo)man bands to corporate multinationals.
But what he relishes even more is that whatever the size and type of the business concerned, the Chamber brings him together with, as he puts it, “great people, doing wonderful things, in brilliant organisations.”
And, ever the listener, Justin says “I come away from these encounters every time having learned something.”
What has Justin helped the Chamber achieve?
On Justin’s watch, the figures speak for themselves. The Chamber is now close to hitting its highest membership numbers in a decade, had the greatest ever number of entries at the SME Bedfordshire Business Awards that it recently managed and ran, and now delivers over 500 successful Member2Member referrals a year.
But Justin sees many other achievements around his three key pillars of ‘Connect’, ‘Export’, and ‘Voice’.
He recounts how he and the Chamber stepped in to connect a local small business to a multinational client, helping to boost the former’s turnover to close to £1 million a year.
He explains that the Chamber has also helped Bedfordshire companies export over £1 billion of goods to 100 plus countries around the world during his tenure.
And he points to the measurable benefits of the Chamber’s many interventions during the Covid pandemic. These included persuading the Government and Bank of England to make changes to Covid support funding to prevent some local businesses from ‘falling through the gaps’, and steering how three local authorities delivered Covid business support in their area.
Justin’s vision for the future
‘Joining the dots’ is a phrase Justin uses often, and it’s at the heart of his strategy for the Chamber’s future.
Growing its network and platform will enable it to bring more businesses and opportunities together, and make more experts accessible and available to guide decisions, provide funding and drive growth.
But the ‘dots’ don’t stop there. Justin sees massive transformative potential in artificial intelligence (AI) and automation. “We can use these technologies at the Chamber,” he explains,” to create more insights and connections between businesses, by identifying overlaps, synergies and opportunities in the business landscape that we just couldn’t unearth manually.”
“This is why I’m currently trialling AI technology at the Chamber. A huge opportunity could be waiting just next door, and we need smarter ways to ensure we can sniff it out and connect our members to it!”
As ever, Justin’s on a mission – and the Chamber team’s behind him 100%.
To enquire about becoming a Chamber member, visit www.chamber-business.com or speak to our friendly team on 01582 522448.
