BEHIND the scenes discussions are taking place about the future direction of Bolton and Bury Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber's annual report, presented to the annual meeting at the Bolton School Arts and Conference Centre, points out that the whole ethos of business support is undergoing radical changes.

It says a small number of chambers and training and enterprise councils have merged to form chambers of commerce, training and enterprise.

The report goes on to say that the British Chambers of Commerce organisation is advocating the formation of a new-style chamber - a single organisation at local level which is owned by the business community and which embraces most, but not necessarily all, of the functions of Chamber, TEC and Business Link. "The report ends: "Your Council is considering the future in great depth - a sound and successful economy for Bolton and Bury is the Chamber's aim."

The President, Peter Weidenbaum, stressed the importance of the partnership approach when he spoke at the lunch which followed the annual meeting.

He said: "We have to learn to increasingly work in partnership with others in order to respond effectively to the constant changes and challenges we have to meet.

"We are pursuing this course through a wide-ranging dialogue with a number of key players which hopefully, in due course, will transform the scene for the benefit of those whom we represent."

Mr Weidenbaum said there was tremendous potential in Bolton and Bury and he called for everybody to pull together to achieve success. He said he believed the Chamber should provide an umbrella for various sectorial groupings of the private sector.

Organisations involved were now: Bury Chamber of Trade, EEF (Lancashire), Bolton Marketing and Tourism Association, Bolton Junior Chamber.

The Insurance Institute of Bolton, the Paper Federation of Great Britain, The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and the Chartered Institute of Bankers.

He said their representatives would join the Chamber Council and he was looking forward to their contribution to the agenda, debate and deliberations.

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