By Eilidh Alexander, Head of Membership, Inverness Chamber of Commerce
In February of this year, I joined Inverness Chamber of Commerce as the Head of Membership, and since then, I’ve had the pleasure of working with an incredible team, who are dedicated to supporting our wonderful members. Our focus is simple; we’re here to help you achieve your goals, facilitate meaningful connections and build lasting relationships that strengthen our local business community. We take great pride in representing Highland businesses, whether it’s making your voice heard at Holyrood or Westminster, or advocating for investment in areas such as employment, transport, housing and renewables.
With over 300 members, from sole traders and startups to multinational giants (and everything in between) we appreciate that membership isn’t ‘one size fits all’. Therefore, we offer four main levels of Membership; Digital, Essential, Growth and Corporate, which are designed to suit organisations of all sizes, at different stages in their development and with a range of objectives and goals. Whether you’re looking to raise your profile, grow your business or require support with planning applications and supply chain, our membership team are keen to learn about your business aims and recommend a membership package that caters for these. For businesses wanting a more bespoke service, while also supporting the Chamber, our Partnership agreements are the perfect solution.
We’re committed to reviewing our services and listening to our members’ feedback to make sure the benefits we offer are relevant, are easy to access and add value to your business. We encourage our members to keep in regular contact with us, whether it’s a scheduled 1 to 1 meeting, or a casual catch up at one of the many events we host throughout the year. Our Essential, Growth and Corporate members enjoy complimentary tickets, which can be used towards our popular networking lunches and speed networking sessions, and our Digital members are welcomed along at the members only rate.
This year, we’ve diversified our offering by adding three exciting new event series to our calendar; Inside Stories – Behind the Scenes, Under 30’s events and the Knowledge Hour webinar series. These events give you the opportunity to meet in some of Inverness’s most stunning and interesting venues and to chat and connect with new and familiar faces, no matter your sector, networking style, or what stage you’re at in your career.
Alongside our regular events and training sessions, we host two major highlights on the business calendar: the Highland Business Dinner and Highland Business Week, which is anchored by the Highland Spotlight business exhibition and the Highland Business Awards. These sell-out events are designed to inspire, connect, and empower the region’s businesses, while celebrating their remarkable achievements.
We’re also excited to have moved from a monthly to a weekly newsletter this year. With ‘The Pulse’ we look to give you relevant political and business updates, together with Chamber and member news, events, training opportunities and vacancies, presented in an easy-to-digest format. With a growing readership and an open rate significantly above the industry norm, this is our members’ platform to share successes, promote local activity, and keep up to date with what’s happening in the area. The Highlands can sometimes feel remote, but our newsletter, social media channels and events keep us connected, whilst shining a light on all our region has to offer.
If you’re looking to increase visibility, we offer some fantastic opportunities across all membership levels. Growth and Corporate members can feature as our Member of the Week – a week-long spotlight on any area of your business you’d like to promote. Essential members and above are also invited to contribute to our twice-a-year inbusiness takeover, part of Highland News & Media’s Executive magazine.
If you’re exploring international markets, our International Team is ready to guide you every step of the way. From helping with documentation and technical support to running import/export training workshops and trade missions, we’ve facilitated trade connections in over 50 countries and helped local companies expand globally.
We’re passionate about growing our network, because we believe that with more members, we have a stronger collective voice. Together, we can tackle the issues affecting our region, making the Highlands a more prosperous place to do business.