Bristol Junior Chamber

To read the most recent version of the BJC Bugle, published May 2013, please click through to our Scribd account where it is available to view and download for free.

Tuesday 4th June meeting took place at Bristol Airport, we were very honoured to be hosted by the Community Relations Manager and learnt a great deal about the airport, the business and the work being done to develop relations between Bristol and the rest of the World.

The notes from our meeting are available to be read here - BJC June Meeting Notes – 04.06.13.

Tuesday 7th May saw the first Monthly Meeting of the new BJC year take place at Commonwealth House, St.Pauls Road.  With an audience of 30+ it was a lively evening with lots of good debate and updates from all sectors of BJC.

Our thanks to David Gammon MBE for hosting us and to Stephen Hilton, Service Director of Bristol Futures Group who was our speaker.  The notes from the meeting are available to read here – BJC May Monthly Meeting Notes – 07.05.13

The BJC had a thoroughly enjoyable and insightful tour of the National Composites Centre (NCC) at Emerson’s Green on the 12th April. We were hosted by Mary Page of the centre who provided an interesting background to the history of the centre, what they do, who the stakeholders are and what the future plans for the centre were. This was very much ‘hot off the press ‘in light of the recent announcement by the Chancellor in the Budget of an extra £30m for the centre.   Judging by the number of construction lorries it was clear work had begun in earnest.  During the lunch presentation we were joined by the CEO, Professor Peter Chivers who kindly gave up his lunch-hour to answer questions from members, after which we were given a tour of the centre which included viewing some of the world’s only AI manufacturing robots.

The Bristol Junior Chamber AGM took place Tuesday 2nd April at Merchants Hall, The Promenade.  All members are invited to attend to hear a review of the year past and to hear from those running for the Council of Management.

Following the AGM that took place last night (Tuesday 2nd April) we are delighted to announce the new BJC team for 2013-2014.

A big thank you is due to Savita Custead, our President for 2012-2013.

Thank you Savita for an excellent year as BJC President

The BJC welcomed Sir Graham Watson, MEP and his political researcher James Sully to a networking lunch kindly hosted at the Marriott Royal which was attended by 20 members.

Sir Graham provided us an insight into the inner working of the European parliament and the UK’s place in Europe, in particular he went into detail about the benefits of continued EU membership, including the single market and how the UK still has an important part to play in the legislation and the running of Europe. He put forward his concerns about the recent uptick in popularity of UKIP and what a referendum may bring to our relationship with Europe.

The introduction was followed by a general Q&A where members put forward questions ranging from the future of the Euro, how Bristol can sell itself better as a tourist destination to other European countries and whether Bristol will lose some of its industrial competiveness following the closure of Filton to which Sir Graham provided a broad and insightful range of comments and examples.

Members of the BJC are looking forward to hearing about the Local Enterprise Zone on Tuesday 5th March from 6pm at Brunel’s Board Room, Clock Tower Yard.

Speaking on the Local Enterprise Zone will be Alan Owen (Director of the Enterprise Zone), Hywel Jones (Head of Inward Investment for the Enterprise Zone), and Paul Appleby (Communications Directorfor the Enterprise Zone).

Bristol Junior Chamber are looking forward to our 64th Annual Dinner!

Taking place at The Bristol Hotel on Saturday 9th March 2013 this black-tie extravaganza is a highlight of the BJC year with a sumptuous three-course meal, speeches to celebrate the past year and great entertainment.

This event is now sold out with over 200 guests attending.

The provisional calendar for the final quarter of the BJC year (running April-April) has been confirmed by the President.  Final arrangements for speakers and venues will be made over the coming months and be released to members by e-mail. 

Further dates will furnish this calendar over the coming months as more events including tours, networking lunches, school interviews and socials get added to the busy BJC calendar which is available to members only and occasionally selected guests.