West Midlands Chambers of Commerce
| File:West Midlands Chambers Commerce Logo.png
Official logo of the WMCC
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| Abbreviation | WMCC |
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| Legal status | Limited Liability Partnership |
| Purpose | A joint venture partnership of the 6 Chambers of commerce in the West Midlands region |
| Location |
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Region served
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West Midlands |
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Membership
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more than 9,000 companies |
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Managing Director
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Allen Matty |
| Website | West Midlands Chambers of Commerce |
West Midlands Chambers of Commerce is an umbrella group which represents business interests in the West Midlands region of the United Kingdom. It brings together six of the regions Chambers of Commerce, which between them have over 9,000 companies as registered members.[1]
Organisation
The head office of the WMCC is located in Birmingham, at the same address as the Birmingham chamber. It also operates through the offices of its other member chambers, giving it a total of six offices. As well as Birmingham these are located in Worcester, Stoke-on-Trent, Walsall, Coventry and Telford.
The head of the WMCC is the chair, currently Margaret Corneby. In total there are 332 chamber employees, within the 6 regional Chambers including specialist advisers, trainers and project managers as well as administrative and support staff.
Membership
The West Midlands Chambers of Commerce LLP has six member chambers, each of which is an accredited member of the British Chambers of Commerce. The members are:[2]
- Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce Group
- Black Country Chamber of Commerce
- Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce
- Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce
- Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce
- Shropshire Chamber of Commerce
Between them these chambers have a total membership of over 9,000 businesses.[3]
Activities
The WMCC describes its core mission as "the delivery of specialist business services across the West Midlands." It works together with the British Chambers of Commerce to assist regional businesses. A priority is lobbying for infrastructure investment in the West Midlands area.[4]
The WMCC acts as a single point of contact for government agencies or other entities who wish to place contracts in the West Midlands; it can act as both contractor and contract manager.
Emphasis on exports
The WMCC is working with businesses, and lobbying the government and local authorities, to increase the emphasis on exports for manufacturers based in the West Midlands.
In May 2013 WMCC introduced a new service aimed at making it easier for businesses to export. This involves providing a simple way to generate all the documentation required to ship goods overseas, including letters of credit, by using a centralised management system. This allows a business to enter the information once rather than having to do it repeatedly for each individual document. Online training courses are also being developed to teach business owners the special requirements of international trade.[5]
References
- ↑ West Midlands Chamber of Commerce, Brochure, p. 9, retrieved 20 July 2013.
- ↑ West Midlands Chambers of Commerce, Our Partners, retrieved 20 July 2013.
- ↑ West Midlands Chamber of Commerce, Benefits of working with WMCC, retrieved 23 July 2013.
- ↑ Express and Star, 7 August 2012, British Chambers of Commerce director general calls for development, retrieved 20 July 2013.
- ↑ The Business Desk, 30 April 2013, WMCC pilots new export service for region's SMEs, retrieved 20 July 2013.
