DAVID FROST SPEAKS ON THE ROLE OF BUSINESSES AS WEALTH CREATORS IN LOCAL COMMUNITIES
05/02/07 | 14:50
David Frost, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:
"Prosperity is at the heart of successful, vibrant communities. With prosperity comes civic pride, aspiration, a can-do mentality and vision for the future. Without it, as we know from too many communities, comes poverty of aspiration, low skills, high unemployment, high crime and a lack of entrepreneurial spirit."
"The role of businesses in community cohesion is often overlooked. They have a key role to play in laying the foundations of prosperity within communities. Small and medium-sized businesses form the backbone of our communities. As the lifeblood of the economy the role of businesses is to create wealth. These ‘wealth creators’ are integral to prosperity, but they are also integral to communities and to society as a whole. Engaging them in the life of our communities is therefore crucial if we are to regenerate and revive places, with it building cohesive communities."
"As more proposals emerge to devolve greater powers to the local level, civic leadership and engagement with the wealth creators becomes increasingly important. The Chamber network supports greater local flexibility and wants to see decisions being taken at the most appropriate level – whether that be local, sub-regional, regional or national. By its very nature, our network is a bottom-up movement and businesses want to have a greater say over how things are done in their locality."
"The current lack of businesses engagement in the policy process is a challenge which must be met if more power is to be devolved to the local-level. Failure to do so will exclude a major contributor to wealth creation and community cohesion."
ENDS
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MEDIA CONTACT:NOTES TO EDITORS:The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is the National Voice of Local Business.
The BCC sits at the heart of a powerful nationwide network of Accredited Chambers of Commerce serving business across the UK, which employ over five million people.