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Governance

Governance

GOVERNANCE

An Inclusive System Designed to Raise Every Voice

We’re committed to maintaining robust and representative governance standards.

We’ve worked hard to establish and refine a framework of governance that enables us to represent and amplify voices across all levels of our Chamber Network. This is reviewed regularly to ensure it remains as relevant and inclusive as possible.

Read our Annual Report below for a deeper exploration of the BCC’s governance system.

Click here to read our statement on unauthorised organisations.

ANNUAL REPORT

BCC annual report 2023 - 2024

Fast facts at your fingertips.

Take a look at some of the highlights below and read the full report to take a deeper look at who we are, what we do, and the people powering our engine. 

This report provides profile for the work and impact of the BCC and Chamber Network as well as greater detail and transparency for our Members and Non-UK Members on how we are governed.

Find out more
BCC Annual Report and Accounts 2023 – 2024

the bcc board

At the heart of our company’s success is a dedicated and diverse Board of Directors, bringing a wealth of experience, leadership, and strategic insight. 

Our board members are united by a shared commitment to guiding our vision, upholding our values, and driving sustainable growth. Their expertise across industries and our Chamber Network ensures that we navigate challenges, seize opportunities, and remain at the forefront of innovation. Together, they provide the governance and stewardship necessary to ensure long-term value for our stakeholders, while fostering a culture of accountability, integrity, and excellence.

 

Baroness Martha Lane Fox CBE
President
Sarah Howard MBE
Chair
Christopher Dottie MBE
Vice Chair and Non-executive Director
DAVID KELLY
Non-executive Director
Gillian McAuley
Non-executive Director
John Dugmore
Non-executive Director
Liz Willingham
Non-executive Director
Richard Collier-Keywood
Non-executive Director
Sara Williams OBE
Non-executive Director
Scott Knowles
Non-executive Director
Stuart Patrick CBE
Non-executive Director
Shevaun Haviland
Director General
Jenny Hemsley
Finance Director

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Baroness Martha Lane Fox CBE
Baroness Martha Lane Fox Cbe

President, British Chambers of Commerce

Martha is an entrepreneur and internet activist. Martha became a cross-bench peer in the UK House of Lords in March 2013. In March 2014, she was appointed Chancellor of the Open University. Martha is chairperson of WeTransfer where she helped them reach B-Corp Status. She is also a non-executive director of Chanel.

Matha co-founded and chairs LuckyVoice, revolutionising the karaoke business. Martha is a Patron of AbilityNet, Reprieve, Camfed and Just for Kids Law. From 2009 to 2013 Martha was Digital Champion for the UK and helped create the Government Digital Service – this team launched gov.uk transforming government service delivery. In 2013 Martha was awarded a CBE.

In 1998 Martha co-founded Europe’s largest travel and leisure website, lastminute.com with Brent Hoberman. They took it public in 2000 and sold it in 2005.

Sarah Howard
Sarah Howard MBE

Chair

Sarah has a long history in the Chamber Movement and is a great advocate for the power of business for good. Sarah became Chair of the British Chambers of Commerce in 2019, is a Past President of Suffolk Chamber and sits on the board of the London Chamber. In challenging times for business, she has supported the BCC and international network’s growth and is working with her teams to ensure they support the growth and prosperity of our members.

She has a particular interest in skills development and bringing more diversity into the Boardroom and is currently working closely with Neurodiverity in Business. She was awarded the MBE in 2015 for her work on skills development for young people.

With a background in management consultancy, Sarah has worked for high profile organisations including JP Morgan and KPMG. She chairs Codikoat, a rapidly expanding British Biotech startup which is taking their unique antiviral, antibacterial technology to domestic and international markets.

She is also the Chair of Abbeycroft Leisure, a large not for profit Leisure Trust and is a Governor at West Suffolk College and a Member of Suffolk Academy Trust.

Christopher Dottie MBE
Christopher Dottie MBE

Vice Chair and Non-executive Director

Christopher (Chris) currently serves as Vice Chair of the British Chambers of Commerce and given his international experience he brings a strong focus on the integration of the Global Network. He is also a member of the Nominations and Remuneration Committees.

Chris spent a decade as a member of the Governing Council of the British Chamber of Commerce in Spain, including a 4-year mandate as President, having previously lived in Portugal, France and his native United Kingdom.His executive role is at Hays Recruiting experts worldwide, where Chris has been Managing Director for Spain since 2008.

An alumnus of Aston University and ESSCA where he studied International Business & Modern Languages, Chris has also completed executive education at Ashridge Business School and IMD. Chris was awarded an MBE in the 2020 New Year’s Honours list for his services to British business in Spain and is a Non Executive Director on the board of the British Embassy in Spain.

David Kelly
DAVID KELLY

Non-executive Director

David Kelly is the Executive Director of the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore responsible for the strategy, growth and profile of the Chamber, supporting and representing British business interests, and connecting companies to opportunities in Singapore and across ASEAN. A Chartered Marketer, David joined the British Chamber of Commerce (Singapore) in 2019. He also held a regional role Co-Chairing Britain in South East Asia (BiSEA) promoting pan-ASEAN opportunities for UK companies between 2019 and 2022. David has lived in Singapore since 2015.

Prior to his role at the Chamber, David worked at the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) where he spearheaded the development and execution of a completely reinvigorated global growth-marketing strategy. He also built the Asia Pacific regional expansion plan which fortified the Institute and supported rapid growth between 2012-2019, seeing the Institute double in size from 11,000 members to 23,000 with membership in Asia Pacific increasing from 19% to 40% of global subscribers. Alongside his role at the IMarEST, he was also the Chair of the UK’s Marine Industries Leadership Council (MILC) Image Working Group from 2014 – 2016 and was involved in a number of industry reports covering skills, education & training and automation in the shipping industry.

Before the IMarEST, David led and delivered the global turn-around marketing programmes for the International Wine & Spirit Competition Group which had brands in the UK, America and Asia after marketing B2B and B2C solutions, both online and offline, in the financial services industry.

Born in Manchester, UK, David is passionate about mentoring, life-long learning and supporting others and has been a mentor at Ngee Ann Polytechnic (Singapore) and the University of Hull for Business and Marketing students and between 2016 and 2020 was a committee member on the Singapore Institute of Technology’s Marine Programmes’ Industry Advisory Committee (IAC).

Gillian McAuley

Non-executive Director

Gillian was born in Northern Ireland but emigrated to Canada as a child and lived there until 2001. She started her working life in Canada as a Barrister and Solicitor specialising in employment law.

Since returning to Northern Ireland, she has worked in a number of senior HR roles within electricity utilities for 14 years with Viridian Group (now Energia) and animal nutrition with Devenish Nutrition for seven years.

She is currently at medical device manufacturer Eakin Healthcare, which is headquartered in Comber, Northern Ireland.

Gillian has served on the People Committee for Ulster University for over three years and has recently been appointed to the Ulster University Council. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors (IoD) and has served on the Board of the NI Hospice and the NOW Group in the past. She was the President of NI Chamber from 2022-2023.

John Dugmore
John Dugmore

Non-executive Director

John is Chief Executive of Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Shipping, one of 53 accredited Chambers, part of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) accredited network.

John has been involved in business development and support throughout his career.

Through John and the team, Suffolk Chamber places huge priority on meeting its members’ needs, continuing to lobby hard and successfully for the business community across the county and in Westminster, playing a leading role on issues affecting economic and business growth; from infrastructure to skills, tackling trade barriers to net zero.

Year on year, Suffolk Chamber has grown both financially and in reputation amongst the local business community and key stakeholders. Membership numbers have increased and the balance sheet strengthened, seeing Suffolk Chamber continue to climb the BCC benchmark rankings.

Suffolk Chamber employs over 50 team members across 3 offices and looks after a Chamber membership, which combined, employees well over 100,000 people in the County

Working closely with the members and Chambers governance, John places great onus on ensuring that there are strong working and delivery relationships across Suffolk’s private, public, voluntary and governmental organisations, that, together, ensure that the Chamber champions the voice of Suffolk business through active lobbying and representation at a county, regional and national level.

Implementing these strategic partnership with key stakeholders, sees Suffolk Chamber as the deliverer of a number of initiatives to support the local economy, such as the business support front door for Norfolk and Suffolk via the Suffolk Chamber managed Growth Hub; the roll out and management of the Chamber/Local Authority partnership – Suffolk Business Ambassadors network, to the management and delivery of Suffolk Trade for Suffolk’s Local Authority colleagues, through to representing the business community on such things as the Suffolk Health & Wellbeing board.

John is a Fellow of the Institute of Marketing, Fellow of the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs, Visiting Fellow at the University of Suffolk and member of the BCC Accreditation Board.

LIZ WILLINGHAM
Liz Willingham

Non-executive Director

Having graduated from the UK’s first PR degree and subsequently working in the Harrods and Poole Pottery press offices as well as a regional agency, I started Liz Lean PR from the back of a Sandbanks apartment twenty years ago. 

The business is now home to an expanding team of PR, marketing and digital talent and we continue to go from strength to strength.

I am 2019 President, Board and Council member of the Dorset Chamber of Commerce and Industry. I also recently became Chair of the British Chamber of Commerce driven South West Regional Assembly of county chambers with CEOs and Presidents from Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset, Gloucestershire, and South Wales.

Personality traits which have enabled my business to be successful – alongside having an incredible team – include relationship building skills, high levels of emotional intelligence, interpersonal relationship and people engagement, and strong intuition. 

I have proven board level understanding of governance, using objective diplomacy and persuasiveness for the best interests of the organisation in question.

Career highlights;

  • Liz Lean PR Ltd, MD and Founder, 1998 – present
  • Poole Pottery Ltd, PR Manager
  • Aylesworth Fleming Ltd, PR Executive
  • Harrods Ltd, Press Officer
RICHARD-COLLIER-KEYWOOD_
Richard Collier-Keywood

Non-executive Director

Richard Collier-Keywood is the Chair of the Welsh Rugby Union, Chair of the School for Social Entrepreneurs, the Chair of Fair4All Finance (the UK financial inclusion organisation funded by dormant assets), the Chair of New Forest Care (a company that provides bespoke care and education to children with complex needs). He is on the Board and chairs the finance committee of Women of the World Foundation, a UK charity focused on diversity and equality and St George’s House based in Windsor Castle. He is on the Board of CoGo, a social enterprise tech start-up based in New Zealand, Australia and the UK, focussed on empowering consumers in their climate choices. He is also on the Board of The National Lottery Community Fund and chairs the Audit and Risk Committee.

Previously Richard was a senior adviser to DCMS (2017 to 2021) and Global Vice-Chairman of PwC from November 2011 to February 2017 and served as Managing Partner of PwC UK from 2008 to 2011. Richard is a barrister and a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales. 

Sara Williams
Sara Williams OBE

Non-executive Director

Sara has recently left her role as Chief Executive of Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce after 12 years. In this time the Chambers won Chamber of the Year and the King’s Award for Social Mobility.

Previously she was Director of Enterprise at St Helens Chamber and started her Chamber career at Liverpool Chamber – she has worked in enterprise development, business and education, sustainability for businesses, membership and policy during this time.

Sara is a strong advocate for the private sector taking a lead in all aspects of economic development. She believes that Chambers of Commerce provide an excellent platform for engaging with and supporting businesses to grow and prosper. This comes from having run her own small arts consultancy business and coming from a family of entrepreneurs, some more successful than others, as well as 20 plus years in Chambers themselves.

Sara has a wealth of experience working with the private sector to develop services in response to their needs, as well as a proven track record of lobbying and representing businesses.Sara has been a Governor of Staffordshire University and a non-Executive Director of the highly regarded New Vic Theatre based in Newcastle-under-Lyme.and is currently on the Board of the British Ceramics Biennial and UnLtd (the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs). Sara served on the BCC Audit & Risk Management Committee for 9 years before standing down in July 2022.

Scott Knowles
Scott Knowles

Non-executive Director

Scott is Chief Executive at East Midlands Chamber (Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire), is a Deputy Lieutenant (DL) in Derbyshire and lives near Matlock, Derbyshire.

Scott began his career at North Derbyshire Chamber in 1999, providing advice and support to businesses in regard to preparing for the impending ‘millennium bug’ and supporting businesses to embrace emerging internet technologies.

Scott’s earlier career was in the information and communications technology sector.

As well as heading up the Chamber’s leadership team and representing the Chamber and its members at senior level with stakeholders and partner organisations, Scott manages various capital, revenue and investment projects for the Chamber.

Scott represents the Chamber, its members, and the wider business community on a number of stakeholder groups including:

  • D2N2 LEP Board
  • Destination Chesterfield
  • Visit Peak District and Derbyshire
  • Business Peak District
  • East Midlands Business (EMB) Group
  • Employment Advisory Board for HMP Sudbury
  • YMCA Derbyshire
  • Nottingham City Growth Board
  • Various UKSPF local authority committees and boards
Stuart Patrick CBE
Stuart Patrick CBE

Non-executive Director

Stuart Patrick is Chief Executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, committed to increasing trading opportunities for Chamber members and delivering a strong business influence on the growth of the Glasgow city region.

Stuart joined the Chamber in 2009 and has worked with the Chamber’s team, Board and Governing Council to build the Chamber’s policy voice, evolve member services and support Glasgow in the delivery of an ambitious economic strategy.  International trade, transport investment, city centre growth, key industry strategies and youth employment are all important issues for the Chamber.   In June 2019 Stuart was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for this contribution to Glasgow business.

Stuart has spent over 25 years in urban economic development including 17 years at Scottish Enterprise where he focused on the economic transformation of Glasgow ultimately leading Scottish Enterprise Glasgow and becoming Senior Commercial Director for Scottish Enterprise itself. At the beginning of his career Stuart trained with Ernst & Young where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant and he has an MBA from Strathclyde University.  He took his first degree at Glasgow University.

Stuart takes an active interest in Glasgow’s economy and is a member of the Glasgow Economic Leadership Board, the Sustainable Glasgow Board and the Glasgow City Centre Strategy Board. He co-chairs the Glasgow Employer Board. He is also chair of Glasgow City of Science. 

Stuart has a number of personal interests around Glasgow including the chairmanship of the Wise Group and directorships of Glasgow Science Centre, Scottish Opera, Clyde Gateway URC and the Cottier Project.  He is a board member of City of Glasgow College.

Shevaun Haviland
Shevaun Haviland

Director General

Director General of BCC since April 2021, Shevaun was formerly Head of Business Engagement at Number 10 Downing Street and was at the heart of Government in the Cabinet Office as Head of the Inclusive Economy Partnership.

Shevaun started her career in consultancy in London and New York. She then moved to the Walt Disney Company in strategic planning before joining Disneyland Paris, opening the second theme park. Shevaun then joined the agency world, running global accounts for Millward Brown, Mindshare and WPP.

Following this, she became a partner in a start-up digital innovation agency and venture builder, Independents United, where she also became an Advisor for the Danson Foundation. Most recently, Shevaun was the New Ventures Director for Avado, building new businesses in Edtech and founding the Academy of Digital Business Leaders.

Shevaun has a passion for business as a force for good. A Trustee of Barefoot College International, Shevaun also sits on the Boards of BCC, the Women of the World Foundation (WoW) and the International Chambers of Commerce UK (ICC UK).

Jenny Helmsley
Jenny Hemsley

Finance Director

Jenny Hemsley joined British Chambers of Commerce as Finance Director in January 2020. Jenny leads on BCC’s finance and operations activities, and also holds the office of Company Secretary.

Prior to joining the BCC, Jenny worked for 15 years at Thomson Reuters as finance director in the European Tax & Accounting division, and as an audit director in the global Corporate Internal Audit function. She is an ACA, having qualified in 1999 with PricewaterhouseCoopers. She also holds long-standing voluntary roles with the NCT charity.