OUR PRIORITIES
This document is the out workings of the Causeway Chamber. The Causeway Chamber represents its member businesses that are owned and operated within the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough. Chamber Council reviewed the previous and first Key Priorities document. They have recognised the progress that has been made against our previous objectives and are now focussed on the present challenges. This document is our ask as a business community, it lays out in a clear and focused manner the conditions that we collectively believe are required to enable the people, the businesses and the area to grow and thrive.
We recognise and welcome the key themes of the 10X strategy of Innovation, Inclusivity and Sustainability, these themes thread through the strategies of every business and are vital to future success. Framing our priorities as Infrastructure, Skills and Growth enables us to offer a clear narrative of what this place can be and outlines the direct feedback and thoughts of our business community.
A Giant Spirit has always been part of our DNA, tourism and hospitality is an important part of the fabric of the business community along with Engineering, Manufacturing, world class research and renewables.
We look forward to collectively delivering on our ambition.
Infrastructure
Our Causeway Coast and Glens area, according to recent figures, is the second highest council area in terms of renewable energy production, and we need to build on this towards energy parity and then beyond to energy export. However, we suffer from poor transport and energy infrastructure and we are raising this regularly and know that our local representatives are doing the same.
We need better transport between Belfast and Derry / Londonderry, and we need to see the airport strengthened not weakened. We need to lobby for high-quality road and rail infrastructure that connects our towns and villages allowing people and goods to travel here and move around.
Skills
Skills shortage is consistently raised as one of the biggest issues facing our members. There are job vacancies across our towns and villages, and employers cannot fill these because of the shortage of the appropriate skills in the local economy. A Causeway Welcome is a new initiative being developed by Causeway Chamber which will be designed to support members within the hospitality sector.
Our Businesses are well served with a large support network that includes Causeway Enterprise Agency, Roe Valley Enterprises, Ulster University, North-West Regional College (NWRC) and Northern Regional College (NRC) with their new build in Coleraine. These stakeholders have a multitude of courses and tools to help businesses access funding for training and upskilling employees ranging from engineering, IT, Leadership, Business Admin, etc. The existence of the University is paramount to our success as a region, and we need to do more to celebrate this and support the University in their local growth.
In many other sectors, we need to promote enterprise and apprenticeship models for schools, colleges, and University so that students and leavers can build up their knowledge of business, better preparing them for work or to set up their own business, and we need our businesses to be ready to take on and train new people – if every business in the area aimed for growth this would enable them to recruit new people, and we need to aspire to this.
Growth
The growth that we seek is sustainable growth, in the context of our environment and our people. The recession has been hard on us all, and for many continues to be – particularly those that have been unfairly impacted by austerity, and that have felt the draught of budgets cut. Over the past few years, we have all tightened our belts, and perhaps used the “lean and Mean’ justification to keep our business tight, but for many, the time is now right for expansion and growth – keeping close the wisdom learned from the recession and seeking sustainable growth in all areas.
Download our Key Priorities Document in PDF format here