'˜I want the chamber to be more visible...'

Business strategist David Joel has taken the helm after president of four years Andrew Finney stepped down.

David wants to make sure that members continue to view the chamber as ‘relevant, valuable and the go-to place for advice and support’.

He said: ‘This is an ideal opportunity for me to put something back into the business community,

‘I’m bringing in a lot of business skills and I’m keen to see us helping more members, especially our SMEs, to up their game and achieve growth and prosperity.

‘I also want the chamber to be more visible as a lobbying organisation at local and national levels as well as a leading source of guidance on Brexit.’

In his 22-year career , David has worked both in the UK and the US and was heavily involved in leading the bid team on the privatisation of the atomic weapons establishment at Aldermaston.

The new president also has senior level expertise in aerospace, defence and facilities management.

In this voluntary role, the qualified physicist will act as an ambassador with outside organisations.

His responsibilities will include holding fellow directors to account and being on-hand to provide corporate governance.

Chief executive Maureen Frost said: ‘David is already a familiar face to many of our members.

‘As president, he will help us build on the countywide momentum we are generating. It’s all about having a strong senior management team in place to keep membership growing and we’re thrilled that David will be central to that activity.’