Bradford Chamber dinner looks to the future

18 November 2013

There was one special guest at Bradford Chamber of Commerce’s 2013 annual dinner on November 15 – Chamber International senior associate, Mike Strawson, who received a special award.

Mike, the elder statesman of Chamber International, was presented with his Lifetime Achievement Award from the Institute of Export by director general of the Institute of Export, Lesley Batchelor, at the dinner held at The Cedar Court Hotel, Mayo Avenue, Bradford. He is one of only three people to have received the award.

About 400 guests attended the annual dinner – Bradford’s biggest gathering of the year - and guests at Chamber International’s table included Lesley Batchelor, author and sales strategist, Darren Kelly and Yorkshire Bank international trade finance manager, Terry Ventress.

Guest speaker was well known media consultant, Steve Auckland, a former managing director of the Yorkshire Post and national free daily Metro before becoming group  CEO of media business Local World which has 107 print publications and 500 websites.

Chamber President Paul Mackie’s heartfelt speech looked at the apparent upturn the UK economy and the current exploration of a merger between Bradford Chamber of Commerce with Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber.

He summed up the city’s prospects by quoting the Latin inscription at Bradford City Hall, which, translated, means “Hard Work Conquers All.”

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