Business West, the organisation behind Bristol Chamber of Commerce, has appointed Emma Carter as its new membership director.
Emma, pictured, started work at 16 after the Thames Valley Chambers of Commerce visited her school to talk about modern apprenticeships. 
At 18 she was selling memberships for the chamber and now, 24 years later, she has come full circle in charge of membership at Business West, one of the UK’s largest chambers of commerce groups and the South West’s biggest business organisation.
Emma has also worked as a sales and marketing director at Swindon IT and business communications consultancy Excalibur and ran her own freelance business consulting firms in areas such as culture development, leadership and sales.
Emma said: “What I love about my new role is being able to develop people and empower them -that’s exciting.
“It’s my goal to constantly ask our members what help they need and ensure we give them good value.”
Emma also laid out some key areas of development for the future of Business West, which represents more than 21,000 businesses in the South West through its network of chambers of Commerce, including those in Bath, South Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire as well as Bristol.
“I think Business West does some amazing things, but we must make what we do a lot clearer,” she said.
“Our reputation is very strong at local, regional, and national government level – we are seen as the ‘voice of business’.
“So, we want to use those relationships in the most effective way by working with our partners and public sectors to ensure the region gets what it needs.”
