Taking steps to establish Chester as the go-to city for professionals

We were delighted to host our first get together of local business leaders on Tuesday, to discuss how to establish Chester as the go-to city for professionals.

We were joined at the dinner by senior business leaders from many sectors across Chester including Architecture, Banking, Town Planning, Financial Services, Insurance Services, Legal Services, Marketing, Property sales and lettings and Recruitment.

The event was hosted at Bollicini, Chester and I would like to thank Bollicini for their fine food and great service which contributed greatly to the success of the event.

Following arrival drinks, and a short scene setting introduction from myself the group sat down for discussions over dinner with the key topics being:

• What outcomes would we like to achieve as a group to support Chester to become the go-to city for people to work in? and
• How do we facilitate a job shadowing scheme amongst Chester Professionals to promote a more collaborative business community?

From the discussions there were several comments shared, key questions raised, and a series of proposals were captured and presented back to the group.

Comments included:

•  “Are there any other models out there of cities who have gone through a similar process?”
•  “Could Chester become a leader in ‘Green technology?”
• “Do we understand the barriers that make doing business in the city more difficult, can we identify them and start to do something about them?”

Key Questions we need to answer:

• What does Chester need for a successful and sustainable future?
• How do we create ‘one voice’ for Chester?
• How do we establish Chester as the go-to city for professionals
• What is brand Chester?

Proposals:

• Set up a professional services shadowing scheme where we learn from each other
• Host a Chester careers event
• Create a masterplan and a vision fit for a 21st century Chester

Next Steps

I truly believe we are at the start of an exciting new period for this fantastic City as we all emerge from the challenges of the previous two years. We want this group to be ambassadors for positive change across the city and plan to ensure we have a vision for Chester as a vibrant, 21st century city.

We have now begun the process of consulting further with members of the group on their priorities for the project and we will be meeting again on 24 May to begin the process of turning these aims into actions.

If you are a Chester Business professional and would like to register your interest in the scheme, email Andrew.wright@cullimoredutton.co.uk