CLOE: Strategy to Reality

Setting The Direction For A Chamber Of Commerce

The Engagement

Having regenerated itself over a three year period to a position of financial stability, the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce recognised it needed to develop a new strategy to take advantage of the opportunities arising in and around Plymouth for the city’s economic development. A number of complex and inter-linked issues needed to be considered such as:

The nature of the Chamber’s relationships with the many stakeholders involved in determining Plymouth’s future
The limited resources available to the Chamber to develop its services
How to improve its financial position by selecting the most appropriate opportunities from a wide number offering varying degrees of risk and reward
The governance of the Chamber taking into account the arrival of a new Chief Executive and the demands made on Board members’ time which was entirely voluntary.

We were initially asked by the Board to run two strategic planning sessions for them. In the first we helped a Board working group to identify the impact and effects that the Chamber should have on its many stakeholders, to define its role and its purpose and from there arrived at a clear statement of intent for the organization. Carrying on using the ACE planning approach we helped them to assess the various factors affecting the achievement of their aim, the activities needed to address these issues and the timing of their implementation. This resulted in a proposed strategic plan which in the second session was presented to the entire Board: the aim being to secure their buy-in to the thinking behind the plan by concurrently presenting the ACE planning process with the plan itself.

This was achieved to such a successful extent that we were immediately asked to apply the ACE planning process to help the Board resolve a number of critical areas within the plan. These included Board role and structure, brand image, commercial opportunity selection and engagement with the membership.

Tozer Consulting has been retained as on-going advisor to the Chamber, with the remit of facilitating future complex issues requiring resolution.

The Client Perspective

“Initially I was quite sceptical that Tozer Consulting would be able to help us. The breadth of activity, diversity of our membership and sheer number of stakeholders with whom we have to deal mean we have to operate in a constantly shifting and complex environment. How could a small outside organization get up to speed quickly with our issues and find a clear way through the maze?

My doubts proved to be unwarranted. The ACE strategic planning approach is surprisingly powerful for something that in concept is so simple. Perhaps it is its simplicity that makes it so effective. In any event in a very short space of time, through Tozer Consulting’s help, we arrived at a new statement of intent, objectives and a means of achieving our aims. I was especially impressed with the process given that our Board consists of some of the most successful businessmen and women in Plymouth who don’t hesitate in coming up with alternative views. To achieve 100% buy-in to a three year strategic plan so quickly with 16 people on the Board was remarkable.”

David Young, Vice-Chairman, Plymouth Chamber of Commerce and Industry