New president appointed at Lancaster & Morecambe Chamber of Commerce

Last month saw the Chamber host its 126th annual meeting, which was held as part of a breakfast networking event at The Borough in Lancaster.

The meeting saw Chris Gardner appointed as the new president, replacing Jon Powell who had held the role for the last two years.

Chris, director at Morecambe-based accountancy firm Waters & Atkinson, said: “I am absolutely delighted to become president of the Chamber of Commerce at what is an exciting time for both the Chamber and the district.

"I consider it to be an honour to be elected president and I promise to work hard to advance the interests of all of our members over the next two years. Fortunately I have a great team around me and look forward to working with the Chamber’s staff and board.

“The Chamber already has a fantastic mix of members and a first class programme of events. We are striving to develop this further and make connecting with each other as easy and as pleasurable as possible. I hope to attend as many of these events as possible and I look forward to talking to as many of our members as possible over the next two years.

“I am very optimistic about the future of the district. It is a great place to work rest and play and the Eden Project is the most exciting thing to happen to the district in my lifetime.

“Our outgoing president is a hard act to follow and that’s why my first act as president was to thank Jon Powell for his fantastic service. I am very fortunate to have Jon as an active immediate past president and equally fortunate to be working with our new vice president, Tarnia Elsworth.”

The Non-Executive Board of Directors, whose task is to strategically lead the direction of the Chamber, was strengthened further by the appointment of Tarnia Elsworth as vice president. Tarnia is a director and financial advisor at TP Financial Solutions in Heysham.

Tarnia said: “It is an honour to take up the role of vice president. I am proud to be a member of our business community, and I take the role of representing that community seriously.

“During my term as vice president, I want to ensure that we are representing and lobbying for and on behalf of as many of our businesses as possible.

"A recent EDI study commissioned through Lancaster University will help myself, the team, and the rest of the board identify which businesses/business owners aren’t working with our Chamber, and will help us converse with those businesses to find out how we can engage and represent them too.

“Finally, our business TP Financial Solutions is proudly a Morecambe-based business, it is an exciting time for our district, and I want to ensure that Morecambe businesses play an equitable part in deciding the direction of our Chamber. I look forward to representing your business, and our community in the coming years.”

On behalf of the Chamber board, team and members, chief executive Vicky Lofthouse passed on sincere thanks to Jon Powell as his term as Chamber president came to an end.

She added: “Our thanks go to Jon for his tireless commitment and everything he has done for the Chamber over the past two years and we look forward to continuing to work with him in his new role as Immediate Past President.”