IQ-Magazine-Issue-12

IQ exposure
National Award is National
Recognition for Suffolk
Suffolk Chamber Of Commerce celebrates its achievements at the annual Chamber Awards
The leaders of Suffolk Chamber of
Commerce have said that the recent
award they collected at a national
ceremony in London is ‘national
recognition for everyone in Suffolk.’
The Chamber picked up the “Most
Effective Campaigning” Award at
the British Chambers of Commerce’s
annual Chamber Awards, which were
announced in a ceremony at the
Tower of London.
Suffolk Chamber led the campaign
against the plan to use tolls to help
fund key improvements to the A14
around Huntingdon; these tolls
were widely viewed as imposing an
unfair and damaging burden on the
economy of Suffolk. A free-flowing
A14 is of fundamental importance
to the economic infrastructure and
future success of Suffolk, a county
that is home to 730,000 people, which
delivers 305,000 jobs, and which has
an economy worth £12.6 billion every
year.
“It was a great honour for the
Chamber to collect this award on
behalf of partners and colleagues who
supported the Chamber-led No Toll
Tax on Suffolk campaign,’’ said John
Dugmore, the Chief Executive of
Suffolk Chamber of Commerce. “No
Toll Tax on Suffolk was a powerful
campaign that was underpinned by
the drive and support from a host of
partners – our MPs, Local Authorities,
Local Enterprise Partnership, business
groups and most importantly the
L-R John Dugmore, Chief Executive, Suffolk Chamber/ Sarah Howard, President Suffolk
Chamber/ Danny Longbottom, BT Business & Stephen Britt, Chairman, Suffolk Chamber
Transport & Infrastructure Board.
business community, from across
our great county. That is what made
the difference, and that is why we’re
delighted to be awarded such a great
national prize.”
The No Toll Tax on Suffolk campaign
was raised at local, regional and
national level, including local MP
Therese Coffey meeting with the
Prime Minister; representatives of the
group meeting with the Secretary of
State for Transport; and the Suffolk
Chamber Chief Executive directly
asking George Osborne to scrap the
plans.
“There is no doubt the Government’s
plans to toll the A14 would have been
a direct tax on business in our county,”
said Stephen Britt, the Chairman of
the Suffolk Chamber Transport and
Infrastructure Board, who was also at
the Awards in London. “That is why
the campaign gained so much support.
There was, and is, no national strategy
for tolling roads, and penalising
drivers to come in and out of a county
that is a positive contributor to the UK
plc made no sense at all.”
A study commissioned from Ernst and
Young by Suffolk County Council in
collaboration with Suffolk Chamber
as part of the campaign, concluded
that “as a trade and distribution hub
with a growing population, Suffolk
depends on the quality and free flow
of physical transport infrastructure”
and “the end of congestion on the
A14 could generate c£362 million in
annual GVA and create up to 7,100
jobs in Suffolk”.
Because of ‘No Toll Tax on Suffolk’
the potential for these figures from
the Ernst and Young report can be
achieved following the upgrade to the
A14.
issue 12 | page 29