Corin Crane Reflects on His Time As CEO

24 Jun 2022

Published in: Black Country Chamber of Commerce News

About to enter his final week as CEO, Corin Crane reflects on his time at the Black Country Chamber.

I was offered this role in the same week as the Brexit vote and my time leading the Black Country Chamber has been dominated by big national and international events. Three Prime Ministers, two national elections, two West Midlands Mayoral Elections, lows of post Brexit worries, highs as the West Midlands businesses outperformed all contenders, the paradigm shifting experiences of the COVID pandemic, record vacancies but high youth unemployment, high levels of inflation and energy and fuel costs spiralling out of control.

Through all this, the one thing that has remained consistent is the incredible resilience of our businesses. Our business community adapts, innovates, finds new markets, solves problems, keeps a straight face when confronted by policy announcements which fail to hit the mark and battle hard when changes need to be made. Working for a Chamber of Commerce is a very privileged position and I have been incredibly proud of the people and businesses I’ve represented since 2016.

The Chamber is, of course, a small business in its own right and, over the last six years, we have transformed at an incredible pace. We are now a tight, well focused team that does business the right way – with a clear eye on ethics, equality and pride in our local area. The team around me are amazing – the export docs and finance team who remained in the office based for the entire lockdown, the DIT team who remained calm and informed when all around them was chaos, the amazing account managers, Tracey and Richard who eat, sleep, live, work, repeat for their members, the professionalism of the external affairs who make us look so polished and relevant and Lorna, Calum, Neil and Karen – directors of the highest calibre (and the highest patience). We are renown for our work nationally on inclusion and equality, on campaigning and lobbying, for Sarah Walker’s incredible portfolio of armed forces work and for being a chamber that is always a partner and never a threat.

Finally, and most importantly, it’s our members that make this job so fantastic.

It’s a big deal to be a Chamber member – membership fees are the critical contribution that allow us to do all the work we do – it’s a massive commitment in such tight financial times and I can’t thank our members enough for all their support and all their loyalty to us. I’m not going far, but I am going to miss the Black Country and its breath-taking businesses more than I can articulate.

It’s been an honour to work with you all. The Chamber network is a mighty beast with tentacles all over the world and I’ll still be in the West Midlands, still fighting for our economy and our residents and making sure that inclusion, entrepreneurship and innovation is at the heart of everything we do.

Thanks everyone, and hopefully see some of you at my final skills event next week at the racecourse. Click here to book onto the event.

Onwards and upwards!

Corin Crane

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