In Your Shoes - Alison Henderson

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Alison Henderson is Chief Executive of Dundee & Angus Chamber of Commerce, where she has the privilege of working with businesses, partners and civic leaders to help the region thrive. She is passionate about inclusive economic growth, strong local leadership and ensuring places and people have the opportunity to succeed.

In her role, Alison leads the Chamber’s strategic direction, business representation and programme delivery, working closely with members, government and partners across the public, private and third sectors. She has a particular interest in fair work, skills, the circular economy and building vibrant city centres and communities.

Alison is a visible and enthusiastic advocate for responsible business and collaboration. A confident facilitator and speaker, she regularly represents the region at national forums, hosts the Take a Seat podcast, and enjoys working with young people, employers and emerging leaders to support the next generation of talent.

Monday

A busy day to start off my week back after annual leave! Catching up on emails this morning followed by a visit to Dundee House in the afternoon. Part of my role involves supporting the work of the Tay Cities partners and today we’ve been working together to gauge what future investment projects in the region might look like. It’s incredibly powerful to see the ambition & scale of the work being achieved by organisations in the region, creating jobs and building opportunities that attract talent and visitors to our part of the world. And the view from Dundee House gives a nice change of perspective on the City Centre.

Tuesday

First thing today is all about reviewing March with our Operational Directors Group and the chamber team. We looked back at the number of visitors to 37 City Quay, the new members joining us and the impact of our events & marketing activities over what was a really busy month.

Then later that afternoon it was our Monthly Marketing meeting where we reviewed the performance of our various channels. March was a bumper month buoyed in no small way by our 13 events and social collaborations with The Apprentice’s Mike Soutar, who was our star speaker at the March McGonagall Dinner where he gave our audience a sneak peek at some of the learnings from his soon-to-be published book ‘Next Gen CEO’.

Wednesday

Part of our wider Chamber network sees us engage with British Chambers of Commerce and Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC). This week it’s time for the SCC Network Policy Forum and it will be no surprise that a lot of the conversation focussed on the upcoming Scottish Parliamentary elections. The SCC ‘Backing Scotland’s Businesses – a Plan for Growth' was published following extensive network engagement on the matters that are important to our members. We also shared best practice on how Chambers will engage with newly elected MSPs as we seek to share our views on early priorities and discuss local business issues.

Thursday

I’ve taken a bit of time today to reflect on a project completed recently by an internship that we hosted for a University of Dundee student. Eilidh was tasked with ‘Creating a Business Development Strategy & Action Plan Based on Data-Driven Decisions’. Her presentation to our team was insightful and has given us some very practical & valuable next steps to look at implementing in our business. Her work included gathering business feedback on the key things that businesses look for our support with. As we look to further deepen our use of data & technology it’s been really useful to have a student with us to focus on this. Eilidh has also taken away a lot from her placement with us, she’s picked up some key work-based skills to add to her CV to showcase to future employers.

Friday

The Dundee & Angus Plan for Growth showcases the key asks for incoming MSPs and the next Scottish Government. Businesses in Dundee & Angus are calling for:

  •  Targeted investment and growth support for key regional industries, including life sciences, advanced manufacturing, and the digital and creative sectors
  • Strengthened regional infrastructure, with a strong focus on enhancing local ports and wider transport connectivity
  • Employer-led skills investment to ensure the local workforce is equipped with the expertise required by fast-growing industries
  • Sustained support for export readiness to drive productivity and boost the international competitiveness of local firms

This helps us shape the conversation at our upcoming Hustings event at 37 City Quay on 30th April – if you’ve not sign up for this already, everyone is welcome – find out more here.

Dundee & Angus - Plan for Growth.pdf

Sunday

Another busy weekend, but this one saw a special event where I was there with two hats on! My volunteer hat was first on on Sunday morning as we helped set the hotel event space up for a charity fashion show event, raising much-needed funds for Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS). I am part of a large group of CHAS volunteers - every month you can find me at our Errol Bookstore. Then it was off to get changed & get ready to party the afternoon away and raise those funds. Kicked off with a brilliant performance by Loadsaweeminsingin’ – followed by a heart-wrenching story of how a Dundee family was supported by CHAS when their gorgeous ‘Smiley’ Riley had need of their services. His Mum Leigh had us in floods of tears as we laughed & cried through her stories. We raised an incredible £6,300 for CHAS at the event…a day well spent!