New president for Black Country Chamber of Commerce

The 160-year-old chamber has also announced for the first time in its history a 50/50 split of male and female board members.

The latest board members to join following the chamber’s annual general meeting, are Vicki Wilkes, director of Red by Night, the entertainment venue at the Waterfront near Merry Hill; Sarah Williams, associate Director of the Business School at the University of Wolverhampton and Carl Baker, managing director of Bilston-based Nant.

Sarah Moorhouse said: “I am thoroughly delighted and relish the opportunity in the president’s role at an ambitious organisation that continues to do so much to support the growth and survival of Black Country businesses, along with the wider scope of helping to raise the profile of all the fantastic projects that the chamber delivers on both a regional and national level.

“I’m also delighted to find I’m joined by fellow successful businesswomen around the table, and I’ll be focussing a lot of my support on women in business and women in leadership throughout my two-year role, and also as chair of the chamber’s Women in Leadership initiative.

“I will help support our fantastic leadership team in their delivery of the strategic objectives that support our members.”

She is one of the youngest business leaders to take on the president’s role and takes over from Jude Thompson, managing director of CSCM in Oldbury.

Vicki Wilkes said, “I am excited to be part of the BCCC board, my combination of hospitality and engineering backgrounds will hopefully enable me to bring some broad skills and experience to the table. I am looking forward to working with the other board members to support businesses in the Black Country.”

PR and communications expert Sarah Williams added: “I am delighted to have been voted on to the board by members this morning. I am looking forward to serving the business community in the Black Country during my term.”

Carl Baker said, “I am extremely honoured to be appointed as a board director for the Black Country Chamber of Commerce. The chamber plays an essential role to the local business community, and it is exciting to join such a strong leadership team which will continue to build upon the strong foundations exhibited in recent years.”

Chamber chief executive Corin Crane said: “The chamber board is delighted to welcome our new board members who bring strong local and national business experience. Vicki, Sarah and Carl complement the rest of the board team well and they will help us continue to support members and their businesses.”

The new members join current members Jo Smith, managing director at Fortress Interlocks; employment lawyer, Simon Bond from Bond Legal; Jatinder Sharma, principal and CEO at Walsall College and Ali Allibhai, director of Autobase Citroen.

Steeping down this year are David Roberts, managing director at Wolverhampton Racecourse and Geoff Layer, Vice Chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton.