New board chairman for chamber

Phil Purssey is managing director of BT Local Business Wolverhampton, based in Codsall.

He has been a member of the chamber for many years and an active member of the Platinum Group.

He succeeds the previous chairman Bankie Williams.

Mr Purssey said: “I am delighted to have been appointed chair of the board and amongst my first priorities will be to review how effective we are in servicing, meeting and supporting the needs of the executive leadership team at the chamber to deliver strategic objectives that support our members moving forwards.

“I have sat on several boards throughout my career and seen some really inspirational chairs that have led boards through some very challenging times. I’ve learned that the talent and experience of a board can be extraordinary.

“As a chamber we have undergone a period of rapid change and have developed to become a forward thinking, more modern and easily accessible business support organisation. I want to add value as quickly as possible, ensure everything we do drives continued growth for the chamber and that all our members and stakeholders continue to have confidence in us and our ability to support them. My primary role, and therefore my priority, is to ensure that we as a board, continue to be effective in our task of setting and implementing the chamber's direction and strategy.

“I'm optimistic about continued business growth and the role our chamber plays to advocate for business-friendly policies at all levels that lead to economic prosperity, and I’m looking forward to supporting our dynamic and successful business community, particularly as we recover from these challenging times, and to making the region an increasingly attractive place to do business.

"It is an honour to serve as chair of the chamber of commerce board of directors," continued Mr Purssey, "I am delighted to be taking on the role from Bankie who has done an outstanding job in recent years.

Chamber chief executive Corin Crane said, “We are excited to have Phil working with us; he has a wealth of experience and expertise which he will be bringing to this role. Businesses face challenges today like never before, but we all have positive ambitions for the chamber moving forwards and this role will help support our fantastic board to facilitate the chamber to achieve these.”

Mr Purssey held senior roles in both the private and public sector organisations before starting his own telecoms company in 2011 on the wave of changing and emerging technologies.