Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce

We welcomed our guest speakers Claire Baird and Gillian Longmuir from the Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce, who kindly agreed to provide a talk on the ‘Chamber’s Challenges and Support for Young People in Ayrshire’.

Claire is the current CEO of the Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Co-Vice Chair of Ayrshire’s Strategy for Development of the Young Workforce (DYW). Prior to her appointment as Chief Executive Officer in September 2022, Claire was on secondment to the Scottish Government’s Directorate for Fair Work, Employability and Skills for 18 months. Claire has been involved with the Chamber’s network for over 20 years in various roles, including Regional Lead for Developing the Young Workforce, and leading the education team for 15 years.

She has a passion for supporting young people and employers, helping them to become part of the future workforce by harnessing potential talent, having been born and brought up in Ayrshire and therefore, has first-hand experience of the assets and opportunities which the region offers.

Gillian is the Chamber’s current Regional Lead for Ayrshire’s Strategy for Development of the Young Workforce. She has been its Regional Lead for the past 3 years having served previously as the Employer’s Engagement Officer following the Regional Group’s inception in 2017. Having been based within the Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce for the past 13 years, Gillian has developed a strong network of contacts of employers, including many in industry and education.

Both Claire and Gillian are very committed and focussed upon preparing the foundation to help young people with their career paths, including those wishing to take the entrepreneurial route supported by our Rotary Club.

Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce is made up of a small but extremely hard working team dedicated and committed to providing our membership with the opportunities to grow, develop and improve your business with an excellent range of services, networking and platforms to make your business visible

The Chamber encourages our membership to do business with each other to help stimulate growth in the local economy. Their membership directory gives access to over 800 businesses from Accountants to Lawyers and Design to

Over the years Ayrshire Chamber has matched many local businesses with an experienced mentor and the journey has proved to be a very positive one. Their online platform will identify development aims, objectives and ambitions. With a large and diverse pool of mentors across all sectors, a business is matched with a mentor that has the right skills and experience to add value to the business.

Regarding events and training Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce hosts events in partnership with its members throughout Ayrshire. Through a range of informal and fun events their calendar offers networking, behind the scenes tours, teambuilding, conferences, award nights and training.

From their offices in the Mezzanine at Prestwick airport, Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce is the small business with a big voice. The leading organisation representing the business community across the whole of Ayrshire, their objective is to promote and facilitate business between members to encourage commercial growth and local prosperity. They are the voice of the business community in Ayrshire and pride themselves in providing strong representation of business interests in the corridors of power at Holyrood and Westminster. Serving the business community for over 70 years, they aim to support every type of business, from sole traders to large corporations. Their members cover a vast range of sectors including textiles, industrial, tourism, retail and manufacturing.

Alec Thomson gave a worthy vote of thanks