The Growth Hub was invented in Cumbria and it has now been rolled-out as the national model for business support – something we are immensely proud of.

That success is down in large part to the support of our partners and the rigour and attention to detail in the Chamber’s management of the initiative – and our commitment to ongoing innovation and improvement.

For example, the Chamber holds the ISO27001 accreditation for information security management systems, the ISO9001 quality management accreditation, as well as British Chambers of Commerce accreditation. And we are the smallest business ever to be awarded the Merlin Standard, which assesses and promotes excellence in supply chain development and management.

Setting the Standards

The team has worked hard to develop and implement the robust systems and processes needed to underpin these accreditations and our wider activities. And to continuously improve them.

To manage and deliver the quality and value of the projects we undertake to the standards of data protection we set ourselves requires a huge investment in back office systems and cloud-based technologies across our entire supply chain.Rob Johnston MBE FCIM, Chief Executive, Cumbria Chamber of Commerce

In our 2017 re-accreditation we scored a perfect 100% for supply chain design, with assessors reporting absolute excellence in the way we put together our supply chains and design contract delivery.

We work proactively and constructively with current and potential partners to develop supply chains which deliver effective outcomes for both funders and end users, including drawing on wider networks to enable a truly holistic offer.

To ensure equality of opportunity for all – whether through the support and services we offer or as an employee or contractor – we implement equality and diversity plans across all our activities, and as part of this we’re accredited by DWP as a Disability Confident employer.