Suffolk Chamber’s first Prestige Dinner hailed a success

The first Suffolk Chamber of Commerce Prestige Dinner saw guest speaker Justin Urquhart-Stewart urge the 170 business leaders present to be more confident about the country’s economic future.

Justin Urquhart-Stewart, (pictured) is one of the most recognisable and trusted media commentators in the world of high finance. He provided an entertaining but forthright presentation on Brexit, protectionism, the United States under President Trump, growing inequality and cyber security issues.

The main theme of his speech was the need for both British business and the population as a whole to be more confident about what the future holds and counter some of the relentless negativity around at the moment.

“The UK is doing better than we sometimes see on the news, and businesses and financial institutions need to install confidence and address the areas they can control” he explained.

He also felt that more emphasis needed to be placed on giving citizens a better understanding of how the business world, and especially the financial sector, works so that they had more control over this aspect of their lives.

“I do think that we need to add lessons in personal finance to the school curriculum. Many young people are not able to budget properly or plan their pension needs and retirement objectives because they are confused by the jargon” Justin went on to say.

John Dugmore, Suffolk Chamber chief executive, said “we’re delighted that our first ever Prestige Dinner was such a success. Thanks to everyone involved with the event, which provided both information and entertainment in equal measure.

“We aim to host two Suffolk Chamber Prestige Dinners each year, held at especially high quality locations offering guests a unique opportunity to meet the county’s business movers and shakers and listen to the best speakers around.”

The dinner, which took place on 19 March at Wherstead Park, was sponsored by Norse Commercial with goody bags supplied by St Peter’s Brewery and East of England Cooperative Society.