The new Kent Gateway Chamber of Commerce is the first attempt for many years to give business a single voice. Business Editor Trevor Sturgess looks back at some chamber woes and forward to a potentially vital role for the new group.

THE county appears at last to have found its business voice again with the link-up of three main chamber groups.

North Kent, Kent Invicta and Channel chambers have come together to form the Kent Gateway Chamber.

Representing 2,500 members firms employing more than 50,000 people, the Gateway promises to be a lobbying force in the corridors of power.

After a series of setbacks over the past 10 years, chamber chiefs have worked hard to get the movement back on track.

Kent Invicta, which incorporates Ashford, Maidstone and Canterbury, North Kent Chamber, representing Kent Thameside and Medway, and Channel, the new name for Shepway chamber, have led the way.

All are in profit and offering a wide range of services to the increasing number of members. Their reputation is rising.

Gateway chief executive Tracey Manley, who also heads North Kent Chamber, said at the launch ceremony in the Marriott Tudor Park Hotel, Bearsted: "Today marks the beginning of a new era. We all know the county has had a very chequered past but today we at the Kent Gateway will go from strength to strength with your help and support.

"The next stage is to continue to lobby, to continue to represent you, to continue to provide commercial services to help you improve your bottom line and to be what you want us to be. We are working together for the benefit of the business community."

Chris Capron, chief executive of Kent Invicta, has been pressing for a united front for the past four years.

He said: "It's good that we now speak with once voice for the whole of the county."

And he had this message for firms outside the chamber movement: "Come and join us. They now have a strong voice. It's a very important day for Kent and it's good for the business community."

Peter Hobbs, chief executive of Channel Chamber, welcomed the move and hoped other chambers would join the Gateway. "It's another milestone," he said.