Doncaster Chamber Helps Open the London Stock Exchange After Winning Prestigious National Award

As per tradition, each recipient of the annual Chamber Business Awards is invited to a market open ceremony that takes place the following March. The attendees include winners from every category, including those who were recognized as the best employers, those who excelled in the fields of workplace wellbeing and e-commerce, as well as the overall “Business of the Year”.

Under normal circumstances, this would occur just a few months after those accolades were initially handed out. Yet that could not happen for the 2019 winners, as their scheduled event coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and a nationwide lockdown.

With them being unable to open the Stock Exchange in March 2020, the ceremony was deferred. Instead, the belated event for 2019 winners ended up falling on Tuesday, 29th March 2022.

Here, delegates from various organizations — including Doncaster Chamber of Commerce — gathered together at Paternoster Square in London to open the Stock Exchange. Taking place at 8 a.m., this marked the beginning of trading for the world’s most international exchange.

Attending on behalf of Doncaster Chamber were board members Michael Wilkinson and Jill Wood.

Jill Wood, past President of Doncaster Chamber, said: “It was a wonderful experience to represent the Chamber at the opening of the markets at the London Stock Exchange. Winning the accolade of Chamber of the Year in 2019 was a fantastic reflection of the hard work that CEO Dan Fell and the rest of the team do for our members, stakeholders and borough. That hard work hasn’t stopped and yesterday was a fitting reminder of what a great Chamber we have here in Doncaster.”

At 2019’s Chamber Business Awards, Doncaster was named “Chamber of the Year” for how it implemented a then-new proposition that saw membership numbers and retention increase significantly. The judges were also impressed with how the accredited organization takes pride in representing its members and offers them a diverse range of services.

Meanwhile, the overall business of the year for 2019 (who also helped open the Stock Exchange this week) was Bishop Fleming LLP. A leading accounting, tax and business consultancy firm, they claimed their own award for developing a sustainable wellbeing programme.

The Chamber Business Awards is coordinated by the British Chambers of Commerce. Hosted on an international stage, it is a prestigious event in the business calendar that honours the best firms across the country.