THE Londonderry Chamber of Commerce has appointed its second lady president in over 120 years.
The director of bus service operator Airporter, Jennifer McKeever has been named as the Chamber's 75th president and takes over from the outgoing George Fleming.
The new president will oversee what could be one of the most challenging times for businesses in the north west and speaking at the annual AGM last night Mrs McKeever highlighted Brexit as a key issue.
“Brexit might mean Brexit but we have yet to fully understand what that means and in the meantime, we will all get on with the job at hand.
“We have had to learn a whole new language that we use now to try to dissect what that means to us; hard Brexit, soft Brexit, transitional arrangements, special status and regulatory alignment – all phrases we didn’t know we needed to know two years ago but now are crucial for how we try to measure what’s in store for us and how best we can plan for it.”
During her address the new president said one of the key areas of growth during her tenure would be the local tourism product.
“The Chamber will also continue to campaign for the expansion of the university and the improvement to infrastructure – these are some of our core challenges that we must overcome in our city and region – but we will also work at helping our members large and small improve their productivity and competitive edge to ensure that we not only are we strong enough to face the challenges ahead – but ready to harness the opportunities that it will carry with them.”
