Business community/support organisation
Organisations such as Enterprise Nation and Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) can provide great support if you have just started a new business of if you already run a small or mid-sized company. They offer business and legal support, financial expertise, networking avenues and a strong representation of your issues in front of the government.
Surrey Translation Bureau (STB) has been a member of the FSB since 2016 and has benefited from discounted business services.
“Our local FSB networking group has a breakfast meeting every month, where members have the chance to get to know each other and learn genuinely useful business stuff. Everyone is encouraged to put themselves forward to give a presentation. As a member, we’ve also taken advantage of other benefits, including deals on card payment charges and energy bills.”– George Cooke, Director, STB
Chambers of commerce
Chambers are organisations that support and connect companies, share expertise and knowledge, helping them forge new relationships and explore new opportunities. Operating at local, regional and international levels, they can prove useful as sources of support for business on variety of topics such as exporting.
There is a wide network of accredited chambers of commerce spread across the UK meaning you can choose the one that works best for you.
STB is a member of Hampshire, Surrey Dorset and Thames Valley Chambers of Commerce. Each membership has helped us build valuable connections and provided other opportunities such as promoting our business through their websites, newsletters and magazines; attending insightful sessions on wide variety of topics, including health and wellbeing, GDPR and social media marketing and having access to an e-learning platform, just to name a few.
As part of our membership with Hampshire Chambers, we were given support in creating a corporate video that reflects our culture and values.
Professional bodies in your sector
Whether it’s marketing, manufacturing, legal, medical or financial, there are specialised professional bodies for your sector that you can join. In doing so you be able to participate in conversations around common topics, receive support, keep up to date with industry innovations and trends, get recognised for your contributions to the sector and find a unilateral voice for shared causes.
STB is a member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI).
The ITI is a UK-based independent professional association committed to promoting the highest standards in the translation profession. As a proactive member we’ve received awards, given presentations and training for other ITI members, and have even judged awards!
We’ve found associating ourselves with ITI extremely beneficial on many levels. Whilst our members of staff enjoy the training and networking opportunities, as a company we are constantly exploring new benefits that being part of the business community, the chambers and industry specific bodies have in store. Naturally there is a cost attached to these memberships, but the professional value you gain from them outweighs the monetary investment.
We welcome you to have a chat with us about how these associations have positively impacted our services and processes.
Written by Marya Jabeen
