Officers' Roles

The officers of the Chamber are democratically elected at the AGM in March, and at other times if an officer stands down mid-term. Officers must be proposed and seconded by existing members of the Chamber, and where more than one person is proposed an open ballot takes place.

The roles available are:

President
Vice President
Treasurer
Membership Secretary
Secretary

Each role is associated with specific duties and aspects of the Chamber's activities, and anyone is entitled to put themselves forward or to be nominated, within the parameters mentioned above and specified in the role descriptions below.

A link to a print-friendly version of each role description can be found at the foot of this page.

Executive committee

This group was created at the 2011 AGM for the purpose of ensuring that every relevant business sector is involved in the policy creation and management of the Chamber.

The committee meets at 6pm on the third Wednesday of alternate months (April, June, August, etc) in the lounge at the Angel Hotel. Any member of the Chamber is welcome to attend and contribute.

President

This role is synonymous with the reputation and identity of the Chamber. The incumbent is required to be a current member of the Chamber. Main responsibilities include:

Devising strategy and direction for the Chamber of Trade by means of research, consultation and any other relevant methods
Communicating on the Chamber’s behalf with other organisations and local bodies, including the County Council, Town Council, Abergavenny Development Forum, the Tourism Association, Gwent Police and the CCTV team, the Civic Society, charities and other town groups
Making official statements in writing or in person to the media or other organisations when required
Chairing the Chamber’s regular meetings and at meetings of the executive committee, if necessary
Assessing and signing off the minutes of meetings before returning them to the secretary for uploading to the website and circulating to members
Representing the Chamber at events such as the Remembrance Day parade, Steam Rally, Carnival and other key events on the town’s community calendar
Working with the Vice President and Secretary to ensure that all enquiries received by phone, mail or email in respect of membership enquiries, policy, local issues, politics, etc, are acknowledged and /or answered
Overseeing the functionality and accuracy of the Abergavenny.co.uk website and ensuring that any invoices associated with the domain name and the website maintenance agreement are paid for punctually

Full training and instructions will be given in the use of the mailer and CMS software.

Vice President

This officer provides support to the President in all relevant matters and activities, and acts as a deputy to represent the Chamber at official events and meetings. The incumbent is required to be a current member of the Chamber.

The Vice President assists the President in devising policy and strategy, and personifying the Chamber’s reputation and identity, and may be called upon to make official statements to the media or other organisations when required.

He/she may be required to chair the Chamber’s regular bi-monthly meetings, and any meetings called by the steering group or a select committee.

The Vice President will be active in helping to set up and run action groups, subcommittees and research projects on the Chamber’s behalf.

He/she will work with the President and Secretary to ensure that all enquiries received by phone, mail or email in respect of membership enquiries, policy, local issues, politics, etc, are acknowledged and /or answered.

Treasurer

This officer provides support to the President in all financial matters and manages the Chamber funds.

The incumbent is required to be a current member of the Chamber. Responsibilities include:

Management and reconcilation the Chamber bank account
The Treasurer advises the President on the level of funds in the Chamber bank account, and on possible future cash flow issues
He/she produces annual financial reports which are presented at the AGM and ensures that the Chamber’s funds are managed in accordance with the appropriate current laws
He/she ensures the prompt payment of any purchase invoices relating to Chamber activities and sees to it that any expenses incurred by officers and members on behalf of the Chamber are reimbursed

Membership Secretary

This role supports the President and Vice President with particular reference to expanding and developing the membership list. The incumbent is required to be a current member of the Chamber. Responsibilities include:

Recruitment of new members by seeking out eligible individuals or organisations, either directly or via other members and contacts, and informing those individuals or organisations about the existence of the Chamber and the benefits of membership
Directing interested members to the Abergavenny.co.uk website and assisting them with downloading membership application documents, or printing the forms and delivering them to prospective members for completion. Reasonable expenses can be claimed.
Returning completed membership application forms to the Secretary for uploading of the new members’ details onto the website via the CMS software
Ensuring that a welcome email is sent to new members either from the Membership Secretary personally or from the Secretary
Inviting new or prospective members to the next Chamber meeting, and attending that event to meet and greet the new member or guest, or ensuring that another member or officer is aware that the new member will be attending, to ensure a warm welcome is given

A suggested ideal harvest of new members would be at least one per calendar month.

Secretary

This is a paid role that currently commands a fee of £50 per meeting attendance.

The incumbent is not required to be a current member of the Chamber but will need to display willingness to stay abreast of current issues, and to be familiar with and informed on matters relevant to the town, on Chamber policy and personnel, on the town groups and local issues and significant individuals. Responsibilities include:

Collaborating with the President (or the Chair of any sub group) to compile the agenda for forthcoming meetings, and circulating it to members (and any visitors) via the mailer system, or by email if necessary
Attending the regular bi-monthly Chamber of Trade meetings, and any steering groups meetings that may take place
Circulating an attendance sheet and taking minutes at those meetings
Passing the draft of those minutes in electronic format to the President (or the person who chaired the meeting) for signing off
Notifying relevant individuals of any actions recorded in the signed-off minutes that they are required to undertake
Uploading the approved version of those minutes to the document library of the Abergavenny.co.uk website via the CMS software and notifying members via the mailer system that the minutes are available to view
Working with the President to ensure the functionality and accuracy of the Abergavenny.co.uk website and ensuring that any invoices associated with the domain name, the website maintenance agreement and any other Chamber activities are passed to the Treasurer and paid punctually

Full training and instructions will be given in the use of the mailer and CMS software.

Any person interested in applying for election to any of these roles should make themselves known to one of the existing officers.