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East of England

Welcome to the Enterprising East

Between 2016 and 2017, according to the Office for National Statistics, all UK regions saw an increase in the number of new businesses, but it was the East of England which experienced the greatest percentage increase of 6.8%, representing nearly 17,000 businesses. The East of England is recognised as a thriving area for starting and growing successful businesses. It for this and many other reasons we believe we are worthy of the title of the Enterprising East.

Across the IoD in the Enterprising East, we are working to build a strong community of business leaders, who understand the challenges, have access to quality personal and professional development, can offer peer support at that senior level, influence policy that affects our businesses, and who generally help make the East of England a great place to live and work

Across the Enterprising East, we are working to build a strong community of business leaders, who understand the challenges, have access to quality personal and professional development, can offer peer support at that senior level, influence policy that affects our businesses, and who generally help make the Enterprising East a great place to live and work. To find out more about the IoD in the Enterprising East, Contact Regional Director Simone Robinson.

Please find a link to our Events Flyer here, and keep up to date on all the upcoming events in the region!

East of England Branches

The East of England region encompasses five separate branches in Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire (includes Middlesex and parts of South Bedfordshire), Norfolk and Suffolk.

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire
Essex Essex
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire
Norfolk Norfolk
Suffolk Suffolk
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About Cambridgeshire branch

The Cambridgeshire branch is ably led by its chair Carolyn Rand who, with the help of IoD staff and the volunteer committee, supports local members and organises inspirational and valuable business events in the area.

The IoD Cambridgeshire branch covers the whole county, as well as the PE postcodes of South Lincolnshire, and has a membership comprising a diverse cross-section of business leaders and senior executives. The branch’s role is to provide for the needs of local members within the scope of the IoD charter.

Under the leadership of Carolyn Rand, the committee, which represents local members' interests, puts together a diary of events to appeal to a wide range of people. These include networking meetings, company and industry visits and social activities. We work with neighbouring branches in the IoD East of England region on key events and to allow region-wide to access all events for our respective members.

The branch also has plans to engage more with the local business community, link with media organisations, improve connections with education and work hard to develop its appeal to diverse groups. We are particularly working on ways to improve communication with members and support for not-for-profit organisations such as charities.

All Cambridgeshire events can be attended by IoD members from other branches and in many cases non-members are also welcome to come along.

About Essex branch

The Essex branch of the Institute of Directors strives to ensure that the voice of Essex business leaders is heard and recognised within local, national, international and political arenas.

The branch is ably led by its chair Christine Bhatt who, with the help of her Ambassador group supports members and organises inspirational and valuable business events in the area. The branch events programme includes networking occasions, social opportunities and director development courses to further your business education and leadership skills.

The IoD is a membership organisation which helps business leaders become even better business leaders.

About Hertfordshire branch

The Hertfordshire branch of the IoD has around 1,400 members and is ably led by its chair, Richard McBarnet who, with the help of the Ambassador group and IoD staff, supports local members and organises inspirational and valuable business events in the area.

The Hertfordshire branch covers all areas within Hertfordshire and also parts of Middlesex and Bedfordshire. It has the largest number of members in the East of England and represents a diverse cross-section of business leaders and senior executives.

The branch hold a range of events throughout Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire aimed at providing business insights to enhance skills and knowledge and also quality local networking opportunities. All of our events can be attended by any IoD member (not just Herts members), their guests and in some cases non-members.

About Norfolk branch

Welcome to the Norfolk Branch of the IoD

In Norfolk we have one of the most vibrant IoD branches in the UK. We have developed a wide ranging event programme which is designed to meet the needs of as many members and fellow business professionals as possible, with breakfast, lunch and evening seminar and social events, major corporate functions and mini-conferences - the IoD Norfolk Annual Dinner is usually the biggest event of its type from the IoD outside London.

The branch aims to provide a ‘community’ or ‘club’ in which any member is welcome and is likely to meet with and get to know their business peers at events – in a relaxed and informative setting, not a forced ‘networking’ environment.

If you are a member in Norfolk, and want to be updated on what's happening in the branch, make sure you have opted into local e-mails to receive full details of our events. We aim to have fun; add value to our businesses and ourselves; and do some good in our community.

About Suffolk branch

The team within Suffolk is led by a team of volunteer Ambassadors. The branch aims to provide insights and networking that members cannot get locally elsewhere.

IoD Suffolk not only is creative in its events programme, it also partners with different organisations to deliver something different for its members.

Important partners include MENTA, that together with IoD Suffolk created a mentoring scheme called Expert Connections to match business owners who are in the infancy of their business with experienced business leaders. This not only benefits both businesses, but contributes towards members’ CPD. The scheme has caught the attention of other IoD Branches that are evaluating adopting the scheme.

Members also give generously of their time to support local students with projects that aid their studies. The partnership with Suffolk One was one of the first such sixth form college relationships for an IoD Branch. We look forward to welcoming existing, new and non-members to our events.

IoD East of England would like to thank the following organisations for supporting activities in their local branches;

Supporters and sponsorship

If you are interested in finding out more about becoming a regional or a branch supporter, further details can be found within the following document. Read on for more details of these exciting opportunities available to businesses within the region.

Sponsorship Opportunities Document 2019

As the UK heads towards the possibility of leaving the EU without a deal, it can be difficult for businesses to know where to go for guidance. Amidst all the political noise and confusion, the IoD is here to give business leaders the information they need to help them prepare and plan. A no-deal doesn’t have to mean no idea.

Visit the IoD Brexit hub for the most up to date information.