Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and ABDN South Yorkshire announced a partnership today designed to harness the potential of the ethnic minority business population in the economic development of the Sheffield City region.

Irshad Akbar, Chair of ABDN SY said “This is an exciting opportunity for mainstream businesses to work in collaboration with Ethnic Minority Businesses.”

“The concern of many ethnic minority businesses is that they have not been taken seriously and many service and support organisations have not catered for cultural, religious and business needs.”

“The objective of this collaboration is to ensure that the Ethnic Minority Businesses do grow and contribute to the economic regeneration of the area, whilst consideration is given to the sensitivities of the different groups involved.”

Richard Wright, Executive Director of Sheffield Chamber added “The contribution of the ABDN businesses cannot be questioned. Many members are fantastically successful businesses but we have to acknowledge that they have not been accepted into what I would describe as the business mainstream.”

“The region can be the only losers to that. We aim to change it and we have planned a focused series of events and projects to turn it around.”

“This is a difficult period in the business cycle and we need to focus collectively on creating wealth by trading with the rest of the world.  ABDN members are party of “Team Sheffield” which will help us do that and we are very excited about the future.”

This partnership is crucial to the vision of ABDN HQ, promoting positive partnerships to provide business support across the region.

ABDN HQ Chairman Arshad Chaudhry commented, “ABDN has been inspiring business leaders and providing support to BAME enterprises for the past 14 years in Yorkshire. Our expansion into South Yorkshire with a dedicated team provides exceptional opportunities to work in tandem with the Sheffield Chamber for supporting enterprise in the sub-region.

Providing sustainable business support under public/private sector partnerships is the ethos of the new regime and it fits in perfectly with ABDN\\\'s vision.”

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For further information please contact Irshad Akbar, ABDN SY Regional Chairman on 07918 662228