Back to business: CE Business Canterbury, Leeann Watson

In my last column, we announced that our name was changing from Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce to Business Canterbury.

Since then, we have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from our members and business community about how our new name better reflects what we do and who we support.

On behalf of Business Canterbury, thank you to the business owners, operators and leaders in our region – contributing to our economy, providing livelihoods for our people and supporting our communities. Thank you for keeping our economy ticking along.

Looking ahead this year, we expect to see progress made on removing median wage visa requirements, improving the quality of regulation, and planning for significant infrastructure investment in Canterbury through the new roads of national significance programme and the $1.2b Regional Infrastructure Fund. We have engaged early with ministers, outlining Canterbury’s business expectations and look forward to hosting them in Christchurch in the new year.

For further insights on what 2024 might bring, on 15 February we will again be hosting our annual ‘Back to Business’ event, one of our major networking opportunities this year. I encourage you to get in quickly if you would like to attend as our venue capacity is limited. You can find out more and book at our website businesscanterbury.co.nz.