About Suffolk Chamber of Commerce in East Suffolk
Suffolk Chamber in East Suffolk, formerly Lowestoft & Waveney, part of Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, supports businesses from a wide range of sectors from renewable energy to tourism within a vibrant, close-knit and commercial community, and with a number of local infrastructure plans and supply chain opportunities in the pipeline. We provide the tools to ensure our members can operate more effectively and productively, secure in the knowledge that they have an active, supportive and well-respected organisation behind them.
As a grassroots organisation, it both contributes to campaigns that benefit the whole of the county’s business community and also seeks to deliver improvements that are specific to our area.
The area of East Suffolk makes up the largest district council in the UK, accounting for 239,000 people and covering a significant geographic area which is largely rural but contains many villages, market towns and several smaller urban areas. With East Suffolk accounting for such a large area, it is therefore not surprising that there is a significant business base of 9,545 businesses, many of which are considered micro with less than 9 employees (8,490 businesses), and only 25 large businesses employing more than 250 people. The main industries in East Suffolk are hospitality and tourism, shipping, ports and logistics, alongside growing sectors including energy production and maintenance, and traditional services such as retail, financial services and agriculture.
|
Enterprises |
East Suffolk |
% share |
|
Micro (0 – 9) |
8,460 |
88.4% |
|
Small (10 – 49) |
960 |
10.0% |
|
Medium (50 – 249) |
130 |
1.4% |
|
Large (250 +) |
25 |
0.3% |
|
Total |
9,575 |
|
Source: Inter Departmental Business Register (ONS)
|
People |
East Suffolk |
% share |
|
Economically active |
117,400 |
83.9% |
|
In employment |
116,500 |
83.2% |
|
Employees |
93,300 |
67.8% |
|
Self employed |
23,200 |
15.4% |
|
Unemployed |
4,100 |
3.4% |