Meet the Shropshire business boss on a county mission

“When you consider the job I’m doing right now, my first involvement with Shropshire Chamber of Commerce is actually quite funny," she says.

"I signed up with my health and safety business for a year, ended up doing absolutely nothing with the membership, and left after 12 months.

“I couldn’t see the value in it at the time – but that was because I didn’t appreciate how to take advantage of the various services and networking opportunities, or have a proper understanding of how it could help me as a business, and a person.

“A year or two later we made a conscious decision to rejoin the Chamber . . . this time we made full use of the membership, started networking, and it paid dividends. Not only did it connect us with new clients and raise the profile of the business in Shropshire, but it helped to build my confidence. If you’re not careful, you can sometimes become a bit of a hermit when you’re running a small business.”

There’s no danger of that these days, as Ruth is now the figurehead of Shropshire Chamber, splitting her time between the organisation’s two offices in Telford and Shrewsbury.

She’s held the chief executive’s post now for 18 months, and it’s a role she is relishing. “I love the purpose and ethos of the Chamber because you are on a journey with other people where we are all helping each other through. I’ve always enjoyed that collaborative approach.”

But let’s rewind for just a minute, because Ruth’s story actually starts far away from Shropshire.

Born and raised in Surrey, she was brought up in the Carshalton area from the age of eight where she went to an all-girls school (“only because it had a lovely blue uniform, and the other schools were either brown or grey!”)

While her twin sister Sarah was academic, Ruth was always a more practical, hands-on learner who loved her sport – she was a member of the volleyball, badminton, football and hockey teams, and a top cross-country runner too.

“I wasn’t sure what sort of career was right for me in those days, although I always wanted to work for myself – mainly because I’ve never liked being told what to do. I wanted a career that would give me independence, as well as being a wife and mother.”

She’s ticked all of those boxes. After leaving school with her GCSEs, Ruth’s first ‘jobs’ were the local paper round, and a Saturday shift at WH Smith.

“That Saturday job didn’t last long though, because I was the Surrey cross country champion. The competitions tended to be at weekends, and they wouldn’t give me time off to take part,” she recalls.

So instead, she started earning a living doing decorating work, and went back to education to complete a BTEC in leisure management.

“That was fun, because it was project work rather than sitting exams, and suited me much better. It also gave me chance to learn more about running a business.”

Next came an HND business and finance with leisure management, which she topped up into a degree at Brunel University.

Ruth’s first job in the leisure sector was with Alphabet Zoo, a company which ran a chain of children’s soft play centres, mainly in the north of England around Manchester.

“As a centre manager I stepped into the unknown, but soon learned how to deal with people from a variety of different backgrounds on a personal and business level,” she recalls.

“From dealing with enforcement visits to helping train franchisees in the safe operation of their own centre, my time there was educational and fun, and stood me on a solid footing for my next challenge.”

It was during this time in the north west that Ruth met her husband, and when their eldest son was five years old they started looking for a place in the countryside to put down roots.

The search led them to a four-acre smallholding at Lee Brockhurst, which became both the family home and HQ of Bespoke Training Services Ltd, the business which they had set up together in 1999.

It had clients all over the country, and in 2011 was rebranded to Building Trust in Safety Ltd to more accurately reflect the specialism in workable health and safety systems and staff training to create ‘trust in safety’.

Three years later, everything hit the fan.

Ruth got divorced in what she describes as a ‘dark and stressful time’ which prompted the business to be dissolved. She found herself with a smallholding and animals which needed to be sold, and teenage children to raise.

And then, right in the midst of it all, she also found a lump in her breast and was urged by her daughter to go immediately to the doctor – something for which she is eternally grateful.

“It meant they caught it early. I remember the doctor saying to me ‘I’m sorry, you’ve got breast cancer’, and my reply to him being ‘Why are you sorry, it’s not your fault!’ I wasn’t quite taking it all in.

“With all that going on in my life, it was horrific. My mum always said to me she didn’t know how I managed, but I just focused on one element at a time which needed to be sorted. And when your life is so busy, you just have to get on with it, don’t you?”

Today, 10 years cancer-free, Ruth reflects on the second chapter of her working life which briefly involved a business development and technical director’s role with ABC Health and Safety Consultancy in Oswestry, before an opportunity arose to join the Shropshire Chamber of Commerce team.

She was initially brought on board as a membership advisor, but within a year she’d progressed to head of skills and retention, and went on to serve as systems and compliance manager, director of business, and deputy chief executive for just over a year before taking on the top job.

Ruth became chief executive at Shropshire Chamber in April last year following the retirement of Richard Sheehan, and says: “I was excited and proud to be given the opportunity to lead this fantastic team, and fully recognise the importance of the Chamber’s place within the business community.

“This is a challenging climate for our business community, but it is at times of economic struggle that the support and backing of a member organisation like Shropshire Chamber really comes into its own.”

The role is incredibly varied. One day Ruth can be lobbying for local businesses in the corridors of Westminster, the next she can be addressing a room full of more than 600 giants of local industry at the annual Shropshire Chamber Business Awards.

“Our members recognise how much more Shropshire, and Telford & Wrekin, could achieve if barriers to growth were removed.

“That’s why we travelled to the Houses of Parliament before the General Election to launch our Going For Growth manifesto, spelling out Shropshire Chamber of Commerce’s priorities to our decision-makers.

“Skills and labour shortages mean that many employers are still struggling to recruit. We need a skills and immigration system that works for business as well as for our education providers.

“We also need a predictable, reliable and affordable transport infrastructure which allows people, products and services to move around with ease.

“Gaps in broadband and mobile connectivity, which stifle business productivity and competitiveness, need to be urgently addressed.

“And it’s vital that we press ahead with long overdue reforms to planning rules and business rates, to boost local growth. In short, there’s lots we want the new Government to do.”

She adds: “Whilst we all recognise the future comes with challenges, I firmly believe in one thing: Working together makes us stronger, and as ‘team Shropshire’ we can achieve great things.

“Collectively we can fight the county’s corner and lobby our decision-makers – and we will continue to listen to our members and partners to shape our services in a way which best meets their needs.

“When you run a small business it’s challenging. People only talk about the freedom and flexibility you have – but I know from my experience that there’s a lot more to it than that.

“You can be juggling bringing up children and managing office staff, third party consultants, invoicing, marketing, and everything else. And every part of that seems to be top priority.

“The fact that I’ve been in the position that the majority of the members of Shropshire Chamber are in themselves certainly helps me.

“I understand the pressures, and the fact that no two days are the same. People always surprise you; something unexpected is always round the corner.”

Ruth says she has set herself a two-year goal to become more widely recognised as the face of the Chamber, and continue to build relationships with outside stakeholders.

She said: “This role is all about serving the business community, and helping people. It’s not about egos, although we need the membership numbers to go up and that requires maintaining a good profile to communicate what we do, and what we’re all about.

“We need to be as relevant as possible so that businesses can clearly see a value from Chamber membership, whether they’re a sole trader or a major employer. We need to help people to connect.

“We are a facilitator, a networker, and a champion of the county. We’re also a collaborator – we all need to be shouting together about Shropshire, and putting it firmly on the map as a brilliant place to do business.”