63rd Annual President’s Dinner 08 October

The 63rd Annual President’s Dinner taking place on Friday 08 October at the Everglades Hotel, Derry is now sold out, in line with  current Covid restrictions. We are very sorry to disappoint any of our loyal and supportive members that have not been able to bookplaces, however in the case of further easing allowing for a larger capacity we are keeping a waiting list, again on a first-come, first-served basis.

Contact Anna anna@londonderrychamber.co.uk to join the waiting list and thank you for your patience.

The Chamber Dinner in Derry is renowned as the premier business networking event in the North West attended by business leaders and key influencers from across the region and made possible this year by our main sponsor, Find Insurance NI.

We  lookforward to a packed programme of entertainment, networking and fun to remind us of what we have missed over the last eighteen months and to celebrate all that is best about doing business in the North West.

Our keynote speaker is a well-known alumnus of St Columb’s College in Derry and has built an impeccable reputation as the go-to expert on Brexit – Tony Connelly, Europe Editor of RTE. Tony joins us in person and travels from his base in Brussels to share personal insights and behind the scenes stories from his unique perspective on the EU.

President’s Charity

The President has chosen Air Ambulance NI as her charity and proceeds from the raffle which will take place during Dinner, will be donated directly to them.

Accommodation rates for our guests:

There will be a limited number of Superior Twin/Double rooms at £95.00 BB available for our guests. Please  quote reference number 176817 when reserving rooms. A deposit of£50 per room is required to confirm accommodation with balance paid on arrival. Bedrooms which have not been reserved by Friday 24th September will be released for resale at the published standard rate.

***Covid Restrictions****

In the worst case scenario of event cancellation or even partial cancellation meaning reduction in numbers allowed due to Covid restrictions, the Chamber will of course refund the Dinner ticket price paid in full

Paul Clancy, Chief Executive, Londonderry Chamber of Commerce

Paul Clancy qualified as an Electrical Engineer BSc ElecHons from Trinity College Dublin and has Diplomas in both Manufacturing and Human Resource Management with the Irish Management Institute (IMI). Hehas held a number of senior management roles withing the Agri, Food, Drinks and Manufacturing Industries within Ireland, UK and Scandinavia. Paul has held Sales Director, Marketing and Managing Director roles and mostrecently was the MD of Baxi Ireland (Part of BDR Thermea).

As CEO of the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce, Paul is looking forward to leading this organisation through what are some very challenging times.

Dawn McLaughlin, President of Londonderry Chamber of Commerce

Dawn is the principal of the progressive, award winning accountancy practice, Dawn McLaughlin & Co.

She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (FCA) and has a BSc (Hons) in Accounting and Economics. Dawn trained and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PriceWaterhouse where she managed the SME department in the North West branch before establishing her own practice. For the past 34 years Dawn has specialised in advising locally owned and managed SMEs throughout the UK and Ireland.

Dawn is currently Chair of the Chartered Accountants North WestNetwork, she has been the Chair of the Institute of Management – NW Ulster Branch, a member of the Regional Board for Northern Ireland and alsoon the Member Services Committee of the Ulster Society of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland as the NW representative and a member of the Board of the local leadership team of Business in the Community.

She was founder member of the Support My Business NI Initiative providing mentoring and workshops on a pro bono basis to Northern Ireland businesses.

Sarah Travers

Sarah Travers is a journalist, presenter, media trainer and career coach, based in Northern Ireland. Sarahbegan her career with BBC Northern Ireland after completing a degree inbroadcast journalism at the Nottingham-Trent University, first in BBC Radio Foyle, before joining the Radio Ulster news team in 1997.  Sarah’s perhaps best known for her role as TV news anchor on BBC Newsline overa thirteen year period where she also fronted the weekly Family Focus slot, Lifeline, The Balmoral Show and Children In Need.   Sarah also presented ‘The Magazine’ programme on UTV and ‘Made in NI’ on BBC NI.

In 2015 she set up her training business, Bespoke Communications, with her business partner Camilla Long. She is passionate helping people and organisations tell their stories through podcasts, Ted Talks, media appearances, crisis communications, virtual and face to face keynote presentations and developing strong leaders of the future.  She is also an ILM accredited Career Coach.

Tony Connelly, Europe Editor, RTE

Tony Connelly is Europe Editor for RTÉ, Ireland’s public broadcaster. Tony has reported extensively on Brexit, and has been coveringEU and European affairs since 2001.Tony has also reported on conflicts inAfrica, the Balkans and the Middle East.

He is the recipient of two ESB National Media awards, a European Journalism Award and a New York Festivals radio award. He has received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the UCD Smurfit Graduate School journalism awards, and a Law Society Justice Media Award for his coverage of the Brexit negotiations. Tony is the author of Brexit and Ireland, nominated Irish non-fiction book of the yearin 2018, and Don’t Mention the Wars: A Journey Through European Stereotypes, published in 2014.

Tony was born in County Derry in 1964, and educated at St Columbs College, Derry, Trinity College Dublin and the London School of Journalism.He is married with three sons and lives in Brussels