IN FOCUS
Stuart agreed. But he also spotted the problem.
“ That’ s the audience we’ re already talking to,” he says.“ But what about the audience we’ re not talking to?”
He illustrates the challenge with a recent encounter in a pub. A man asked Stuart what he did for a living.
“ I said,‘ I’ m the CEO at the Chamber of Commerce.’ He said,‘ Oh, that’ s part of government, isn’ t it?’”
For Stuart, the misunderstanding wasn’ t the man’ s problem.
“ Why should he know?” he says.“ That’ s our fault, not his.”
In Focus is one way of breaking through some of those perceptions and reaching new audiences.
Stuart wants the people appearing on the podcast to reflect the communities Staffordshire Chambers exists to represent, including people who might not currently see themselves reflected in the traditional image of a Chamber of Commerce.
For Stuart, that is what genuine representation looks like. The Chamber widens the range of stories it tells and, in doing so, new audiences begin to encounter the organisation on their own terms.
Business as a force for good
There is another theme Stuart expects to run quietly through the series.
“ Business as a force for good.”
It is an idea that connects closely with his wider view of what a Chamber of Commerce should do.
Stuart is delighted that Leek Building Society will be the sponsor of the new In Focus podcast. He said:“ Leek Building Society’ s purpose is to be a force for good, which aligns strongly with the view that business can be a force for good. Like the Chamber, it is a membership organisation committed to helping people, businesses and communities across Staffordshire thrive.”
Leek Building Society will also soon be launching an innovative Business Savings proposition, providing another way to support local businesses and communities across the region.
He believes businesses have an important role to play in their communities, particularly when they work with charities and voluntary organisations. In Focus gives the Chamber space to explore some of those relationships through the people involved.
“ The economy is driven by business,” Stuart says.“ I think business can do fantastic things where we collaborate.”
Since arriving in Staffordshire, some of the conversations that have interested him most have taken him well beyond conventional business subjects.
A meeting with VAST, which supports the voluntary sector, led to a discussion about homelessness, addiction and monkey dust, the synthetic drug causing particular problems in Stoke-on-Trent.
“ I think that’ s a story somewhere,” Stuart says.
He doesn’ t yet know exactly who he would interview or how he would approach it.
That openness is important. In Focus is intended to give the Chamber permission to follow interesting conversations wherever they lead.
It could mean discussing entrepreneurship or technology in one episode and social mobility, addiction, sport or community work in another.
For Stuart, those subjects aren’ t disconnected from the economy. They are part of the place in which businesses operate and the communities from which they employ people.
The podcast can therefore become another part of the Chamber’ s role as a convener, connecting people who might otherwise inhabit very different worlds.
Learning to listen
In some respects, hosting a podcast seems an obvious fit for Stuart.
His career before entering the Chamber movement included many years with
Devon and Cornwall Police, where his roles ranged from CID and Special Branch to becoming a police media spokesman.
He later launched his own PR business, merged it with a marketing company and built an integrated communications operation before moving through a series of leadership roles in healthcare, the legal sector and the third sector.
That unusual journey was explored in the previous edition of Feature Focus. It has left him unusually comfortable talking to people from very different backgrounds.
Podcasting gives him another opportunity to use that experience.
He admits there is also a simpler motivation.
“ I like talking,” he says.“ So if you get a chance and I’ m going to get paid to do it, that’ s pretty good, isn’ t it?”
There was a time when he imagined a very different career.“ When I was younger, I kind of always thought if I could choose a job, back then it was Michael Parkinson. Now I guess it would be Graham Norton,” he says.
The attraction wasn’ t fame or being in front of a camera. It was the people sitting opposite.
“ You think of all the incredibly interesting people you could meet.”
His interviewing style has evolved too.
When he recorded his first podcast in Devon, Stuart estimates he spent around four hours preparing. By the later episodes, he could be ready in about 20 minutes.
He had learned what to research and what he needed to know before going into the studio.
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