BLOG POST WRITTEN BY CRISTINA ALCOVER
Here at the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in the UK, we take enormous pride in our extensive network of Members. Our principal aim is to strengthen commercial ties between British and Spanish companies, and we work tirelessly to provide our Members with the tools they need to foster these connections and access business opportunities they provide. To fulfil this goal, we offer three different types of Membership, each of which is suited to the requirements of different companies. They all provide a company with the same general advantages, but there are unique benefits associated with each category.
The first category is the Corporate Membership, which the majority of our Members belong to. Becoming a Corporate Member of the Chamber brings a host of benefits to a company, all of which help boost their visibility among British and Spanish firms. These include, but are not limited to: their company being announced as having become a Member in the Chamber’s newsletter upon joining, having their member profile and logo displayed on the Chamber’s website, receiving the opportunity to organise a seminar in collaboration with the Chamber, being invited to our frequent networking events, and being able to attend most of them free of charge, receiving the opportunity to publicise events, job vacancies, and more via the Chamber’s communication channels (including our newsletter, social media, and website), and obtaining access to exclusive discounts and offers on our website via the private Members’ area. For companies looking to expand their contact network and enhance their presence in the British-Spanish business community, these opportunities will be exceptionally beneficial.
For those companies looking to take their membership further, we also offer the Benefactor Membership. Benefactor Members receive the same benefits as a Corporate Member, and on top of these, they are entitled to five hours of complimentary use of our meeting room annually, the opportunity to have two complimentary blog posts published about the business, a complimentary publication in our fortnightly newsletter, priority for event organisation in collaboration with the Chamber, and access to events that are exclusive to Benefactor and Patron Members. Being a Benefactor Member of the Chamber brings your company exclusive advantages, giving it the best possible chance of commercial success.
The third and final category of Membership is Patron Membership. This Membership is best suited to large, multinational companies seeking greater institutional visibility through their association with the Chamber. On top of the benefits provided by the Corporate and Benefactor Memberships, a Patron company’s name and logo will be displayed on our website and in our newsletter, and will be hyperlinked to its own website rather than its page in the Chamber’s Members’ Directory, in all our marketing material, and on the placard at the entrance to our office building in central London. Patron Members also receive priority invitation to Forums and priority access to events organised in conjunction with other institutions and Chambers of Commerce. One of the greatest benefits of Patron Membership, however, is the institutional access. Chamber Patrons are invited to our prestigious Annual Patrons’ Dinner at the Spanish Embassy, which is typically attended by representatives from the British and Spanish governments, and a host of other events exclusive to Patrons which are held with the collaboration of the British government, affording Patron Members an unrivalled level of access to British civil and commercial institutions.
Each company will have a Membership category which works best for them. Regardless of which category a company chooses, though, the value of the benefits of being a Member of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in the UK are indisputable.