Belfast Chamber is proud to be the voice for our city’s businesses

Our cafes, bars, pubs, restaurants and leisure businesses contributed to Belfast becoming Lonely Planet’s Best Region to visit.

And our ever-expanding tech sector is assisting Belfast to be recognised around the world as a centre of excellence for financial

technology, medical technology and cyber security.

Belfast businesses, whether big or small, whatever sector they operate in and in whatever part of the city they are located, combine to make Belfast the engine driving Northern Ireland’s economy forward, and they continue to do that no matter what is thrown at them.

In the five years since the last election to the Northern Ireland Assembly, Belfast’s business community has endured much.

Brexit, the Primark fire and a global pandemic.

With war returning to Europe, the cost of business increasing and shortages in labour supply, it seems that the future will be every bit as tough as what we have just come through.

At a time when there is so much uncertainty in the world, we need to play to our strengths.

Belfast is one such strength.

In spite of the myriad challenges they’ve faced, our city’s business owners and their staff have always exhibited their customary fortitude, resilience and adaptability.

Those are assets we must use to our region’s advantage.

Belfast’s story is not fully written.

Our city is still a work in progress.

Slowly emerging from the challenges of our past but headed towards a brighter future.

Belfast Chamber is asking candidates in the upcoming Assembly election that they vow to help our city to realise its huge unfulfilled potential.

Our ‘Belfast City Commitment’ asks election candidates to pledge their support for five steps that we believe can achieve an economic revival across our city that helps Belfast businesses to grow and employ more people and also transform Belfast into an innovative, inclusive and sustainable city fit for whatever the future may hold.

Belfast is perfectly positioned to really ‘push on’ and, with targeted assistance from Stormont, provide the platform for more jobs, more investment and more regeneration right across Northern Ireland.

Belfast Chamber members are working hard to make Belfast a great place to live, work, study and visit.

With support from Stormont, we believe that we can make it even better.

But, we need our Executive back up and running to help us, work with us and make that happen.

Belfast Chamber’s message to all the parties who will make up the next Assembly is clear and unequivocal: restore the Executive immediately after the election and let’s start delivering the kind of help and investment that people and businesses across Northern Ireland urgently need.

Belfast businesses have demonstrated their commitment to Belfast.

In our ‘Belfast City Commitment’, we ask our Assembly candidates to do the same.