Construction expert to take over as president of Leeds Chamber

Mr Briffet will succeed Amanda Beresford as the chamber’s 78th president.

He was recently appointed project director at Clarion Housing Group, having previously led the refurbishment and relocation of Leeds Building Society into their new headquarters on Sovereign Street.

Mr Briffet said, “I want to thank Amanda for her passion and commitment in representing the Leeds business community over the last two years. The last 15 months have been the most challenging in peace time and Amanda has played a vital role in ensuring the business voice has been heard by regional and national policy makers as firms sought to adapt and survive.

“History has shown that crises bring out the best in all of us, and we have seen first-hand throughout the pandemic the increased levels of collaboration across the public and private sectors.

“The innovation and agility demonstrated by firms to be able to trade against a backdrop of crippling uncertainty and volatility, as the virus and the Government’s response to it evolved has been a source of great pride.”

He added: “Covid has changed the way organisations work, perhaps forever, and looking forward I want to continue to build on our activities as our economy starts to recover.

“Whilst Covid will undoubtedly be with us through the years to come we must also look to develop solutions to ensure climate challenges are addressed.

“Supporting the decarbonisation of buildings and transport will be on my agenda, as will the development of support and advice to help firms move to a future net-zero economy.”

Dan Murray, chief executive of Leeds-List.com, was elected vice president. Mr Briffet chose the NSPCC as his charity for the year.