Meet the team
Paul Colman
Chief Executive
Paul has 20+ years of experience representing the local business community, providing businesses with up-to-date information and helping to facilitate local networking and knowledge sharing activity. Paul represents the South Cheshire Business Community on many boards and committees including Crewe Town Board, Crewe Town Council, Cheshire East Council and Cheshire & Warrington LEP, as well as through the national British Chambers of Commerce accredited network.
Madeleine Abbey
PA to the Chief Executive
Madeleine has worked for South Cheshire Chamber for a number of years in different roles and on a wide range of projects; she was initially employed as a South Cheshire Chamber Services Officer and later as the South Cheshire Chamber Events Co-Ordinator. In her current role as Personal Assistant to the Chief Executive, Paul Colman, she supports much of South Cheshire Chamber's Representation and Policy Work. As Company Secretary, Madeleine works closely on governance with our Chamber Chair & Board of Directors.
Jon Barnes
Chamber Manager
Jon joined South Cheshire Chamber back in 2001 and as a result has been able to grow with the company and develop relationships with its many long-standing Members. In 2015, Jon left South Cheshire Chamber to live in New York, where he worked in Membership Engagement at the European American Chamber of Commerce. Since returning in 2017, Jon is using the experiences gained working in another Chamber to usher in new products and services to better serve the business community of South Cheshire.
Jake Kennerley
Digital Marketing Manager
Jake joined South Cheshire Chamber in July 2021 and helps The Chamber engage with their current members and attract new ones. Jake manages The Chamber’s online activity such as the website, social media and comms. These all provide South Cheshire Chamber members with a variety of platforms to promote their business, boost their brand, make new connections and reach prospective customers.
Dominic Hibbert
Events & Marketing Coordinator
Graduating from the Manchester Metropolitan University at the Crewe Campus, Dom has worked with South Cheshire Chamber throughout his degree in Business Management with Marketing. He lives in Nantwich and enjoys meeting the new members at the monthly Networking events.
Jane Booth
Export Document Administrator
Jane joined South Cheshire Chamber in May 2022. She has previously worked in Document Control positions in Aerospace, Pharmaceuticals and Banking (Wealth Management). Jane lives in Nantwich.
Courtney Dodd
Business Administrator
Courtney joined the chamber in September 2022 as a work placement student whilst studying a T-level in Business Management and Administration at Reaseheath College. She completed over 400+ hours of work placement with us, developing her skills and learning about how a Chamber of Commerce operates. Courtney started working at The Chamber full-time after she left college and in September 2024. Courtney will be on hand to assist with Chamber events and Membership while we support her through a degree apprenticeship in Chartered Management. Courtney likes to attend the events that she helps prepare. She enjoys working with and getting to know our diverse membership.
Richard Weilding
Business Advisor
Having spent almost forty years in banking, over thirty years of which was in the commercial sector, Richard joined the South Cheshire Chamber team as its Business Loans Administrator. In addition to providing loans to start-up and existing businesses, Richard regularly met with potential entrepreneurs thinking of starting their own business to discuss plans and strategies. The advent of Covid saw Richard’s role move more towards business support and advice in areas such as grants, government supported loans and the employee furlough scheme. Recent changes to the nature of business support has required ongoing support via both information updates and supportive dialogue. As a resident of Crewe for over thirty years, Richard is passionate about the town’s wellbeing and continues to work to reinvigorate business in the town centre. As Chair of the Trustee Directors of the Wishing Well Project, Richard supports the disadvantaged in the local area.