Gabby Mallon
The Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Chamber has been representing businesses and organisations in our town for over 72 years and for this month’s Why Dún Laoghaire we speak to its CEO Gabby Mallon.
While the Dún Laoghaire locals may not be aware of the Chamber and its work, the vibrant business community within our town will know of its existence.
We’re also delighted to share that Gabby is the Chamber’s first ever female CEO and their board’s male and female ratio is evenly split.
Keep reading on to hear from Gabby, what exactly the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Chamber does and how its members have gotten through the pandemic.
DLR Chamber – Supporting over 500 of our town’s businesses and locals
The Chamber’s ultimate goal is to see businesses and people in our county and town thrive and grow. This is achieved through over a hundred different events that usually take place each year including the DLR County Business Awards and the Women In Business events which are the highlight of the business calendar year.
Speaking about her role as CEO, Gabby says: “Our main focus is bringing our members together where they share ideas and support each other by referrals and being champions for each other. Another service we operate is our same day service for Certs of Origin, which is vital for our export services for some of our member businesses.
“And particularly for businesses challenged over the last 18 months, they needed representation and that’s what the Chamber, I think, is really good at.”
She adds: “The whole area of lobbying and engaging with key decision makers to understand what’s going on and coming down the line so that business can plan ahead and we are really good at that.”
While the pandemic has had a severe impact on the Chamber and its usual operations, Mallon says they have adopted as best they could by staying in touch with their over 500 members and affiliated businesses and have been as busy as ever.
She tells us: “This year the modus operandi of the Chamber was severely restricted, like most people’s businesses, but we kept in touch with our members through zoom meetings, which as I called them ‘online lifeline calls’ to bring them up to date on government information, B2B networking and webinars with ministers.”
Dún Laoghaire – our “vibrant town” that’s great for businesses!
Every month on our Why Dún Laoghaire campaign we hear from a variety of voices on why our town is a great place to locate a business to and this month is no different!
With great transport links connecting Dún Laoghaire to Dublin city and beyond, and the young, motivated and highly skilled workforce we’ve heard before that our town boasts, but also organisations such as the DLR Chamber and the Local Enterprise Office, Dún Laoghaire could be the place for you.
Speaking about our town, Gabby says: “Our entire county, but particularly the town is a vibrant and thriving place. It’s a beautiful Victorian town, the heritage and the people make it an ideal place to work and live. Even just to walk around the town there is such a lovely atmosphere and the beautiful street art is great to chance upon on your walk”
“We’re close obviously to the sea and so there is a great opportunity there for business to relocate to the town to experience a work and life balance and benefit from the workforce talent.”
“We’ve had a few meetings ourselves walking along the pier and it’s beautiful, even on a rainy day.”
“I’m here about 12 years now and I absolutely love Dún Laoghaire,” she adds.
Why should you join the Chamber? – Why Not!
New startup businesses are encouraged to join the Chamber for a variety of benefits they offer, including other businesses who were once startups themselves and have succeeded as they can offer great insight and advice. We are very friendly Chamber and have a wealth of experience and information ready to be tapped into.
New enterprises signing up to the Chamber gives an opportunity for local jobs to be created as new services and suppliers can find a workforce through networking events.
The chamber provides a wide range of opportunities for members to promote themselves, their brand and their message. We are here to promote, connect and represent all our members and we look forward to welcoming you to the Chamber and the town in the New Year.
