"The Chamber Plan is incredibly popular and it has really come into its own over the last year or so in light of the recession.

"Member employers use the plan as a means to enhance their employee package. The financial difficulties we are facing at the moment have meant a lot of employers aren’t in the position to offer financial incentives, but they still want to acknowledge the hard work of their staff and the Chamber Plan is a viable alternative.

"It’s important not to forget that healthcare can be very expensive for families, especially at a time when we are all having to tighten our belts."

Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce
September 2009 Helen McBride, Development Manager

"We cancelled our Private Medical Insurance (PMI) because we felt it was much more acceptable as a company to implement a health cash plan.

"The Chamber Plan was far more economical than PMI, even on the top level, which meant we could provide the maximum benefits to the whole workforce for far less money.

"nother reason for switching was that we were unhappy with what was offered as a dental add-on with our PMI agreement. Westfield has excellent dental cover incorporated within the premiums, which made it the perfect solution for us.

"We class the Chamber Plan as an excellent staff benefit and have promoted the cash plan as an incentive when recruiting new additions to the team."

Collabro Ltd
April 2010 Gwen Moran, Contract Manager

"In the nine years since we’ve had the Chamber Plan, we’ve found that staff have taken advantage of different benefits, for example some will regularly use the dental and optical benefits, while others, such as those with chronic back pain, have been able to access scans more quickly than going through the normal NHS route.

"Overall, it’s great for the business because having the plan helps us to reduce absence levels and support our employees."

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Futures
May 2010 Eileen O’Reilly, Human Resources Manager