Orchard co-owner and managing director Brooke Kenyon stepped up as interim president when former president Stephen Rouxel announced he would be standing in last week’s by-election.
And following the AGM, Mrs Kenyon is now formally leading the historic business group, which is more than 200 years old but, she said, still very relevant today.
‘The experience I’ve had in 20 years in communication in Guernsey gives me a little bit of knowledge across so many different sectors, my client base covers so many different industries, topics and campaigns,’ she said.
‘In my day job, I get up every day and read the island’s media and have an interest and a handle on the important issue for the community and in this role, the business community specifically.
‘I co-own Orchard, so my role and involvement in Chamber early on was that of a business owner and running and leading a team. I think both those things give me a unique perspective of the challenges that are facing our island’s businesses.’
Mrs Kenyon studied at the Grammar School and became interested in communications at A-level when media studies was one of her subjects.
It was also at sixth form where she got involved with the IoD, on what is now called its leadership shadowing programme, where she went to an agency.
‘I just loved it, I thought it was so interesting and so different each day and knew I wanted to get involved,’ she said.
A PR degree was an ‘unusual choice’ at the time, but after a year in industry at a luxury high-end beauty and lifestyle agency in London, and with a degree in hand, she moved back to Guernsey, working at CMA Public Relations.
‘I wrote to every agency on the island asking for work experience.
‘I’m a huge advocate for work experience because it’s what helped me get my foot the door.
‘It was so valuable to me and meant that when I came back from my degree, they offered me a job,’ she said.
‘I started as an account executive with them and then Steve Falla got wind that someone on the island had a PR degree and offered me a job at Orchard.
‘I worked for Steve for about 18 months to two years and loved it, but friends around me were going travelling and doing all these different things, so I decided I wanted to go back to London.’
After a bout of burnout resulted in her intending to do a ski season, Mr Falla emerged again, saying he had someone leaving the business. He had one person to do half the job, and he asked Mrs Kenyon to do ‘the other half’.
‘That guy was Chris Chilton, who is now my business partner,’ she said.
‘We joined within two weeks of each other and shared a desk for the first couple of weeks because there weren’t enough.
‘There were things going on that we still laugh about now, and that will be 18 years ago in September.’
The pair bought out the company nine years ago.
When Diane De Garis had just stepped into the presidency role, she asked Mrs Kenyon to get more involved.
She was invited to join the board about five years ago to provide communications experience, and when Stephen Rouxel planned his presidency, she was asked to be vice-president.
‘As I found myself more and more involved in the organisation, I was becoming more excited about it and the opportunities that Chamber has,’ she said.
‘We did some big work with the formation of the G8 [group of business organisations] before the election.
’With that and other big projects and events, I think Chamber’s stock is pretty high right now in terms of reputation and the way we work.’
With business changing fast locally and across the world, Mrs Kenyon said she could bring the real world knowledge and understanding of what it takes to run a business.
‘It’s not lost on me that I’m doing this at the same time as having a full-time role, running a business and being a mother,’ she said.
‘I think I have a unique lens, that I actually run a business everyday, I’m in the same environment as our members, and I can represent them with what they need.
Mrs Kenyon will be supported by new vice-president Nicholas Collinson, an entrepreneur and business consultant who founded Alnistar Ltd to advise on M&A, fintech, and blockchain ventures.
Its focus remains on housing and skills for 2026.
‘The progress made in 2025 gives us a strong foundation for the year ahead,’ Mrs Kenyon said.
‘Chamber’s role has never felt more relevant as a convenor, as an advocate, and as a platform for the business community to speak with one clear voice.
‘We will continue to hold government to account on the commitments made in the election, and to push for the bold, collaborative leadership that Guernsey needs.’