John Early, executive director of AMEC, has been inaugurated as Greater Manchester Chamber's president.

The new organisation, the biggest of its kind in the UK, was officially launched in October following the merger of the North Manchester Chamber - which included members throughout Bury and elsewhere - and Manchester Chamber.

Speaking at the final annual general meeting of the Manchester Chamber, Mr Early took the opportunity to verbally back the Chamber's campaign for Metrolink's "Big Bang" extension.

He said: "If we compare our public transport system with others in Europe, we would find it woefully inadequate. We can't instantly reverse decades of under-investment. But I do think that if the Government had been more decisive earlier in the decision-making process, we could have extended the Metrolink well before the Commonwealth Games even happened."

He continued: "We've got to keep the pressure on Government to get the decision to withdraw funding for phase three reversed. Failure to do so would be a disaster."

During his inaugural speech, he called for the new Chamber and its members to continue to promote entrepreneurialism.

Vice-president of the Chamber is Prestwich businessman Mr Peter Weidenbaum, chairman of Radcliffe-based Trumeter. Greater Manchester Chamber is the largest in the UK. It now has 7,000 members and covers all ten local authority areas.