Chamber Meeting - 21st May 2014

MINUTES of an OPEN GENERAL MEETING of ST AUSTELL BAY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE held on WEDNESDAY 21st May 2014 in Tengo Café, 1, Fore Street, St. Austell at 5.45pm.

 

[Meeting started at: 17.45]

 

1. Welcome & Apologies 

Present: Dave Halton (Chair), Jacky Swain (Vice Chair), Mark Lewis (Junior Vice Chair), Ian Chalmers (Treasurer), Jessica Milln (Secretary),Kevin Fusher, Tony Cousins, Mark Torr, David Avery, Mike Stanford, Susan Ashby, Peter Moody, Richard Austin, Sonia Bass, James Vague, Daryl Cook.

 

Also Present: Clllr Malcolm Brown, Cllr Brian Palmer, Cllr Nicky Oxenham, David Watson (Penrice Academy), Phil Lamphee (St. Austell Voice), David Davies (PC Universe)

 

Apologies for Absence: James Staughton, Adrian Mutton, Andy Ward, Rose Burn, Sam Weller, Sara Gibson, Steve Apted, Stephen Nott, Sue Ford, Tim Atkins, Tony Goodman, Shelia Vanloo, Rainer Newton, Ross Sundercombe.

 

Apologies sent from invitees: Carl Lamb, Russel Lawrence, Cllr Anne Double, Cllr Jenny Stewart, Cllr Doug Scrafton, Cllr Sandra Heyward, Cllr Val Bradford.

 

2. Minutes of meeting held on 24th April 2014

It was agreed that these should be APPROVED and signed as a correct record.

  

3. Chamber update from Chair - Dave Halton (DW)

A Special Chamber meeting was held on 1^st May to which County Cllrs Tom French and Malcolm Brown attended to explain the background to the Town Framework Plan and to ask members questions.

 

A summary of the meeting discussion was circulated by email and all members were invited to contribute with their thoughts and comments. The Chamber’s formal response made recommendations with a general over view focusing on the need to improve employment opportunity and businesses growth. Available to view here: http://www.staustellchamber.co.uk/news/231/st_austell_town_framework_plan_draft_document. It was recommended that individual’s also made their own person submissions to the council if they wished to do so.

The Chamber sought and received approval from the Chamber to start investigating the various Parking Charges in town in order to make sensible recommendations for improving the charges to encourage more visits to the town and for longer. Mike Stanford (MS) has already begun to investigate the differences and makes comparisons with other towns in Cornwall. Cllr Palmer offered to help.

 

New Constitution – At the Chamber meeting (21.4.14) it was identified that some elements of the Chamber’s articles of association needed updating. Upon reviewing them again the management team feel that it would be a good time to modernise and simplify them. A new draft of the 'Articles of Association' could be presented at the next meeting for comments.

 

The Chamber website with the addition of news and articles continues to generate more hits. It is showing a 38% increase in last 2 months. Thanks to Jessica Milln (JM) for adding all these articles.

The Chamber Website will be including an Employment page and Business Promotion pages soon.

 

Looking at best solution for producing surveys on the Chamber website. Poll Daddy is a free feature. Survey Monkey is £300 a year.

 

The committee will also be contacting members regarding tendering for the Chamber recruitment leaflet design.

 

New Members joined since the last meeting include: Stephen Nott - Hitchcock Accountancy Services, Daryl Cook - it'seeze Cornwall , Sonia Bass - Barclays Bank , Kevin Park - Ocean Services (SW) Ltd, Ross Sundercombe - Outlook Energy and Sheila Vanloo - Radio St Austell Bay (Associated Member).

The CoC membership now stands at 70, at the EGM in March we had 57, this is a 23% increase in only 2 months.

 

 4. New Members Introduction

The Chairman welcomed new Chamber members to the meeting and said that 10 new members had joined, or rejoined, the Chamber since the EGM (March 26^th 2014). New members were invited to introduce themselves and their business.

 

• Stephen Nott – Hitchcock Accountancy

[Stephen was unable to attend so JM read out an introduction for him].

Recently retrained and set up an accountancy business and intending to become chartered. In the meantime he has a working relationship with a Chartered Accountant to help him. Can offer a full range of services but initially not able to offer financial advice, audit or liquidation accounting. Stephen is deaf. He can lip read and is awaiting support from Access to Work to provide a personalized telephone answering service for calls. As accountancy is paperwork, the use of emails, fax, mobile texts, and pen and paper makes him more than able.

 

• Sonia Bass – Barclay’s Bank

Sonia is the Business Manager at St. Austell branch and is responsible for 6 other branches in the local area. Barclay’s staff get involved in lots of volunteering and local fundraising as park of their community involvement. The bank offers meeting spaces free of charge and on Community Saturday’s pop up stalls to promote your business to people using the bank also free of charge.

 

Sonia introduced James Vague, who had accompanied her, as one of her Senior Business Managers who supports new businesses setting up. The bank is currently offering £1,000 worth of new business start up until 1^st June including mentoring and opportunities to go on free courses.

 

• Kevin Park – Ocean Services

A career in marketing and business development, Kevin has worked abroad for many years vowing at one time never to return to the UK. Ocean Housing is just part of Ocean Services. Ocean Services in concerned with looking after commercial and home improvements in the public and private sectors.

 

• Daryl Cook (DC) – It’seeze

Also involved coaching juniors at the St. Austell Rugby Club and is the Youth Chairman. Is involved at St. Austell College running National Citizen Service courses for 16 and 17yr olds courses. Business is It’seeze builds websites for people that are bespoke and affordable. These websites can be fully controlled by the owner and it allows your own editing, uploading content and being kept up to date.

 

 5. Junior Chamber progress update - Dave Halton

  

Dave Watson, Progress and Curriculum Leader at Penrice Academy, gave an update on the Junior Chamber as how it would work in the school as a project for the Year 9 age groups in particular. He was very enthusiastic as it would give ‘entrepreneurs of the future’ a sense of business, how to grow business and the skills they would need.  The top 3 groups of students (from the local 4 secondary schools) would be expected to submit a Project to a ‘Dragon’s Den’ to the Chamber, BID and St. Austell Town Council in the hope of getting funding for their proposal.  Any businesses willing or able to offer support in the delivery of this project, or would like to further set up links for curriculum enhancement, enrichment, or mentor support from a business perspective then Mr Watson is very keen to make contact. This can be made directly to his email dwatson@penrice.org.uk

 

 6. Breakfast Meetings - Jacky Swain (JSw)

• Members were emailed and asked for their views on how they would like their breakfast meetings. There was not a lot of feedback to this, which was disappointing.
• It is hoped that the first Breakfast meeting would start in July as a networking event at the Britannia Inn and continue every other month.
• The alternative months the aim would be to hold the breakfast meetings at different venues and to have special guests speakers at these.
• Tony Cousins (TC) talked about the experience he had for many years in the Mid Cornwall Business Group. This was a closed group where only one member of any trade was allowed but it worked as a referrals group and was very effective in helping to generate business.
• DC said he had thought about setting up a business breakfast group himself. He had travelled to other breakfast clubs and said the experience of Falmouth breakfast group was very good. DC said he would be willing to help.
• It was a greed that JSw, TC and DC would get together to discuss.

 

7. New Management Members 

• Mike Stanford (MS) - retired from a long career in retail, having managed departments stores and later in on the road sales. He was at one time Chairman of the Helston Chamber of Commerce. Now runs a small self-catering concern.  Mike said he brings experience and has offered to help people setting up their pages on the Chamber website. He has a passion for reading and researching documents such as the TFP and constitutions.

[Proposed DH, seconded Kevin Fusher (KF), Vote: all in favour]

• Pete Moody (PM) – Ran St. Austell Printing Company for 31yrs on Truro Road and has been a member of the Chamber for 29yrs although not always attending regularly. Has built St. Austell Business Park for a new home for SAPC above Carclaze and with separate office units to rent, flexible office spaces and conference rooms.

[Proposed JM seconded DH, Vote: all in favour]

• Richard Austin (RA) – Originally from Truro, previously in Your Move in St. Austell and has now been at May Whetter & Grose for 4 years as a Sales negotiator.

[Proposed Mike Stanford, seconded Mark Torr, Vote: all in favour]

 

8. Beyond Retail Report - Jessica Milln (JM) 

 

• JM, DH and KF had met with Guy Thomas, Cornwall Council’s town centre advisory manager. He said he is trying to get the Council to commission a proper look at all town centres across Cornwall, however finding is not in place. And audit for the town centre is urgently required as the last is out of date.
• Beyond Retail Report (BRP) Identifies 8 Key Issues with town centres and the stressed the need to be able to address these:

1. The need for Strong Leadership
2. Identifying a USP / identity for St. Austell
3. Creating alternative functions as centre for leisure, cultural, civic and community functions.
4. The wrong type of retail space and the need to be flexible to retail needs.
5. Understanding the local shopping patterns and the catchment demographic of St. Austell
6. Car parking charges
7. Digitising the High Street – enabling new technologies to be used
8. Funding

• As a first step, JM has written a Town Centre Business Survey to show the current mix and distribution of retail shops and businesses in the Town Centre. She thanked SAPC for generously printing these for the Chamber free of charge.

The results of the survey will aim to show:

-       Why, and where in, St Austell Town Centre trade and businesses may be struggling to compete in the current market.

-       Identify how Town Centre businesses can be helped to do better.

-       Help predict where future threats are most likely to occur and how to mitigate them.

-       Make informed recommendations for future action.

Cllr Brown commented that Councillor’s are always complaining that so many planning decisions have to be made without having up to date data.

[This will help to inform Key Issues: 2,3,4 & 5]

• BRP says that retailers are increasingly selective and so choose to go to the main centres. This means that Truro will be a magnet for retail and will get stronger and towns like St. Austell that represent the middle ground will continue to be squeezed wit its spend continuing to be leaked to Truro. Small neighbourhood centres are less affected as they offer everyday, convenience, top up shopping needs. JM said that the choice is (if we do nothing) to either accept St. Austell may have a much smaller town centre in the future as one of 2 or 3 other neighbour centres, such as Holmbush, across the urban area of St. Austell. Or develop a unique function and identity for the town.
• MS is currently he is researching Car parking charges in the town in relation to the rest of Cornwall. For the Chamber the research will make recommendations to the Council about sensible car parking charges for the town that will both provide revenue for the Council and encourage shoppers to use the town more frequently.The Chamber AGREED to support this with the aim that a proposal regarding appropriate parking charges could be made for the town. Cllr Brown made suggestion how this could be presented to the County Council. Cllr Oxenham said that people will avoid car parking charges whenever they can, and this is a wider issue across the town.
• The aim of the BRP working group is towards;

a) Identifying sensible and appropriate car parking charges.

b) Scoping a town ‘prospectus’ to market the town to new retailers and businesses. (One thought might be as a ‘designer outlet shopping centre’ and make the town a destination centre for people to travel to in search of bargain shopping);

c) Making recommendations towards actions for Key Issues: 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 & 8]

• It was suggested that JM invites a mix of Chamber members and Councillors in the first instance to form a working group.

 

9. Training - Mark Lewis (ML)

Gave an update on the progress he is making on the following new initiatives:

• College apprentices into businesses
• HR helpline – all members will be emailed details in due course. This will give members a free initial consultation with a solicitor.  
• A plan in progress to put together a portfolio of business training courses available, many of which are ‘free’.
• A Chamber seminar for members in the pipeline to help businesses understand the legalities and terms of their businesses leases.
• Members are being invited to act as Business mentors, especially to help new or start up businesses.

 

10. Simon Hoare / Coyte Farm 2 meeting update - Dave Halton

DH had met with Simon Hoare regarding Coyte 2. Reassurances were given than in the new application the non-poaching agreements will remain, 106 monies and park and ride schemes to help then town centre.

The developers would like to present some of the proposals for the new application in a question and answer session.

This will be a CHAMBER MEMBERS ONLY invitation at SAPC conference suite, St. Austell Business Park, 24^th June 2014 at 6pm.

 

11. Members' questions to the Chamber (AOB)

There were no questions.

 

12. Date of Next Meeting

24th June 2014

6pm

SAPC conference suite, St. Austell Business Park

 

Non-members welcome to attend.

 

 

 

[Meeting ended at: 19.02]