SWAN Walk, which is just off the Upper Street, has seen several retail businesses come and go over recent years and currently includes an established Hair Salon, an Indian Take-Away restaurant, a sweet shop, a ‘vaping’ shop (recently opened) and a printing business and dry cleaners, both recently opened. A designer and builder of conservatories has also been operating in Swan Walk for some time.
The sale also include ground rent from houses in Swan Walk and The Swan Hotel.
THAME home care provider, Autumn Years Care, recently won a Leadership in Dignity and Care”award from AgeUK Oxfordshire and Healthwatch Oxfordshire. Now they are hoping to bring home three more awards after being shortlisted as a finalist for the South East Great British Care Awards in three different categories; The Care Employer Award; The Dignity in Care Award and The Home Care Registered Manager Award.
Christina Walford, founder of Autumn Years Care said: “Winning the Leadership in Dignity and Care award from AgeUK Oxfordshire was a lovely surprise, so when we also found out we had also been selected out of all of the home care providers in the South East of England for the finals of the Great British Care awards as well, we were over the moon. It`s a real honour and a lovely recognition of the hard work and dedication that all of our carers put in.”
The winners of the Great British Care awards are due to be announced at an awards ceremony set to take place on the December 3, in Brighton.
AS promised, a revised date for the 21st Century Thame Partnership’s Annual General Meeting has now been published.
Unveiling of one of Thame’s Blue Plaques (a 21st CT project) at The James Figg
Anyone who lives or works in Thame, who would like to help this group ensure the vitality of Thame as a thriving market town, particularly if you have an interest in a specific area such as business, community, transport or the environment, would be welcome. Also, anyone who just wants to discover more about the achievements and future projects of 21st Century Thame, is invited to go along to Thame Town Hall on December 8, 2015, at 7.30pm.
The AGM will be followed by a reception for all the helpers of all the projects that 21st Century Thame has achieved this year. Invitations will be sent out later this week though anyone who would like to put themselves forward to help next year may attend the AGM and then stay for the reception.
FUNDS of £1.55 million are up for grabs to support small, rural businesses across Southern Oxfordshire, between now and 2020.
Fuller’s Flowers of Princes Risborough, a former LEADER fund award winner
If you are a farmer, forester, small or micro rural business, or part of a community group, and you have an idea that will create jobs and boost the local economy, then Oxfordshire LEADER would love to hear from you.
Between 2009 and 2013, more than £1.2 million funding was handed out to 61 rural projects across southern Oxfordshire to help boost the rural economy.
The LEADER Project was really successful in supporting small businesses across southern Oxfordshire so it decided to join up with the other district councils in Oxfordshire to bid for more money to give away, hence the £1.55 million available to support rural projects across the county now.
For more information, check out the website www.oxfordshireleader.org.uk or contact Fran Walker: Oxfordshire.Leader@southandvale.gov.uk – Call: 07717 271909
RICHARD Ingrams, journalist and former editor of Private Eye, will the guest speaker at a conference on how local businesses can make more of the Ridgeway National Trail, which runs through Oxfordshire and Berkshire.
The conference is on October 20, in Streatley-on-Thames. It has been organised by the Ridgeway Partnership in association with the North Wessex Downs AONB and the Chilterns Conservation Board to help the businesses along the route work more closely together to generate more business and improve the experience for visitors.
Mr Ingrams has lived at the foot of the Ridgeway for the last forty years. “I have twice walked the Ridgeway, from my home to Avebury, a distance of 40 miles, in one day. It was exhausting but it is remarkable that it is still possible to walk this path for such a distance across the south of England”.
The Ridgeway is one of 15 National Trails in England and Wales, which represent some of the finest walking routes in the country.
The conference is open to everyone with an interest in the Ridgeway – walkers, riders and cyclists as well as those with a business that is dependent on visitors. It’s being held at the midpoint of the Ridgeway in Streatley to bring people together to:
Find out more about social media how it can help to create an online community to help businesses and visitors alike.
Discover how to tap into grant schemes to improve the Ridgeway experience.
Hear about the free marketing tools that are available to attract visitors into the area.
The conference runs 10.30am-1.30pm, with workshops after lunch until 4pm.
To find out more and to book your place (£10 per person) by emailing ridgeway@oxfordshire.gov.uk or download booking form and agenda from www.nationaltrail.co.uk/ridgeway.
A THAME business owner, moved by the plight of a budding young, Thame gymnast, has made the very first donation in a sponsorship plea, to help the young Gold medalist progress to her full potential internationally.
Erica Grace, who owns the hair salon, Cutting Rooms, in Buttermarket, Thame, was moved by the plight of Aysha Hutter, an elite acrobatic gymnast who trains with the Oxford School of Gymnasts, based at Lord William’s Lower School in Thame, after learning of fund-raising appeal via facebook.
Aysha told Thame.Net: “My love of acrobatic gymnastics began back when I was eight years-old. I am now 17 and train for five or six days a week, attending national and international competitions, still wholly committed to what I do!
“My partners, Abi and Samara, and I have had an amazing year filled to the brim with successes and emotions! We won Gold in January at Heathrow, Gold in February at Bristol and Gold in March at ‘Prelims’ in Southampton which qualified us for the National Event in Stoke-On-Trent in June.
“At the Nationals we became National Champions in Grade 6 in the Women’s Groups with another Gold. Our last competition before the summer was in Turin, Italy at the beginning of July. We not only won a Gold medal there but we also scored the highest score of the whole competition!
Aysha (left) with Erica Grace outside The Cutting Rooms salon, Thame
“This past year has been a dream for me and next year is expected to be even more challenging and exciting! I will be competing in a new partnership with Elspeth and Samara this coming year. We will be in the FIG 12-18 age group with even more demanding routines than last year. We hope to compete in at least one, potentially two, International competitions during the year, plus the British Championships in Liverpool in July. There will also be various UK-based competitions, including an International in Bristol.
“Last year my family worked incredibly hard making and selling craft items, attending car boot sales, organising a raffle and an on-line fundraising site that friends and family donated to. This year I would really love to get enough sponsorship to make it so that they can have a bit of a rest!
“I would like to thank Erica at Cutting Rooms for supporting me and donating £200 to my acrobatic fund – my first donation of the year – a great way to start! Thank you Cutting Rooms!”
“Each International competition costs around £700. The first competition is potentially the Valentine Acro Cup in The Netherlands in the middle of February. Competition leotards are upwards of £300. As you can see, Acrobatic gymnastics is incredibly rewarding yet also very expensive. It isn’t just a sport, it is a lifestyle which requires the whole family to be committed and make sacrifices.
“If anyone would like to sponsor myself or another gymnast I would love to hear from you! You can make contact via email: hummingbird@asia.com”
AMONG the many coffee mornings held in aid of the MacMillan Cancer Support ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’ last Friday (25/09), were two hosted by local businesses, PCMS Design and IMS Mortgage Advisers.
Staff from PCMS Design prepare to serve cake
Spokesperson Debbie Mellor for PCMS Design, a Haddenham based architectural design and project management company, said: “There were plenty of homemade cakes on offer, along with tea and coffee. We would like to thank the staff from John Clegg & Co and Rectory Homes for stopping by and helping us raise an amazing £100 and, of course, eat the cake!”
Ivona Lord, who runs IMS Independent Mortgage Advisers in Thame, said: “We had lots of local people popping in for coffee and cake and we managed to raise £207.68 for Macmillan. Mabel the cow, who was loaned to us from Thame.Net in Jordans Courtyard, Thame, was a major talking point and wore her Macmillan balloons with great pride!”
THE Thames Valley region of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has consulted with its members over the Government’s promised review of business rates. By doing so it has been able to establish what business owners would like to see included in the FSBs formal submission to the government in the autumn.
David Knowles Leak
David Hawes, Thames Valley Regional Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses, said: “The case for reform of Non Domestic Rates (NDR), or business rates as they are commonly known, is well rehearsed and broadly accepted; suffice to say that the current system is expensive, complicated, opaque, regressive and slow to respond to changes in economic conditions. It has a disproportionate impact on certain sectors, and discourages investment.
“Business rates are the highest costs most small businesses face after rent and staff wages, and they place an excessive burden on small businesses. The Government is rightly supporting businesses with small business rates relief and transitional rates relief. This support must continue until a new system is in place.
“The case for overhauling business rates is overwhelming and it’s good to see the Government recognise this. Small businesses would like to see the ambitious review deliver tangible reform, not just empty words. The FSB also welcomes the opportunity for local authorities to benefit from the growth and success of local businesses by retaining additional business rates revenue raised locally. This should encourage local authorities to take steps to support their local businesses to grow and prosper.”
Martin McTague, FSB Local Government Policy Chairman, added: “Our aim is to get more small businesses exempt from paying Business Rates and to make the system fairer for those small businesses still left within it.”
The FSB has stated that it has been instrumental in getting this issue onto the national policy agenda, and that in England, FSB pressure has resulted in the creation of the Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) scheme, a temporary doubling of the rate of relief, and several extensions to the duration of double relief. “FSBs pressure for reform of the system has convinced the government to launch two reviews of the system,” it claims. These are, an administrative review of how the current system operates to deliver reforms to the current system in time for the 2017 revaluation, and a more wide ranging structural review looking into fundamental reform.
“The outcomes of the review will be fiscally neutral and aligned with the government’s wider fiscal plans,” said David Hawes. The review will report its findings by the time of the Budget in 2016.
THE next Late Breakfast business event at The Spread Eagle Hotel at 16-17 Cornmarket, Thame, will be on Thursday, September 17, from 9.00-10.30am.
The Late Breakfast – Monthly networking
This month’s Speaker will be Sarah Fletcher from Mushroom Souffle who will use her considerable experience of Social Media to talk about the value of using images in its use.
The entry fee is £12 (including light refreshments) Follow this link to secure your place: http://bookitbee.com/e/2fugy
THE team behind Thame’s entry in the Great British High Street have been seen out and about this week, recording video footage of some of the town’s independent retailers and others, talking about their experiences of living and running businesses, organisations and events in the town. So far, those interviewed on camera by Helen Johns who is coordinating Thame’s application, include Luise Pattinson from The Book House, Yvonne Maxwell of the Thame Arts and Literary festival, Butcher, Tom Newitt, The Jewellery Workshop, Brothers Hair Salon and David Dodds talking about the draw to the High Street of Thame Museum.
Helen Johns interviewing the Mayor of Thame, Nichola Dixon, and Market stall holder, Chris Hurdman. The two cameramen are Ben Cross & Josh Parket
Yesterday, the team were in the market interviewing Market trader, Chris Hurdman about the important role the market plays in the economy of Thame High Street. The footage will all form part of Thame’s entry application online along with photographs and text to support it.
Thame is applying to win in the Market Towns category of the Great British High Street Competition, to recognise the town’s efforts to strengthen and improve the facilities and offerings available in the town centre in recent years. These include activities to increase footfall and tourism, such as the Midsomer Murders publicity and walking trails, events such as the Thame Food Festival, the Thame Arts & Literature Festival (TAL), Music in the Park, the Open Doors business event, and community initiatives such as Thame’s ground-breaking Neighbourhood Plan, which won an award for innovation in 2014.
Besides the £50,000 prize money, Google have announced that they will be offering digital workshops to 100 retailers in each of the seven winning locations of the Great British High Street Competition. Retailers will learn how to use social media, develop their websites and get one-to-one advice from Google’s expert technicians. There is also a special new prize for towns who have become ‘rising stars’ or for local people who have made an invaluable personal contribution to their local high street.
The Great British High Streets Competition was set up last year through the Department for Communities and Local Government and is backed by major sponsors including Boots, M & S, Argos, Costa and The Post Office. It is a great way of sharing successful ideas to regenerate high streets and make them more vibrant places for shopping, leisure and enjoyment.
Helen Johns, who is coordinating the Thame entry, said: “High streets are a vital part of our community and make an important contribution to the economy through the billions of pounds they generate and the thousands of jobs they support in retail, leisure and other businesses. There’s a renewed buzz on our high streets and this competition is searching for the very best ideas, innovation and creativity. This is great news for Thame and, fingers crossed, our entry will be successful.”
Shortlisting will take place in mid September and then the public will be asked to vote online for their favourite town. The public vote will count for 50% of the final outcome, with the panel of judges voting for the other 50%. The winners are expected to be announced at the end of October.
The sale also include ground rent from houses in Swan Walk and The Swan Hotel.
