Category: Business News

BUSINESS Rates are the biggest issue facing towns and high streets, according to new research published by national charity, Action for Market Towns (AMT.

AMT has over 450 member towns all over the UK including market towns, small towns, coastal and seaside towns and some cities. It surveyed 205 towns across the UK, 105 of which are members of the organisation and 100 not, and asked them to name the most pressing issues affecting their town or high street ? and what the Government needs to do.

Business rates, high rents, car parking and competition from out of town retailers all featured highly, with Business Rates scoring as the most pressing issue for a majority of respondents. The towns surveyed were vocal in calling for Government action on the issue, with over a hundred towns making comments such as “Review business rate model. Flawed and outdated. Level the playing field for business rates between high street and online retail.”

Other participants called for stronger action and enforcement of the ‘Town Centre First’ policy around which AMT has been running a ‘Town Centre First WATCH’ campaign.

Chris Wade, AMT’s chief executive, commented: “We have listened to towns across the country and the message is that if the Government is serious about saving the High Street, it needs to review how business rate levels are set. This would play a part in leveling the playing field so that our towns can be competitive and find creative solutions to bounce back.”

ABOUT AMT

Action for Market Towns (AMT) is a national charity which works with 450 member towns and over 2500 stakeholders, all over the UK.

It provides practical support with town revitalisation projects, recognises great ideas and projects through the annual Towns Alive National Awards, measures towns’ strengths and weaknesses via town benchmarking; supports towns with neighbourhood and town plans and community engagement, and lobbies policymakers.

AMT and several other organisations recently issued a briefing note to members of the House of Lords, expressing concern about the postponement of revaluation of business rates, and stating that the postponement will:

“unfairly penalise hundreds of thousands of businesses by requiring them to pay excessive levels of tax for an additional two years in order to subsidise those in more prosperous areas. This will harm businesses in regions and sectors of the economy that that have underperformed relatively since 2008, and so will have a particularly devastating impact on struggling high streets.”

THE Thame branch of Blockbuster, the film and games rental business, will avoid closure – for now.

Blockbuster called in the administrators in January, and although 129 of its 528 stores were earmarked for closure, the Thame outlet is one of eight in Oxfordshire that will continue to trade as usual whilst the administrators, Deloitte, progress negotiations with bidders.

THIS month’s Late Breakfast event in the Eden Suite at The Spread Eagle Hotel, Cornmarket, Thame, will be from 9am – 10.30am on Thursday, February 21.

There will be an interactive presentation from George Anderson on how to construct and get the maximum benefit from an email marketing campaign, together with the usual opportunity for you to promote any business/ workshop/charity event that you’re involved with.

Please book by 12.00 on Wednesday, February 20, to appear on the guest list or simply come along on the day. The entry fee of

SOUTH Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Council’s keynote speaker at its annual business breakfast, will be Nick English, founder of the award-winning British brand Bremont that produces luxury, mechanical watches.

The event will take place on Tuesday, March 5, at Cornerstone in Didcot, between 7:30am and 9:30am.

With a potential attendance of over 100 businesses from the two districts, the breakfast provides a unique networking opportunity. Bremont won four awards in 2012, including luxury watch brand of the year at the UK Jewellery Awards and breakthrough brand of the year at the Luxury Briefing Awards. The company’s watches are sported by many high profile personalities. The company recently moved all of its production to a new-built facility in Henley-on-Thames.

To register your attendance, visit: LINK

THREE businesses in Swan Walk, Thame, are to shut up shop at the end of March, bringing the total of empty units in the area to five – but they insist that it?s nothing to do with a rumoured rent rise.

The three shops, Ricochet Fashions, Arts Desire and Charlotte’s Webb, have decided to close for different reasons but at the same time, because all their leases happen to end in March.

Nita, the proprietor of Ricochet ladies fashion boutique, said: ?I have devoted six days a week to this business for years and the lease coming to an end just seemed to be the right time to take a rest and then try something completely different while I still have the energy. I have made a good living out of the business but I just didn?t feel enthusiastic enough to commit to a new lease.?

Barbara Collins in Arts Desire next door, said: ?I have stood up behind this counter for 16 years, and like the other two, the commitment of a new lease didn?t appeal. Arts Desire is a good business and we want to go out on a positive note.?

Trish, who runs Charlotte?s Web, a childrens? clothes shop, has been in Swan Walk longer than any of them. She said: ?I have been here for 19 years and seen lots of changes in the Walk. I have no idea what I will do next, but the ending of the lease and the other two finishing as well, it seemed to make sense to call it a day and to move on.?

Swan Jewellery closed its doors finally due to the retirement of its owner through ill health.

The joint message from all the shopkeepers in Swan Walk is: ?We would like to thank all our loyal customers, many of whom have become good friends over the years, for all their support.?

PHOTO: Courtesy of Frank Millar

HUNDREDS of Scandinavian fans of the TV series, Midsomer Murders, are expected to visit Thame in the coming months.

Select Travel Services will shortly be launching its new package tour which is expected to see Norwegian, Swedish and Danish fans of Midsomer Murders spending time visiting South Oxfordshire locations, including Thame, Wallingford, Henley and Dorchester.

THE Thame Loyalty Card Scheme which was launched in the summer of 2011, continues to attract wide membership among the shoppers of Thame, and from January, a new Administrator will aim to ensure it goes from strength to strength.

Alison Isherwood has been appointed by the 21st Century Thame Partnership, which devised the scheme, to encourage local people to support local, independent shops, cafes and services which face more and more the challenge of competition with large, out-of-town shopping centres in bigger towns close by.

Cat Young, Chair of 21st Century Thame, said: ?As Thame’s former Town Centre Co-ordinator, and one of the team that set up the Loyalty scheme, Alison is well placed to continue building relationships with the local retailers and service providers, and to encourage even more of them to take part in the scheme.

“It is in everyone?s interest to keep Thame town centre as a vibrant and viable shopping attraction and to keep the ?Thame pound? in Thame!?

So far, the scheme has almost a thousand card-holding members, including Thame?s MP, John Howell, who have each paid just

DESPITE much ‘doom and gloom’ about the future of our High Street, Thame continues to be a good place to do business if you’re an independent, as was born out this week when a local hair salon brought all its branches’ staff together in the town.

Brothers Hair Salon in the Buttermarket, recently celebrated its 18th birthday and to mark the occasion, brought the staff from its three salons together from Thame, Oxford and Marlow (opened just six months ago) for a team building and training day at the Town Hall in Thame.

Salon owner, Adam Buckland, an ex Mayor of Thame, said: “As you can see from the photograph, our team has grown over the years and has gone from strength to strength, and now we employ around 50 people! (not everyone could attend the day)

“Now we have ‘Come of age,’ we are really looking forward to the next 18 years and are going to focus on producing our own photographic work and continuing our charity work in the local community.”

A Thame ‘Mumpreneur’ who makes soft-furnishings has joined forces with two other talented, local ladies and embarked on a new venture to set up a sewing school.

Emma May set up her business, Emma May Stitching, at home after giving up her job in science when her son was born, Utilising her sewing skills to make soft furnishings.

Having established her business, Emma is now collaborating with two other talented women, Thame designer, Sam Osborne and Nicola Rutterford, the brains behind Oxfordshire-based on-line fabric retailer, The Fabric Loft to launch the Simple Pleasures Sewing School.

Emma explained: “The School aims to inspire a new generation of sewers to join the current recession inspired ‘hand-made revolution’. We allow people to try their hand at sewing before committing to an expensive sewing machine purchase, or get them up and running on their own machine if they’ve been too scared to get it out of the box. All sewing will be done with the accompaniment of plenty of tea and cake.

“The School is mobile and will reach people via workshops, parties, events and one-to-one tuition and will be launching with a number of Workshops at the beautiful Thame Barns Centre over the coming weeks.”

A THAME based, self-employed designer has received a business boost from TV Dragons’ Den star, Theo Paphitis. Last week Sam Osborne tweeted Theo about her business during ?Small Business Sunday?, an initiative set up by Theo that runs each week.

Sam?s business was chosen out of hundreds that entered and Theo re-tweeted her message to his 316,000 followers. As a result, her business www.sam-osborne.co.uk has 200 more followers and lots of extra orders in her online shop. They are also profiled on a new website www.theopaphitissbs.com that is exclusive to Small Business Sunday winners.

Sam is a graphic and surface pattern designer who started her own business two years ago designing branding for fellow small business owners, crafting beautiful wedding invitations, creating bold and bright pattern collections for licensing, and commissions. She also runs her own label selling prints, cards and homewares.

Sam said: ?I?m a bit overwhelmed to be honest. Last Sunday was my two year self-employed birthday so I thought that would be a great time to enter the SBS contest, but I didn?t really expect to be picked.

“To be chosen out of so many entries is a fantastic feeling and my website and online shop have been ‘crazy busy’ ever since. It is great to have support from Theo because it?s been tough trying to raise my profile and Theo has recognised my hard work over the last two years.?

Anyone looking for a re-tweet from Theo should tweet him about their business on Sunday between 5pm and 7.30 pm and include the hashtag #SBS. Six lucky businesses are re-tweeted every Monday at 8pm and then invited to enter their profile on the new website. This is done free of charge and the new website is sponsored by Ryman Stationery of which Theo is Chairman.

SOURCE: Contributed
PHOTO: Sam Osborne in her Thame studio