Category: Business News

ACTION for Market Towns (AMT) has responded to the Portas Review of the future of the high street. The Review includes recommendations of ideas from AMT.

Yesterday Mary Portas published her independent review of the future of our high streets, setting out her vision to breathe economic and community life back into our high streets. The report has been welcomed by the national charity Action for Market Towns (AMT), which submitted evidence and ideas to Mary Portas? team and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.

AMT?s chief executive Chris Wade said:

?AMT welcomes the Portas review and is delighted to see that so many of the ideas that we submitted to support the development of more prosperous and diverse high streets have been included in Mary?s recommendations. The report recognises the unique importance to communities of town centres – and the need to intervene and re-invent them for the 21st Century. Its rhetoric about learning from, rather than blaming, multiple retailers is realistic and we are pleased to read of the recommendation for a more level playing field through planning regulations – which AMT has long called on the Government to adapt.

?It?s good to read that Mary?s recommendations are very much in tune with AMT?s Twenty First Century Town Centres Report published recently.
The call for towns to have a Town Team: a visionary, strategic and strong operational management team – echo AMT?s evidence, having helped to establish and support many market town partnerships.

The recommendation for an explicit presumption in favour of town centre development in the wording of the National Planning Policy Framework is a suggestion that AMT put forward in our response to the draft NPPF ? ie. maintaining the ?town centres first? policy approach which means that retail and leisure developments should look for locations in town centres first, and only if suitable sites are not available look for edge of centre and then out of town centre sites.

And the suggestion that retailers should report on their support of local high streets in their annual report, links to AMT?s work on local loyalty cards, for example MyCard, a loyalty system that enables retailers to gather detailed information singularly and collectively about their retail performance and high street performance ? and rewards retailers, town centre partnerships, and consumers, too.

?The report is realistic in recognising that it will not hold back the tide in some failing High Streets but it can stem the decline in those that are still thriving. It highlights issues and draws together existing good practice often published in previous reports. Will the Government, local authorities, retailers and communities pull together this time and make these ideas work??

Action for Market Towns (AMT) is a national charity committed to the vitality and viability of our small towns.
It has a national network of members and works with Town Councils, Community and town partnerships, emerging Local Enterprise Partnerships, Local Authorities, and independent/ selected partner businesses.

It offers training, consultancy, national advocacy and a range of other services to more than 400 members.
AMT worked with a wider network of organisations to ensure that the Portas review was informed by imaginative ideas and practical solutions.

For details of the broader group of organisations involved in the town centres network, visit http://reviveourcentres.ning.com/

A group of Thame business owners and representatives glanced into the future of the town yesterday, when they learned about some of the work that has been going on to explore how Thame may develop and grow in the next 20 years or so.

Thame4Business heard from their lunch guest, Sue Rowlands of Tibbalds Planning & Urban Design, who are working with Thame Town Council on the Thame Town Plan. The Thame Town Plan is a ?Neighbourhood Development Plan?, a new approach to planning that is being brought in by the Government.

What is the Neighbourhood Plan?

Sue explained how the Localism Act, expected to come into full effect by April 2012, provides local people with an opportunity to influence future planning in their area by creating Neighbourhood Development Plans such as the Thame Town Plan. However, the Thame Town Plan will need to be in line with South Oxfordshire District Council?s Core Strategy. As the Core Strategy won?t be fixed until February 2012, the Thame Town Plan can?t be finalised until after this. However, she explained that the Thame Town Plan will need to accommodate 775 houses over the next 20 years or so, along with two hectares of employment land. The Town Plan will also need to consider issues such as the future of retail in the town centre and the effects of new housing on the town. The Thame Town Plan is expected to begin the process of being adopted in Spring 2012.

How much ‘say’ will local people have?

Sue explained the need to plan for different outcomes of the Inspector?s report on the Core Strategy currently being considered, i.e. whether all the houses should be built on one site, or spread around several smaller sites as TTC and many residents? group want. The Inspector has indicated in a preliminary report, that he supports the identification of sites through the Neighbourhood Plan process but this will not be confirmed until he makes his final decision in February 2012.

The ‘vision’ so far

Having explained what the Thame Town Plan will do, Sue moved on to presenting a summary of the exhibition that many local people attended at the Town Hall in mid November. The full exhibition is available to download from TTC?s website. The ?Vision? for the future of the town that has emerged so far from the workshops and drop-in sessions is that Thame must retain its character as a ?real market town?. This means it should continue to feel ?small? and act as a centre of surrounding villages and agricultural communities.

‘Small’ town?

Some members present at the meeting were concerned about the connotations of ?small town? and its possible association with ?small mindedness? and being unwilling to progress and felt that, as agreed in the recent town branding work, Thame should continue to ?punch above its weight? and use its accessibility from a main line railway station etc, to attract shoppers and visitors from London and the larger towns within easy travelling distance. It was suggested that we must attract people back who come for the food festival, the Arts and Literature festivals etc and that we need a strategic plan for that.

Approaches to future development

Sue explained that, at this stage, the consultation was looking at potential development sites at a strategic level ? that is, broadly where development could go rather detailed issues. This includes planning for different outcomes of SODC?s Core Strategy. As reported last week, it may be that – instead of most of the new housing being built on a single site – the Thame Town Plan may get to decide where to put new housing. The exhibition included four different approaches to locating new houses, including two that spread development around several smaller sites as TTC and many local people want.

New employment sites

The exhibition also looked at different locations for new employment – e.g. office accommodation similar to Oxford House on the Oxford Road; possibly a small element on the Cattlemarket as part of a mixed-use scheme.

Alun Rowe, who had attended some of the workshops, reported back on points raised and comments made by his group. He said that he felt the process of the Consultation was working well and would be of great benefit to the town. He suggested that an economic focus was a prime part of Tibbalds?s work. His group, he explained, looked at where businesses are located and considered how we might get existing town centre businesses to move to the outskirts, integrating with more industrial type businesses. This would help with the problem of business parking in Thame, he suggested, and help tackle what has become known as ?the Thame Shuffle? where cars have to be moved every two or three hours to avoid penalties.

What sort of new employers should we try to attract?

Alun also mentioned that his group discussed ways of attracting another big employer to the town, someone similar to CPM for instance. He also talked about supporting the Thame Show more and helping to market it more. He concluded that the strongly felt view in his working group was that the town definitely does not need another supermarket, and that there were compelling reasons why it would be economically damaging to the town. He emphasised the need for more local businesses to get involved in the consultation.

What sort of new buildings do we need?

In the discussion that followed, one member said that she felt there was a need for change of use for old buildings in the town centre that were not popular with new businesses, into apartments for young people for example, and for new office building to be built. Sue noted that there seemed to be a lack of modern office building which could possibly be provided alongside the new residential development areas or within the Cattlemarket as part of a mixed-use development.

Encouraging less out-commuting from Thame

Another member thought that there should be a lot more opportunity for people to work in Thame, and it was interesting to learn from Sue that there is a very high level of ?out commuting? ? that is, people living in Thame traveling to work elsewhere. Another member said we needed to be careful about encouraging too many businesses out of the town centre as they are what makes for a mixed and vibrant town centre, and that it was important to remember that employees of these town centre businesses use the post office, the shops and especially the food outlets where they buy lunch etc.

The Consultation itself

On the Consultation process itself, one or two members said that they he had not received any direct communication about the consultation, one of them stating that he would have got more involved if he had understood it a bit more. Attendees noted that the recent Sainsbury?s consultation had involved lots of leaflets. Sue explained that the Town Council does not have the same budget available to it as Sainsbury?s, but said that Tibbalds would work with TTC to find ways of improving publicity.

She thanked the group for their feedback and hoped that collectively it would submit some ideas and suggestions to the process, and that it would suggest ways of contacting a broader range of business people.

A THAME car franchise is holding a giant toy sale this weekend, to raise funds for Stoke Mandeville hospital.

Thame Ford, based at Rycote Lane, Thame, are offering a one off opportunity to pick up some top toys and games at low low prices!

Starts Friday 25th November from 3.00pm until 6.00pm and Saturday 26th November from 9.00am to 5.00pm. Special offers and huge discounts on a selected range of high quality, branded toys including Bakugan, Zoobles, Tech Deck and many more!!

Coffee and mince pies available to all our customers.

EVERY PENNY TO BE DONATED TO STOKE MANDEVILLE HOSPITAL

A LOCAL women’s business networking group has been celebrating its phenomenal success in building to 120 members in under four years.

The West Chilterns Region of The Athena Network, Which includes Thame, has, under the leadership of former heart surgery theatre sister, Sylvia Baldock, is now the premier women?s networking organisation in the UK and already comprises 26 franchises, 2600 networking members across 30 regions nationwide, but the West Chiltern regional group is particularly thriving with eight networking groups in the region in Marlow, Tring, Wycombe, Maidenhead (two groups), Thame and Aylesbury (two groups).

Peronel Barnes, one of The Project Managers in Thame, spoke of what she has gained through being involved with Athena. She said: ?My first year in Athena Thame gave me a 1.3 x return on investment. I considered whether this was good enough to continue: I chose to sign up for a second year. My second year has given me over 7 x return on investment. That?s the power of continuing to connect.?

Sylvia herself added: ?We have been so successful because we provide opportunities to make strategic connections with professionals in a wide range of industry sectors, encourage women in business to inspire and support others for greater success whilst also developing women?s business skills.

?We still have a few available spaces and would be delighted to meet businesswomen who would like to build positive and fruitful relationships with other businesses, whether this is to share suppliers, form strategic alliances or to develop client relationships.

?I went from being a Theatre Sister to running my own health food business to sales in the pharmaceutical industry, all of which I enjoyed, but it is the power of networking that I am passionate about and that has really refined my business skill set.?

Established in 2005, The Athena Network was founded to provide women who were unable to commit to early breakfast networking meetings with opportunities to meet business women from a wide range of industry sectors from large corporates to sole traders.

Typical professions seen at Athena include accountants, solicitors, marketing experts, graphic and web designers, financial advisers, business and personal coaches, photographers, holistic therapists, interior designers, image consultants, event managers and many more. Athena only allows one person per profession to join each regional group to avoid any conflicts of interest.

Sylvia Baldock continued: ?Networking is the fastest, most powerful and most effective way to grow your business and our groups also offer a warm, fun and supportive environment whether you are just setting up your own business or are part of an established business looking to expand further.?

Athena members meet for a monthly business lunch which involves open networking, a ten minute networking training slot, 60 second presentation on your business, a ten minute presentation given by an industry expert on different aspects of business development, an unpressurised referral and recommendation sharing and further time to network and make appointments over coffee.

In addition each region has informal networking meetings called Cappuccino Connections which are free to Athena members and open to non members for two visits before joining the network.

Membership of Athena costs

REPRESENTATIVES from businesses related to the visitor economy across South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse came together this week to get some inspirational handy hints on how they can attract more visitors.

More than 65 people came along to the event at Millets Farm Centre, Frilford, on Wednesday 9 November to hear presentations on attracting business, media interest and funding.

The two hour session kicked off with a talk from television and radio presenter Wesley Smith looking at how businesses could get media attention, including why an event would receive coverage and what reporters were looking for.

Sarah Osborne from TEAM Tourism Consulting, Paul Bellchambers from The Late Chef, and Yvonne Maxwell, organiser of Thame Arts and Literary Festival, then guided the guests through the benefits of holding events, from small-scale wine tasting to full-scale town events, looking at the immediate impact and the potential lasting opportunities.

Funding was the next topic of conversation as Kate Forrest from the Southern Oxfordshire LEADER Programme provided details about how businesses could apply for funding to expand their operations.

The event concluded with Sarah Osbourne (TEAM) and Susie Hunt (Waterperry Gardens) talking about how businesses could use the local area to their advantage to get more from people who visit attractions in southern Oxfordshire.

Some comments from delegates who attended the event:
?Truly inspirational, really enjoyed it.? – Catherine Watsham, CAW Marketing.
?Wesley was very enlightening. All the speakers were good.? – Richard Marfell, Carswell Gym.
?Very informative, lots of common sense.? – Susan Carter, Royal County of Berkshire Show.

The free event was organised by the South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils.

Cllr Elaine Ware, cabinet member for economic development for the Vale, said: ?By holding events like this we are able to work with businesses to attract more people to the area and help the local economy thrive. This is especially important in the current economic climate when attracting more people can make a massive difference to the whole area.?

Cllr Judith Nimmo-Smith, cabinet member for economic development for South Oxfordshire, said: ?Many of those who attended the event expressed how impressed they were with the advice on offer, and hopefully they will be able to go away and use it to help their businesses develop which will have a knock on effect locally.?

SOURCE: Press release

DENTAL Accountancy and Business Consultants, DBS in Thame, will be raising money for Children in Need with a charity bike ride with a difference.

Their team of fundraisers are aiming to cycle the 98 miles from their office in Station Yard, Thame, to Brighton on an exercise bike!

This Friday (18 November) DBS will station an exercise bike in their office and each participating member of the team will have time slots on a rota to cover the 98 miles over the day.

The bike also clocks the number of calories burnt, so once you have donated you can guess the total calories used up by the team. The closest guess will win a bottle of champagne.

The event will be streamed live on DBS’s website so donor will be able to log on at anytime during the day to see which member of the team is cycling and how much effort they are putting in.

The team will include: Penny Levett, Nick Stewart, Penny Bowen, Kelly Webster, Nathan Poole, Peter Lambert and
Darren Nicholson.

Visit: http://www.dbs.org.uk/news/

LOCAL producers and artisans from the Thame and Chilterns area will soon be able to sell their products through an innovative, new retail outlet opening in the town.

The shop is to be called FROM and will be opening in Cornmarket, Thame, next to the Spread Eagle Hotel, on November 19. Its founders, Steve Stretton and Marcus Hardman, are aiming for: ” A contemporary store for locals to be proud of… a year-round celebration of local creative talent.

“Only the best products will be stocked, sourced within a 20-mile radius of the town,” explained Steve and Marcus who share a passion for beautiful products locally made, like digital prints of Thame, created by Thame sister artists, Kim and Sam Osborne, through to jams and chutney from Haddenham.

FROM is borne of a fusion of the marketing experience and retail expertise of its two founders. Steve, founding partner at creative agency archibald ingall stretton, has won awards across every discipline from advertising to sales promotion. Marcus is former Senior Vice President of Global business development at DKNY and has spent the past 25 years developing retail bands in new markets worldwide from Azerbaijan to Canada (and every country in between).

FROM’s staff, and the products themselves, will impart the story behind the goods, the contributors, the history and the heritage. The Cornmarket store will be the first FROM outlet. Championing a greener way to shop, and knowing that the quality of British talent extends beyond the Thame area, they hope to eventually grow into other market towns. And maybe even sell online – of course with a website designed by local talent.

Along with a carbon footprint much smaller than an average store, FROM will also express its philanthropic nature by donating a percentage of the profits to local education to find and champion new talent.

With his background knowledge, Steve says that he understands that many people are fed up with buying products created by people that they have no relationship with.

He commented: ?It is so important to support local suppliers and craftsmen, particularly in these strained economic times. And, what has been particularly rewarding is seeing the standard of talent in our area.

“Not only are we doing the right thing ethically, we?re finding that we really will have a shop full of lovely things.? Marcus added: ?Throughout life I have studiously tried to avoid becoming a fashionista, and I am failing miserably: I still get disproportionally excited by finding new brands and designers. Inevitably for me, discovering such talent in the Chilterns area by visiting local people at their farms, homes and factories was an amazing experience ? and one that I am looking forward to introducing to a wider audience through FROM.”

PHOTO: Kim and Sam Osborne

A THAME businesswoman who is supporting the town’s talent event in less than two weeks time, says that such events are vital for helping local acts gain in confidence.

Thame?s Got Talent ? a showcase for local talent, has seen a variety of acts over the years since its launch in 2009, and has also seen familiar faces taking part year on year, which, claims Yvette Cundy, owner of Kismet Jewellers, Thame, goes a long way towards helping entrants boost their confidence.

Yvette, a local businesswoman and sponsor of the event explains: ?We have seen some familiar local faces over the last three years, keep coming back to take part, which is really great for their confidence-building and experience. It really is a fantastic way to banish those butterflies in the stomach, by getting up on stage to a full house of people, and I would recommend anyone wishing to become a performer, to take part in this fantastic local event.?

Over 20 acts have signed up to the event so far, which will see Thame Air Cadets also offering a helping hand on the day.

TGT takes place at the Spread Eagle Hotel, in aid of the Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity (FNHC), which provides comprehensive care and support for local families affected by life-limiting illness and raised over

TWO Oxfordshire women have launched a new business after a chance meeting while out walking their dogs in Thame.

The inspiration for the name of Sheila Goggs and Natalie Tate’s business, handmade, English stone dogs, came from the names of their dogs, Harry and Hunter.

“We fell in love with these stone dogs as soon as we saw them,” said Sheila. “Although we had come across other high quality animal statues, they all came with an expensive price tag. We saw a gap in the market to offer quality workmanship at an affordable
price which we’ve managed to achieve by keeping overheads as low as possible, operating as a web based
business and from home based offices.”

“We are very happy for people to come and view our products, but have avoided paying for premises to keep the purchase price down for our customers,” explained Natalie.

Harry & Hunter have already sold several pairs of their Stone Dogs across the UK, with customers from Southend to Edinburgh, but are keen to establish themselves more as a local company.

Visit LINK or call 07966 136941 Natalie or 07716017342 Sheila.

IF you are a small or medium sized enterprise, give two hours of your time and we?ll give you practical ideas and suggestions to help improve your profits. There are four ?how to? sessions: increase your media coverage; use events to attract more people; apply for and use LEADER funds; encourage visitors to stay in the area and spend money in your business. Each session is led by an expert in their field.

DATE & TIME: Wednesday 9 November. Start: 2.00pm for 2.30pm. Close 4.30pm
VENUE: Millets Farm Centre, near Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX13 5HB 01865 391169 LINK

?Getting media attention? BBC Oxford?s Wesley Smith will be talking about radio, TV and on-line coverage. What are journalists looking for? Why would they feature your product or business? What will make them cover your event? Wesley knows his subject inside out, he knows the local area very well and is an entertaining speaker.

?Events ? why it?s worth the effort? Sarah Osborne from TEAM discusses the benefits of events ? from small scale wine-tasting or book signings up to themed weekends and full-scale town events. Paul Bellchambers, The Late Chef and organiser of Wallingford Food Festival, will be bringing his experiences of what has worked (and what has not) during his years in the food industry. What are some of the immediate positive effects as well as the longer lasting opportunities to build your brand and expand your customer base?

?LEADER funding ? what is it and how to get it? This is a short session led by Kate Forrest who has helped a number of businesses develop their ideas assisted by the LEADER fund. If you want more information in advance, log onto: LINK

?Getting a slice of the visitor pound? Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, England?s historic market towns, proximity to London and Oxford, Midsomer Murders ? these are just a few of the things that bring millions of visitors into Southern Oxfordshire. How can you get more of them to visit you? Sarah Osborne looks at ways you can use the assets of the local area to enhance your product; whilst Susie Hunt from the visitor attraction, Waterperry Gardens, tells us how she gets people through the door by making a small marketing budget go a long way.

A FREE event organised by the economic development team of South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse District Councils – economic.development@southandvale.gov.uk