Welcome to the February edition of our newsletter.

 

The February business meeting was held at Danesfield House Hotel – many thanks for their hospitality. The meeting attracted over 25 members and who received a presentation from Danesfield about their history and business facilities, Gillian Chappell presented The Best of Marlow website, Eric Meeks from Transport for Bucks updated the audience on challenges faced by the County Council during the recent bad weather and Martin Spittles updated members with ‘Martin’s Matters’. After the formal agenda was completed, participants had an opportunity to network. Full minutes of the meeting are available on our website shortly.

 

This month, we have editorial from 2 of our members, Marlow Bottom Fish Bar and Adele Miller.

 

The Chamber is now in the process of organising initiatives to support Marlow businesses. One such development relates to our website which is a ‘Virtual Tour of Marlow’ now available to visitors to the town to identify business locations and show a ‘tour’ of the town – a full presentation on this will be made at our March meeting and article in the March newsletter.

 

Following the success of the “Scarecrow Trail” organised by the Chamber last year, by popular request we have agreed to organise a further event this time over the Easter period. An ‘April Fool’ trail is anticipated this will attract many visitors to the town.

 

All retailers have to do is place an item that is nothing to do with their merchandise that is partly obscured so visitors/residents have to view the entire window and become aware of what the outlet actually has to offer. This is a great opportunity for shops to show case their business.

 

A trail will be produced for participants and a sign will be placed in participating windows advertising the event.

 

A great deal of advertising will be carried out in the press, radio, schools and on varying web sites.

 

At our March meeting a particular item of interest will be a presentation on the rates appeal process as the deadline for this is looming.

 

Marlow Late Night Shopping

On the evening of the 3rd December, Marlow Chamber of Trade & Commerce once again organised the very successful Late Night Shopping event. This year there were in excess of 50 stalls, incorporating commercial, charity and local organisations. We were lucky in that the evening proved to be dry, albeit cold and the number of visitors was in excess of 2000.

 

The shops that opened for the evening were complimentary of the organisation and the majority were very, very busy and have also benefited from repeat business. Visitors were made aware on the evening of shops that they had not noticed previously, including those in Spittal Street and West Street.

 

Adding to the festive atmosphere was the Nativity procession organised by the Methodist Church, the choirs from the junior schools accompanied by Borlase band, the switching on of the town Christmas tree lights together with the Salvation Army playing traditional Christmas music and Nextstage singing Christmas songs in the High St.

 

The following comments from the Chairman of Wycombe District Council sums up the general feeling of the public and we look forward to repeating the event this year.

 

"The Chairman of Wycombe District Council, Cllr Alan Hill, has asked me to write to thank you and your team for the hospitality received by the Chairman and his wife during the late night shopping event in Marlow on Thursday, 3rd December 2009.   They thoroughly enjoyed this event, which Cllr Hill said was exactly as a town event at Christmas should be. Please convey their thanks to all concerned in the organisation of the festivities, and best wishes for Christmas and the New Year."

 

Finally a big thank you goes to all those that helped with the organisation and running of the event and especially to the Wycombe Council Cleansing Department who ensured the High Street was pristine for the following day.

Useful business information

Apprenticeships – Good for Business

Tuesday 2 February 2010, 7.30am – 9.30am. Copthorne Hotel Slough

Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce Group is once again supporting National Apprenticeship Week by hosting a complimentary breakfast seminar.

The number of Apprentices has almost trebled since 1997 to a quarter of a million new Apprentice starts – the highest number ever last year. The Government plans (delete has ambitions) to further strengthen and expand the Apprenticeships programme in England - ambitions which are even more important in today’s challenging economic climate.

Increasingly, Apprenticeships are being seen by employers and employees alike as an effective way to obtain the relevant skills training to help secure a good, well paid job.

The Apprenticeships programme has been designed to help your employees reach a high level of competency and performance and with over 180 different types of training options there are many opportunities to place an apprentice in your organisation.

Join us to find how Apprenticeships can benefit your business and your bottom line. Your Apprentices will benefit from a combination of work-based learning, ongoing training and a qualification, leading to improved skills and greater loyalty to your organisation.

To book, call 01753 870500

Small firms welcome tax referral

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8403218.stm

Dunn and Bradstreet Newsletter

http://now.eloqua.com/e/es.aspx?s=566&e=40646&elq=df253d763a924b4cbaad1177712bbdca

The January business meeting was held at The Plough Public House – many thanks for their hospitality and was chaired by Annie Mulady, Vice President. The meeting attracted 40 members and guests who heard updates on the latest Sainsbury/Waitrose developments, the Late Night Shopping event and following interest from participants, we will be arranging a meeting to advise businesses on rates negotiation. After the formal agenda was completed, participants had an opportunity to network. Full minutes of the meeting are available on our website.

This month, we have an overview of the commercial property market in Marlow during 2009 from Duncan and Bailey-Kennedy, commercial property agents.

The Chamber is now in the process of organising initiatives to support Marlow businesses during 2010 and if you have any ideas on what the Chamber can be doing please let me know. Equally, and to follow on from a point that Annie made at the recent business meeting, the credibility of the Chamber is strengthened by the number of members we have and therefore if you know of local businesses who would benefit from being members, please let any one of the Executive know and we will contact them – contact details are can be found here