November 2010 Breakfast News

Attendance at our monthly breakfast remains high with 34 bookings and 30 attendees at the November meeting. 

Special thanks to Celine for the usual splendid breakfast.

The variety of businesses represented remains very wide with everything from business consultants to virtual admin services, health and safety training, window cleaning, travel consultants, website and print content writing, management and editing, printing, IT support, to name only a few. 

Several members had special milestones to commemorate: 

Andrew Bingham Independent Funeral Services was celebrating its fourth birthday immediately after the breakfast with the official opening of it new premises by the comedian Roy Hudd.

Gipping Press invited all Chamber members and friends to celebrate its 30^th birthday at a special open day with refreshments on December 1, noon to 8pm.

Bridget Keevil’s company Travel Stop attended an awards ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London, after being shortlisted as a finalist for Travel Company of the Year in the Travel Trade Gazette’s annual competition. Congratulations to Bridget and company who were placed in the top three by the panel of judges which included representatives from Thomas Cook, Sandals and the Institute of Travel and Tourism.

Two new enterprises are starting up and asked for help and advice from other members.

Annya Stoddart, specialist in acupuncture and yoga for pain relief and fertility problems, is hoping to set up a community acupuncture clinic in Stowmarket having attended a similar one in Norwich. Any members who can suggest an appropriate building, can advise on applying for community funding or can suggest groups that would welcome Annya giving a talk on her work please contact her.

Tel: 07841 203 412

annya@annya-stoddart.co.uk

Sue Reynard, of the Stowmarket Retreat Centre, wants to develop a local food co-operative sourcing local produce and either selling in a retail outlet or possible organising mobile deliveries with the aim of helping the local economy and the environment by reducing food transport air miles. She is looking for help from people who can provide some local funding and help her with marketing the idea. Anyone who can help please contact her.

Tel: 01473 832211

Sue@creativemarketing.co.uk

Cyrise Weaire explains what Practical Ecology is all about

Continuing the environmental theme Cyrise gave the meeting’s 5-minute presentation on her work with all kinds of creepy crawlies and other beasties that are protected wildlife.

Fortunately she didn’t bring any live examples, though there were a couple of interesting specimens for members to look at.

Cyrise explained that the science of ecology is the study of the interaction of organisms with the environment. But human activity has a huge impact on this so her job is to make sure that any development on land, and the management of industrial areas is done in such a way as to minimise its impact on its environment.

Increasingly planning authorities are asking for an environmental impact assessment before they grant planning permission for any development and it is her job to carry out surveys of a site to establish the existence of any protected species such as newts, badgers, snakes, or even insects. 

She also suggests ways to moderate the development’s impact, from protecting certain areas of a site to advising on ways to arrange the migration of species to a different location and in some cases helping site owners to create habitats for protected species.

She also monitors for invasive animal and plant species from abroad, which can proliferate wildly in a new location where there are no local predators and eventually eliminate local species – the obvious example being the grey squirrel which has now almost totally displaced the native red squirrel.

Chairman’s Bees

Peter’s Bee in the Bonnet for the month is about “banging the Stowmarket Chamber drum” to tell people about the members’ goods and services.  It arose partly because in the December issue of the magazine Suffolk Business there was no mention at all of Stowmarket. Perhaps we should offer to provide a regular feature for them?

 The Stowmarket Chamber has taken some steps towards this by introducing a quarterly e-newsletter using the services of Allan Scott’s company, Newsletter Genie, and of Alison Withers’ multimediareputations, which writes the content for both this and the chamber’s online web updates, which it also manages.  MMR has also been involved in the creation of a page about Stowmarket Chamber benefits and activities for the new town guide.

In preparation for the run-up to Christmas the Chamber has decorated one of the trees in the parish church. Selected theme is “I saw Three ships” - which should not be a problem for a chairman who is an ex-sailor!

The chamber will also be repeating its Christmas window display competition.  Peter and last year’s winner, Isobel Wilton, of Noble and White, will start judging the entries at 11.30 am on December 3, coinciding with the start of Stowmarket Town Centre Christmas Festival.

Peter represented Stowmarket Chamber at a recent briefing at Suffolk Chamber on the opportunities available to Suffolk by the 2012 Olympics. The briefing was given by Adam Baker, 2012 Games Coordinator for Suffolk County Council. Adam has been invited to address one of our Breakfast meetings in the New Year.

Other news updates from the Chairman

Town Centre Regeneration

Planning permission has been given for a Morrison’s food store to be built at Sheringham Court (formerly known as Seamans Builders yard) and an archaeological survey of the site has already commenced.

Further negotiations continue with the owners of properties on the proposed site for re-development of Ipswich Street. A revised Compulsory Purchase Order is to be re-submitted and it is anticipated that the regeneration of Ipswich Street will go ahead, if somewhat delayed.

Application has been made to English Heritage for a grant of £60,000 to improve the properties on the side of Ipswich Street facing the development area.

Mid Suffolk District Council will also re-submit its bid for £500,000 to the Townscape Heritage Initiative to improve the aesthetic appearance of other properties in the town centre conservation zone, chiefly those adjacent to Crowe Street, Abbey Hall and Milton House.

The aim of these applications is to improve the appearance of the town centre and so stimulate tourism and increased trade.

The Suffolk Chamber bid for a Local Enterprise Partnership called One East Anglia did not receive Government approval, and Suffolk and Norfolk are therefore not currently represented either by the strong remaining contenders, the Cambridge and Peterborough and the Haven Gateway bids.  Both ignore “the green bit in the middle” in both Norfolk and Suffolk, which includes Stowmarket, Peter said.

Stowmarket Chamber is supporting the Suffolk Chamber, which is likely to be putting its weight behind the Haven bid but with representations to address the missing area.

Any comments, suggestions or information required on either banging the drum or on the LEP situation please contact Peter.

peter.avoca@talktalk.net

Vote for the John Peel Centre bid for People’s Millions

A reminder that the bid for funding for the proposed John Peel Centre will be televised on Thursday, November 25, in the “People’s Millions” competition and lines will be open until midnight for telephone votes. The phone numbers will be announced on the day.

Book Now for the Christmas Lunch

The next meeting will be on our Christmas Lunch at Stowmarket Golf Club noon to 2.30pm, on Friday, December 17, tickets: members £20, non members £25. There is space for 40 people and bookings so far received for 20 so book NOW if you don’t want to miss out.  Book online or contact Keely Taylor, Stowmarket Chamber Secretary.

phone: 01449 770965

e-mail: secretary@stowmarket chamber.org.uk

web : www.stowmarket chamber.org.uk

We’re looking for guest speakers for the coming year. Any suggestions please contact Keely or Shelli Moyes.

2011 Breakfast dates and speakers so far:

21 January - Speaker Adam Baker - Olympics Opportunities

18 February - Speaker Annya Stoddart – Acupuncture

18 March - Speaker UK Trade and Investment – Getting into Export

15 April

20 May - Speaker Nigel George

17 June