Hon.Sec & Treasurer Mr W J Bendyshe-Brown

Brambles, Skittle Green, Bledlow, Princes Risborough

Bucks HP27 9PJ Tel ~ 01844 275605

Notes of Action from Risborough Area Business Group Meeting held at Princes Risborough School on 13^th July 2005 at 1930 Hrs

Attendees

Lance Adlam – Hon Chairman

Bill Bendyshe-Brown – Hon Sec & Treasurer

+ 23 other members

Item		Topic	Action
1		Chairman’s Opening Remarks The Chairman opened the meeting by welcoming everybody to the fourth meeting of the RABG, the second to be held at Risborough School.
2		Apologies for Absence Apologies had been received from Bob Clarke, Claire Cairns, Geoff Ribbens, Graham Wiles, Heather Brown, Ian & Jacqui Mackinson, John Vessey, Julie Murdoch, Olivia Finucane, Steve Wilkinson, Susan Staff and Tim & Julie Hudson.
3		Minutes of the meeting held on 13^th June 2005 (previously circulated) The Minutes were agreed as a true record.
4		Matters arising from Minutes not already covered by the Agenda Item 7 – Links to Other External Organisations. The Hon Sec was still in discussion with external organisations to assess their reaction to joining the RABG. Action ongoing Item 7 – CCTV. The Hon Sec advised the meeting that a meeting had been held between PR Town Council and WDC and that WDC were now looking to secure joint external funding from the Thames Valley Police towards introduction of the CCTV cameras to PR. A further meeting was planned for 28^th July. Action ongoing Item 7 – Electricity Supplies. The Chairman had made an approach the local power supplier to improve the robustness of the power supplies to the town but had yet to receive an answer. Action ongoing	Sec Sec Chairman
5		Business Update The Hon Sec/Treasurer advised the meeting that a meeting was planned for 28^th July with local stakeholders to agree draft Terms of Reference for the Town Master Plan Study for Princes Risborough and the surrounding areas. There would be a need for input from the business community and a representative from the group would be sought shortly. Cheryl Hewitt, the Market Towns and Rural Economy Officer at Wycombe District Council, gave a short presentation on the planned South East Tourism review of tourism in Princes Risborough. This would involve the employment of a consultant to brainstorm the issues affecting the area and come up with proposals for action. There was planned to be a meeting at 7pm on 5^th October with at least 10 local business representatives plus other interested parties, the total numbering around 20 +. A copy of her presentation is attached to these Minutes. Ten volunteers from the RABG were forthcoming: Peter Keen; Barry Clark; Steve Barnes; Youssef Safir; Paul Jeffries; Simon Barker; Derek Kent; Stuart Marriott; Ian & Jacqui Mackinson and Martin Thomas. It was also suggested that Princes Risborough & Chinnor Railway and Chiltern Rail must be involved. The Secretary agreed to pass these details to Cheryl. John Hughes gave an update on Risborough Area Community Action (RACA). A meeting had been held that day and actions were proceeding apace. The RACA AGM was planned for 26^th October where a full briefing would be provided on events to-date. It was agreed that at future meetings RABG representatives on each of the Action Groups would give an update.	Sec All
6	Bucks Economic Partnership (BEP) Bob Newell, The Chairman of BEP, and a local resident, gave members a briefing on what BEP was aiming to achieve within the county. He explained that BEP and Business Link were now working very closely under the SEEDA banner to deliver their economic objectives. BEP stood for delivering real investment into Buckinghamshire. The rural economy was very strong; indeed he considered it to be the strongest in SE England. Turning to Risborough issues. He stressed that the Risborough area needed to show that it wanted to develop. He was pleased to see the developments from the Market Town Health Check and was very hopeful that the Town Master Plan would bring forward some good initiatives on which the town could build. He had close contacts with senior and influential people in Bucks County Council and within the City who could help the area to develop. Finally he stressed that BEP had a 4 year strategy and that it was now top of the economic partnerships within the region. He would be happy to discuss any issues with local businesses and asked that his details be included within the Minutes and encouraged members to call/make contact with him. Bob Newell Chairman Bucks Economic Partnership 078 434 60804 bob@rjnewell.co.uk
7	Future Relationship Between RizBiz and RABG Liz Wager gave a briefing on the background to the setting up of RizBiz. She had recognised in mid 2004 that there was a gap in communication between small businesses within the town and had launched RizBiz to act as a forum and fill this gap. Since then RABG had formed and the RizBiz members had agreed that it would be sensible to join forces. However, they were concerned about the formalised agendas for RABG since RzBiz had been set up to provide more informal networking between small businesses. It was therefore agreed that the April, August and December meetings would be set aside to focus on small businesses and have some form of social function. The first such meeting would be held on 16^th August.		All
8	Web Page Update Pam and Mike Pitcher gave a demonstration of the web page they had designed for RABG. It had been given the web page name of www.rabg.org.uk . Members were happy with the layout and design and endorsed its launch onto the internet. It was agreed that Carl Etholen would e-mail all members with a page for them to fill out with their Company details which was to be forwarded to Pam & Mike for inclusion on the web page.		Carl E
9	Young Enterprise – Need for Volunteers Dianna Barnes, a Young Enterprise (YE) coordinator gave a briefing on how Young Enterprise had started and its future. She explained that lower sixth students were provided with the opportunity to start up a business, receive training on various roles within a company, to sell a service or product and, eventually, to close down the company – all within their academic year. One local school, The Royal Grammar School at High Wycombe, had just competed in the UK National finals and had come third which was an excellent result. However, although there was a lot of enthusiasm in the schools, there was a need for local businesses to provide help either in providing an Advisor – who could help mentor the YE students - or just provide visits to local companies where their enthusiasm could be honed. She asked members either to contact her direct or through Bill Bendyshe-Brown who was himself a local YE Advisor.		All
10	Presentations by 4 local businesses Presentations were made by the following businesses. Each business was asked to give no more than a 5 minute presentation and to bring one local issue to the table at the end. · Art & Office Steve Barnes outlined how he and his wife had come to form their business and how they had chosen Princes Risborough as their preferred shop location and that the size of the shop units available suited ‘niche’ shopping, which would attract visitors to the Town. They were particularly pleased with Princes Risborough as they believed that it was a delightful town and centre for arts and crafts. He did not raise any local issue to the meeting. · Clarks The Butchers Barry and Keith Clark had originally worked in the butchers shop within Princes Risborough and took the opportunity to take over ownership. They had serious competitors within the area and had to work hard at maintaining customer loyalty. Their meat was traceable back to the ‘mother’ animal and they were seeking ways to increase their trade and turnover. There were 2 main local issues facing the company – the need to increase the foot count in the High Street and the parking in the High Street all day by some local business people which reduced parking space availability for visitors and customers. · CAE Sales & Marketing Carl Etholen told members about his company which specialised in telemarketing and Customer Relationship Management software. His was a company which provided the tools, sales and support for any company in need of such facilities. · Robertsons of Risborough Dave Robertson’s company made signs mainly for estate agents. They had 6 vans and looked after 200 estate agent offices. They also made signs for building sites and entrances to major sites and attractions. The company had been established for 25 years. It was agreed that the next meeting on 15^th September would have presentations from: · Business Link - Julie Murdoch · International Fire Consultants – Graham Wiles · Princes Risborough School – Stuart Marriot · Slippers in The Rain – Dawn Curry The Chairman thanked members for their presentations and looked forward to those at future meetings.
9	Any Other Business There was no other business
10	Date for Next Meeting The next meeting would, therefore take place on 15^th September at Princes Risborough School at 7 pm. PLEASE NOTE ½ HOUR EARLIER START TIME.		All

12 August 2005

W J Bendyshe-Brown

Hon Membership Sec & Treasurer RABG