Minutes of the Risborough Area Business Group
Held at
|
Attendees |
|
|
|
President :L.Adlam
:L.Adlam Architects |
J.Hughes :Corporate
Comms |
B.Holt
: BH Associates |
|
Acting Chairman
M.Pitcher :P.A.M. |
M.Adlam :Adlam
Reprographics |
C.Etholen
:PRTC/CAE |
|
Hon Sec P.Pitcher
:P.A.M. |
J.Varley :Sylvia &
Jean Hairdressers |
A.Smith :J Smith &
Sons |
|
B.Clark :J.H.Clark
Butchers |
S.Baker :Sylvia &
Jean Hairdressers |
A.Brown :Softech2000 |
|
Item |
Topic |
||||||||||||
|
1 |
Chairman’s Welcome The chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting. He had hoped to introduce several new attendees from Risborough Rewards who had expressed interest in coming to the meeting. Also Grahame Wilson from Marks & Spencer. Sadly none of them actually attended. |
||||||||||||
|
2 |
Apologies for Absence
received from:
|
||||||||||||
|
3 |
Minutes of the meeting
held on The minutes were agreed
as a true record. Matters arising: ·
The Chairman formally welcomed Jane Brown
(SoftTech2000) as the new treasurer of RABG.
She had already presented a long overdue set of accounts to the
committee. A formal vote of thanks
will be made to the outgoing treasurer, Bill Bendyshe-Brown, at the AGM. ·
The Chairman asked for comments on the
Continental market held in the High Street over 3 days in June. Generally it was felt to have been well
supported. However, the increased
footfall had not noticeably benefited the retailers. Many expressed disappointment with the negative
“No Access Road Closed” signage which was incorrect and resulted in some loss
of trade. For future markets, the
signage must be improved and better positioned. A German market held near Christmas to
coincide with the turning on of the lights was suggested. There
were no further matters arising. |
||||||||||||
|
4 |
Anti-smoking
legislation: Mark Adlam: Adlam
Reprographics Mark
outlined the legal obligations of all businesses regarding the new
anti-smoking legislation. All
companies must have the appropriate procedures and correct signage in place
by ·
all business premises to be non-smoking ·
A5 signs “It is against the law to smoke in
…..” must be displayed at all entrances used by staff and public. Smaller signs may be used inside buildings ·
company cars when driven by more than one
person must display a sign ·
outside shelters provided for smokers must
have a fireproof facility for collecting cigarette ends. ·
cigarette ends must not be dropped on the ground
as this can incur a fine for causing litter. ·
companies must have a written procedure for
dealing with people who try to or insist on smoking on their premises. Government
packs have been sent out with instructions and examples of correct
signage. More information can be
obtained by logging on to www.smokefreeengland.co.uk
Adlam
Reprographics has packs of the A5 signs available on request. If other signage or notices are required,
please contact Mark on 01844 273600 or www.adlamrepro.co.uk
Be
warned - penalties for anti-smoking infringements range from £1,000 to
£25,000! The
chairman thanked Mark for his talk. |
||||||||||||
|
5 |
Marketing for the
Smaller Business: Brian Holt: BH
Associates The
chairman then welcomed Brian Holt, our main speaker for the evening. Not only is Brian a marketing consultant
and a personal friend but also the President of Monks Risborough Cricket
Club. Brian
has worked in sales and marketing for a long time and currently runs his own
business, BH Associates, giving advice to companies with a turnover of less
than £10M and no dedicated marketing department on how to market themselves. Marketing
- what is it? Usually summed up as 90%
style, 10% content! However, if a
business is to grow, marketing is a very important factor in achieving that
goal. Sales: set of
objectives and targets that contribute instantly to a business and can be
measured Marketing: longer
term planning on where and how to grow the business. Four main objectives:
The
difficulty is to achieve all four at the same time. Brian
used his own experience of running two hotels with bars and restaurants to
make the following points: ·
don’t rely
on the good times to pay for the bad. If a business is affected by seasonal
trade, the only way to grow is to analyse one’s strengths and promote them to
attract new customers at the quiet times.
His hotel offered a free ·
recognise
that technology is changing the market place. The Internet is used increasingly for
shopping. See if your business can
also benefit by having a properly designed website to offer goods and
services. Be prepared for changes in
‘fashion’ and accept that if a business is to survive it must move with the
times - a real problem for small businesses as they get older. ·
write a
one-page business plan at the start of each financial year. Define the company’s objectives for the
next 12 months, what do you want to achieve ·
understand
your own business by doing a SWOT analysis of Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.
This will help in assessing risks involved if launching new products
or services etc. He
recommended the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) as a country-wide
organisation that supports and promotes the objectives of small and medium
sized companies. Business Link is
another organisation that provides help such as templates for business plans
etc and free advice. There is a lot of
helpful information on the Internet - use Google to search for suitable
websites. Taking
Princes Risborough as an example, the town should collectively be marketing
the ‘Princes Risborough’ brand to increase footfall and raise awareness of
what it has to offer to shoppers and visitors. If
Risborough is the ‘business’, who is the customer? Identify the spending profile of the
typical Risborough shopper. Promote
local businesses to these people. How
can the Risborough experience be improved?
Identify and address where possible any problems with car parking,
quality of the shops etc. Surveys
show that boarded-up shop fronts and too many charity shops deter people from
visiting. The fact that Marks &
Spencers has opened their ‘Simply Food’ means that they reckon Risborough is
worth investing in - the High Street retailers and businesses must act now
and capitalise on the expected increase in footfall. With
a suitable marketing plan in place and with everyone buying into it, time
alone will determine how successful Risborough can become! But it will
take time. The
meeting was then opened for contributions from the floor. John
Hughes outlined the RACA Visitor project that is promoting Risborough as ‘Fit
for a Prince’. The objective is to get
business, PRTC and the community to act together as a partnership. Funding for the 1st phase has
been acquired towards projects including ·
notice boards to promote the businesses and
facilities on offer ·
leaflets on cycle and walking trails around
the area ·
DVDs promoting local sites of interest ·
bringing Chinnor & Princes Risborough
railway into Risborough station, in partnership with Network Southeast. Mike
Pitcher updated everyone on Risborough Rewards and admitted that more marketing
is needed through its website. Lance
Adlam explained the RABG had replaced the old Chamber of Commerce with the aim
to represent the needs of local businesses and to get them working more
together The Chairman thanked Brian for his presentation
and stressed that the ‘Princes Risborough’ brand must continue to be promoted
as widely as possible if the town is to survive. For further information or help on marketing, Brian
can be contacted at brian@holt96.freeserve.co.uk |
||||||||||||
|
6 |
Update on Local Issues: ·
RACA
Economy : John Hughes John apologised for
being slightly late for RABG as he had come straight from a RACA Economy
meeting. o
CCTV: scheduled
for the end of July o
Car parking: still an
issue with WDC o
Chinnor
& Risborough railway: an evening is being planned to raise
awareness of the railway and how it can help the town. It is hoped to use Monks Risborough
Horticultural Society’s marquee after their annual show on August 4th. A pig roast is a possibility. ·
RACA
Transport A survey on
the need for a community bus has been carried out with some 600 forms (20% of
those issued) being returned. The
majority were in favour of a community bus especially as the service into
Thame has gone, and the Rider-On-Call scheme has reduced the number of stops. ·
Park Mill
Farm appeal No news on the outcome
of the appeal although it had been promised originally for 13th
April. Since
the RABG meeting, we have heard that the appeal has been rejected. There will be no Park Mill Farm
development. |
||||||||||||
|
7 |
Any Other Business ·
Following a request from the School, RABG
meetings will be held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month, starting
in September ·
John Hughes mentioned that BCC were holding an
exhibition on their local transport plan in the Royal British Legion Hall, |
||||||||||||
|
8 |
Date of Next Meeting The next meeting is on The
main presentation is on CCTV in Risborough and how it will be managed, given
by Ken Pearce, CCTV Team Leader, WDC. The
meeting closed at |
Hon.Sec Pam Pitcher
19-06-2007