Chamber of Commerce News – Autumn 2016
It’s been a busy year for the Chalfont St Peter Chamber of Commerce with plenty for us to do on behalf of the trading community. A warm welcome to all our new members, many of whom are running businesses new to our wonderful village.
The Chalfont St Peter Chamber of Commerce exists to provide…
Community
Support
Promotion
…to the business community, and whatever business you may be in, we’d like you to be part of it. You can now join online and receive the many benefits.
Countdown to Christmas
The Chamber of Commerce is responsible for the street decorations, that’s the flags that appear at various times of the year, and the Christmas lights that make our village centre such a fantastic place to shop. They are praised by residents, traders and visitors alike – and are the envy of nearby towns!
We provide them from donations and fundraising initiatives. 2016’s lights will be going up on the morning of Sunday 20th November and we need as many pairs of hands to make light work – in both senses!
If you, your staff or friends can spare a few hours, please let us know by replying to this email or to president@cspchamber.co.uk – or simply turn up at the White Hart pub at 10.30am. We also need plenty of ladders, so if you are able to bring one that will make life even easier. It’s very sociable, and satisfying to know you played your part.
Fun night and small business Saturday
We will have our usual stall at the Village Fun Night on Friday 2nd December. We’ll be raffling a hamper and are asking for donations of small goods. Monies raised will go to the street decorations fund. Please get in touch if you have something you can offer.
Saturday 3rd December sees the annual ‘Small Business Saturday’, a government-backed, national scheme to get people shopping in local places. We’ll be engaging in some promotion – and Church Lane car park will be free all day, thanks to the Parish Council. Actually, it will be free all day on every Saturday in December, so please spread the word.
‘Keep it Chalfont’ seminars
During 2016, the Chamber of Commerce launched a new networking initiative – ‘Keep it Chalfont’ seminars. We’ve had three now, and they have grown in popularity and attendance. Thanks to Zumtobel, Citrix and Chalfont Audley Dene, we’ve experienced the hospitality of local businesses, and enjoyed around five presentations each time from traders. With wine and nibbles and other local businesses to mingle with, they’ve really made a difference to our community and we are looking forward to the next one. Make a date for 18th January and keep an eye on our website and social media feeds (below) for details as they are announced.
Social Media
On a day-to-day basis, please come and be part of the Chamber’s Social Media shop window – on our public Facebook page, Twitter feed, and Streetlife profile. Please engage with us on these public platforms and we will do what we can to help you in whatever way we can. Also, privately, just for business people, we also have a closed Facebook group, so we can talk amongst ourselves, and a What’s App chat group for urgent messaging. Let us know if you’d like to be added to them.
Holy Cross development update
We’ve been working hard over the summer, developing a good working relationship with the builders Persimmon Homes and helping to minimise any negative effects to the village and especially Market Place whilst the new pathway was installed over the summer as part of the new Holy Cross housing development. It didn’t all go smoothly but we managed to keep everyone informed and help resolve issues quickly. There is still work planned to install streetlights and bollards as well as completing the aesthetics of the wall. We are waiting for Persimmon to let us have dates. Although we weren’t able to secure any funding to help with parking and promotional material, we are delighted to say that we persuaded them to donate £1,000 towards Christmas decorations! Many thanks to them.
Local Plan consultation
The next stage of the public consultation on the locations for new housing across Chiltern and South Bucks districts has been launched and is live until 12th December at http://www.chiltern.gov.uk/planning/localplan2014-2036. There are two sites suggested in Chalfont St Peter for residential development. Take a look and make any feelings known.
Employability Skills day
The Chalfonts Community College held their annual Employability Skills day in October for their Year 11 students. Cath from Emerald Framing and Marie from Fired Works braved the teenagers and represented the Chamber of Commerce with their ‘Starting your own business’ workshops. The workshops were one of the most popular with over 150 students attending one of the seven sessions (yes, seven…) It was a really productive day with some excellent feedback received and was great to see other Chamber of Commerce members there representing their businesses at the careers fair. We work closely with the college to provide links between employers and future employees.
Remembrance Day Parade
There have been concerns that this year’s Remembrance Day Parade would not go ahead, but last minute funding from the District and Parish Councils and the dedication and hard work of Emma Old has ensured that this will in fact take place. The route will be shorter this year starting outside Rodgers instead of Tumners Green. Thank you to all the volunteers who are giving up their time on the 13th November to help with road closures. Emma is looking for someone to own the organisation of the road closures going forward so if you are interested, please let us know and we will put you in touch.
Keep it Local
Coming soon…our online business directory for CSP which will be accompanied by wide promotion, helping to raise awareness amongst the residents (=customers/clients) of all the wonderful goods and services available right under their noses. High Wycombe? Pah! Uxbridge? Why? Watford? Pointless, it’s all here…
Until next time,
Andrew Welch
President
