1 PRESENT Neil Watson (in the Chair) QSG Ian Revell East Riding ...

MINUTES BRIDLINGTON CHAMBER OF TRADE
PRESENT
Neil Watson (in the Chair) QSG
Ian Revell East Riding of Yorkshire Council
David Hobson Bank of Scotland
Ann Yates East Riding College
John Bateman Nexus Executive Services Ltd
R M Netherwood, Belgrave Court
B E Netherwood Belgrave Court
Paul Johnson Nexus Executive Services Ltd
Howard Hayhurst Kennett Insurance Brokers
Geoff Humphrey Nexus Executive Services Ltd
Cllr Christine Allerston Bridlington Town Council
Jenny Gavin Wear Fast Track Online
Jodie Beecroft Bridlington Free Press
Tim Norman The Royal Hotel
Ian Kelly Chamber of Commerce
Philip Haskins Chamber of Commerce
APOLOGIES
Apologies were received from John Doris, Martyn Coltman, Richard Mansell, Chris West,
David Dowson and Tony Hardman, John Lister.
MINUTES
DATE Tuesday 17 January 2006
VENUE Bridlington Links, Bridlington
The Minutes of the last meeting on 4 October 2005 were agreed as a true and correct record.
MATTERS ARISING
Philip Haskins outlined feedback received from John Lister. He reported that the retail study
for the Area Action Plan had completed its interview stage and an update on the results would
be likely at the following meeting. Talks with Harbour Commissioners had been described as
‘positive’. The park and ride scheme had been supported by the Regional Transport Board
which was an important step. Work on the Spa was due to commence at the end of January
but John Lister was still keen to hear thoughts from members regarding what features could
be put in the Spa Environs scheme and consideration given to turning South Marine Drive into
a one way street. While some members thought the South Marine Drive an idea worthy of
further exploration, some members commented on possible accessibility problems for hotel
owners and other businesses in the area. Other concerns regarded the greater use of ‘rat
runs’ to get to places and possible congestion caused by this and other members noted that
making it one way should not be at the expense of car parking places which were needed on
the sea front.
BUY LOCAL IN BRIDLINGTON
Neil Watson introduced this point by giving the rationale behind a Buy Local campaign and
this was broadly to create a stronger local economy by keeping purchasing power within the
town rather than money being spent beyond its borders. He noted the scheme run by the
local newspaper which was a device to enable people to buy local goods and services at
reduced prices. Jodie Beecroft reported that she had been responsible for the current
campaign and recognised that more could be done for the offers to get people’s attention and
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in this sense could benefit from more time and input, but that this campaign was not her
primary responsibility and so was unable to dedicate her resources fully. It was suggested
that the offers could also be made available through the East Riding News, the Bridlington
Business Newsletter, the Town Council newsletter and a regularly updated website could be
established as well. Members took some time to discuss the ideas more and generally agreed
that it was a good concept but needed more driving and innovative ideas to maximise its
potential.
BRIDLINGTON BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
Neil Watson introduced this item, noting that the Chamber was in discussions currently with
the Association of Small Businesses to merge the two organisations and that one of the
AoSB’s main activities was the operation of a Business of the Year award, which the
Chamber would be keen to continue. Howard Hayhurst noted the success of this event but
also the difficulty involved in getting people to put themselves forward. He noted that one
category was normally contested and this seemed to work best. There was some discussion
about whether the event ceremony could also include a section on Shop Assistant of the Year
which the Bridlington Free press were keen to run, though others noted that it should be the
employee of the year to include non retail sectors. It was agreed that Neil Watson, Howard
Hayhurst and the Chamber staff continue to look into how to run an event this year.
REPORTS FROM OTHER MEETINGS
i) Business Development Forum
Neil Watson noted some progress in promoting the enterprise agenda at schools in
Bridlington and that from May 2006 a pilot Young Enterprise programme would be run in
Bridlington primary schools.
The 6 October 2006 had been set aside for the year’s EXPO. Feedback from the 2005 EXPO
suggested that more needed to be done to encourage people to attend though the quality of
stands had generally been good.
The contractors for the Spa reconstruction, Waites, were supposed to be doing an open day
for potential sub contractors shortly.
ii) Town Centre
It was noted that money was available for a community warden service which would operate
on some Council estates but also part of the town centre. The geographic coverage though
was likely to be less than originally predicted.
CHAMBER ISSUES
The policy paper was noted.
FOCUS ON BUSINESS
Neil Watson introduced this section by saying that it was a section that was going to be trialed
out in 2006 and would look at simple ideas to try and improve business practice. For the first
session, using the Internet had been the focus. Jenny Gavin Wear introduced herself noting
her 20 year experience in the world of IT and 12 years involved in internet technology.
Jenny Gavin Wear ran through how a website could be used for sales, customer services,
marketing and informing people about their business or service. She highlighted the
importance of ‘creating’ an action i.e. making someone perform an action based upon what
one says on ones website.
Jenny Gavin Wear then ran through the uses of e mail, the importance of having one’s own
domain name, the ease of using PayPal and the relative inexpense of selling a product on
line.
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In reply to a question, Jenny explained the importance of organising and creating good
content on websites to ensure that a website was searched for on the first page of search
engines.
There followed a discussion about what website resources currently existed to promote both
Bridlington and businesses in Bridlington. Geoff Humphreys noted that in his opinion the
current Bridlington website to promote the town Bridlington.net was not the best shop window
the town could hope for. Jenny Gavin Wear said that she was prepared to do an unofficial
audit of websites for the town to see what was currently available. This was agreed.
Neil Watson thanked Jenny Gavin Wear for her contribution.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Paul Johnson noted the need to introduce segregated car parking arrangements at car parks
in the town which guaranteed those permit holders an area where they could park. Geoff
Humphreys reflected that this was symptomatic of the wider point of lack of car parking
space.
Neil Watson reported on plans in the summer to search for the US Navy ship Bonhomme
Richard and that the people responsible for looking for it were also looking for sponsorship.
He noted that if they found the Bonhomme Richard, it could have huge potential for the
Bridlington tourist trade. Geoff Humphrey noted that he would contact Fylingdales US Base to
see if they were planning to send tourists to the area.
DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING
The date and time of the next normal meeting is on Tuesday 4 April 2006 at 5.30pm with the
venue to be announced.
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