Penzance Chamber of Commerce

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Chamber Monthly News - October 2005

• Government Probe Supermarket Retail Monopoly
• Meet The Police!
• Chinese Banquet
• Flambards
• Victory!
• Charity Bike Run
• Congratulations
• Spotlight on Business - The Pine Factory Shop – Ten Years In Business
• Apologies
• Keep the Comments Coming, says Lisa
• Your Chamber needs You
• Forthcoming Meeting
• Secretary Contact Details
• Previous Newsletters

The Government is being called upon to launch an inquiry into the supermarkets' monopoly of the retail market after it emerged that Tesco is to open its first non-food store – Tesco Homeplus – in Manchester this month. Government can no longer turn a blind eye to the crisis on the British high street, which has lost 20,000 independent shops since 1997 at a rate of 50 a week. Just look around Penzance to see the number of empty shops and the number of shops that close within a short period of time of first opening.

“The supermarkets’ – and in particular Tesco's – dominance of retail trade is a catastrophe for the high street right here, right now in virtually every town in Britain," says the FPB’s Chief Executive Nick Goulding.

“The Government needs to wake up and see the crisis that is affecting small businesses. The move by Tesco to launch its first non-food store will immediately imperil independent clothes, hardware, home furnishing and electrical shops. To protect these business’s livelihoods there needs to be another Competition Commission inquiry. But unlike the last one, in 2000, it needs to pack a punch on behalf of private firms. Another inert, toothless whitewash cannot and must not be accepted. With Tesco sitting on 185 development sites and 30 new Tesco supermarkets due to open by early 2006 there is an urgent need to control its sinister and destructive empire building.”

Mike Waters, Chairman of the Chamber says “All retailers are painfully aware that high street shops are unable to compete with the multi-million pound propaganda of the supermarkets. This also has a negative impact upon all other local businesses that provide services to local retailers as the “big boys” invariably do not source locally. Supermarkets are spending millions on advertising and marketing creating the myth that they provide the best cost, quality and choice for the consumer." “Not only that but the money spent in these shops is not re-circulated in the local economy but goes straight out of the County.” he said.

In actual fact the independent shops, for so long the heart of the community, frequently provide the best cost, quality and choice, and supermarkets are driving down the quality and choice of goods on our shelves. Moreover, high street shops are powerless to compete with the aggressive anti-competitive tactics of supermarkets such as loss leaders, which are deployed simply to kill off competition.

A supplier of Tesco told business leaders “Tesco rely on bully boy tactics so suppliers are scared of them and scared to speak out. All they are interested in is making money. They have no conscience. It doesn’t matter if suppliers suffer. Tesco are not bothered. And the pressure is so great. Tesco expects suppliers to follow all their expensive and time consuming conditions yet still want the product for nothing. Tesco suppliers are fed up, big time.”

Facts on Tesco

Tesco has a turnover of £37.1bn, which would rank about 53rd in the world bank’s listing of 184 national economies, putting it ahead of Bolivia , Belarus and Bulgaria combined.

• £1 in every £8 spent in British shops is spent in Tesco.
• Tesco presently has a 30.5 per cent share of the UK grocery market.
• If Tesco’s landbank of 185 development sites are developed the firm will have more than 4.5million sq ft of new retail space. Analysts are predicting this could take the firm’s share of grocery market to 45 per cent.
• In April 2005 Tesco announced profits of more than £2bn. In September it announced pre-tax profits of £938m in the first half of this financial year.
• There are now 600 Tesco express stores in Britain.
• Tesco has consent to build 56 more sites and has planning permission or has been linked with development for a further 95.
• Tesco uses a tax loophole in the Channel Isles which allows them and other retail giants including Asda, to sell CDs, DVDs and computer games VAT free from websites in Jersey and Guernsey.
• The Office of Fair Trading is presently probing Tesco’s acquisition of 30 convenience stores and petrol stations from Morrisons. The OFT cleared the acquisition of a deal by Tesco for 850 retail outlets from T&S Stores in 2002.
• Jon von Spreckelsen, chairman of Somerfield, referred to the OFT as the Office that Favours Tesco.
• Tesco operates in 12 overseas markets from Ireland to South East Asia . Overseas sales account for £8bn of its £37.1bn turnover.
• Tesco is considering acquiring US grocery chain Albertsons Inc, which has a quoted price tag of $7.6bn with 2500 stores in 37 states with revenues in excess of $40.

Sergeant Jason Adams will be attending the next meeting on Tuesday 1st November to discuss numerous issues including the gathering of evidence, prosecutions and so forth. Our monthly meetings are open to all, so if you would like to listen to what he has to say or would like to put questions to him please feel free to come along.

The Chairman was invited to attend the launch party for the Flambards Christmas Pantomime which he duly did! Several of the cast members were there in costume and in role which was really spectacular, everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves as well as the children that were there. If that evening was anything to go by the panto will be well worth going to, it will be held from Friday 23rd December until Sunday 1st January, tickets can be obtained through their box office on 01326-573404.

After months of campaigning on behalf of Chamber members, Nippy Cabs, the County Council has seen the error of their ways and henceforth both Private Hire Vehicles and Hackney Carriages will be permitted to go both ways in Market Jew Street . This is good news for all private hire companies in the town and also for members of the public who will not now face increased charges for journeys which have had to avoid the main shopping street. This shows the power of the Chamber and also is a very valid reason for ALL businesses to join………….we are not solely an organization of retailers, ALL business sectors are represented and supported.

The Chairman, a keen biker, is organizing a charity bike run form Lands End to John O’Groats AND BACK, which will be held during the 30th April to 5th May next year in aid of the Cornwall Air Ambulance. He is hard at work sorting out a large number of issues connected with the trip and is in negotiation with a manufacturer to donate a new motorbike as a prize to the person raising the most individual sponsorship. Other areas he is working on are coverage of the event by a leading bike magazine and also the production of a TV documentary!

It promises to be THE bike event of 2006 and further details will be published on this page as and when they are available. Posters will also be displayed around the town.

A meeting will be arranged for all those wishing to go on the run, as well as potential commercial sponsors in January. Meanwhile if anyone would like to get their name on the list or would like to help in any way (including commercial sponsors) please contact Mike on 01736-762888.

Chamber members, William Rogers, have recently received an award for exceptional standards of customer service from the Yorkshire Building Society. Well done.

Redecorations have recently been underway at the Penzance branch of the Pine Factory Shop, which this year celebrates its tenth anniversary on the corner of Taroveor Road at the top of Causeway Head. A big store in a small space, the first point of contact is manager Joy Shaw, who has been with the Pine Factory since it first opened, and is now known affectionately to many longstanding customers as ‘Aunty’ Joy.

‘We have people who have been coming to us since we first opened’ explains Joy, ‘Particularly those with holiday lets that we have furnished. They come back every year. We keep in touch with Christmas and Birthday cards. I have seen their children grow and they have seen our business develop and, in many ways, go full circle’.

By this Joy means that, when the Pine Factory first opened, the emphasis was very much on manufacturing everything that was sold, but later developed to cater for customer demand for flat packed furniture from outside suppliers, and has again now returned to its original focus on handcrafted furniture made at the factory at Perranworthal, near Truro, where customers are encouraged to go and see local craftsmen at work, creating the furniture that will be sold in the shop. It is this focus on quality and local industry that sets the Pine factory apart, plus the attention to detail and personal service offered by Joy and also Colin Foxon, a local man already known for his successful car sales business, now helping Joy advise customers on the Pine Factory range.

Walk past the green-fronted Penzance store and you will see the windows are stacked with an impressive display of quality pine furniture. Enter and you will find examples of the full range, all packed inside a relatively tiny but well-used space; bed frames hang from the wall above dressers and dining suites; coffee tables and corner units sit alongside bookshelves and chests of drawers – and there amongst it all sits Joy, always ready to listen and help with your furniture needs.

See something you like, and you can buy it there and then, have it delivered or ordered in. All items can be made in a variety of sizes and widths, although readymade versions are always available. You can even have something individually made to your own specifications, and there is also a bespoke kitchen fitting service, examples of which can be seen in the numerous leaflets and brochures that lie scattered around. Each month at the Pine factory Shop there is a new special offer, which this month features the Ramona bed range, with frames available in 3’ single, 4’6” and 5’ king size, and the colourful new ‘Kidsaw’ bedroom range, specifically for children, with a full set including bed, robe, desk, chair and toy box.

The Pine Factory Shop offers superb quality and value, and the advantage of a manager who has been there since the beginning, and therefore knows the range and fully understands its customer’s needs.

Would you like your business featured in BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT? Contact Lisa on 07949 338 543 or Email to lisawiseman@fsmail.net

The Secretary would like to apologise to those members who received an incomplete second page on their copy of the minutes of the last meeting. This was due to a technical glitch that was not noticed until after they were dispatched.

Many thanks for all the positive feedback received from Chamber members, and the positive response to the writing service offered for the Business Spotlight feature. Those who have tried to contact Lisa by email will have discovered their messages keep bouncing back undelivered due to an error in address details. The correct email address is lisawiseman@fsmail.net. Or contact her by phone on 07949 338 543.

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