Penzance Chamber of Commerce

Penzance Chamber of Commerce is undergoing something of a revolution, in response to the challenges and changing needs of business in our part of the world.

First is a significant shift in the way the Chamber's meetings are operated. Rather than holding an open meeting each month, the Chamber has adopted a motion whereby the Chamber's officers and voting council members will meet monthly (or more if required) with an open membership meeting every quarter.

It has been an anomaly that while any member could attend the monthly meeting and raise issues, only officers and council members could vote. This has led to misunderstandings as well as a lack of focus in some of the Chamber's deliberations.

What's more the new quarterly open meeting can be given a number of new dimensions. There will always be at least one guest speaker, an opportunity to challenge the Council on the way it operates on the Chamber's behalf and to direct policy and campaigns. Perhaps best of all there will be an enhanced social and networking element to the meeting, allowing members to get to know each other and their respective businesses.

This change means that the next meeting - Tuesday June 1st - will be for officers and council members only. Other members can get anything they would like to raise into the meeting by contacting the secretary or any officer or council member they know but is not invited to this meeting. It is appreciated that this will disappoint one or two ordinary members in the short term but is felt that it will make the chamber altogether more efficient and effective while improving the experience of coming to the quarterly open meetings. A full list of current council members and officers is available from the secretary.

Among the other recommendations to come from the sub committee are an improvement in the way the Chamber focuses on its core campaigns and issues. To be more like a Chamber of Commerce should be, the feeling is that we need to direct all of our attention on to things that directly affect the commercial and economic life of the town.

It can be argued, convincingly, that almost anything that affects the town has commercial ramifications. However, Chamber members and officers are all volunteers and run businesses. We have to focus our limited time and resources on a core set of achievable, directly relevant objectives.

Examples of these include the regeneration of the commercial centre of the town, the availability and appropriate use of grant aid and incentives for business, training and recruitment and the promotion of the local micro-economy (ie, encouraging local individuals and businesses to spend their money locally). There are others but the guiding questions we ask in choosing campaigns will be firstly, can we achieve our objectives in this matter by bringing real influence to bear and, secondly, is this in the direct purview of a business-focussed organisation? Rather than talk about everything, we'll begin achieving those things we must.

Make your representations now - we want to hear from members as we progress this process. Direct your suggestions through press officer Mark Curtis phone: 01736-731277, email: markcurtis@emandem.com or through the secretary, Yvonne Neale phone:01736-719222, email: secretary@penzance.co.uk.

New Asbestos Regulations

The Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 (CAWR) come into force on 21st May 2004 and place a number of new duties on those who control buildings and also introduce a requirement for surveying and testing.

The duty applies to all non-domestic premises. This includes all commercial, public and industrial premises. It will also apply to common parts of domestic premises, for example stairwells, lift shafts and corridors in a block of flats.

Much has been done to control the risk from asbestos. The use, supply and importation of asbestos and asbestos products are controlled by strict regulations. The control of any work with, on or around asbestos should be well controlled, with many types of work requiring a licence. However these regulations only protect workers from exposure to asbestos when the presence of asbestos is known.

At least a quarter of those dying from asbestos-related diseases have worked in the maintenance or building trades. It is those people who may be unknowingly exposed to asbestos fibres during their day to day work, those such as plumbers, electricians, cable layers, gas fitters, painters and decorators, that the duty to manage has been introduced to protect. The new duty seeks to ensure that asbestos in premises will be located, recorded and managed. Then those who may disturb it are informed of its location so they can take suitable precautions.

It is important for duty-holders to act now in particular by taking a precautionary approach to maintenance. Asbestos is a real risk and people may die as a result of unknowingly exposing themselves to asbestos.

Safety UK Ltd undertakes asbestos surveys in compliance with the Regulations and offers a 20% discount to Chamber members. For further information or to request a copy of Safety UK's free guide contact their offices on 01736-361007.

Facing Responsibilites Under the Disability Discrimination Act

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) requires businesses to take positive action, and where necessary make reasonable changes to their premises, to encourage and accommodate disabled persons using their premises from October 2004.

Service providers already have a duty to make changes to the way they provide their services to disabled people, from October 2004 these duties will become much more wide ranging. Businesses and service providers need to be ready for these changes and to ensure that they not only meet their legal duties but also don't ignore all those disabled people who are potential customers.

The law requires businesses to make 'reasonable adjustments' to these physical features but there is no definitive answer as to what is reasonable. The law uses this phrase to give some flexibility and allow different solutions in different situations. However, the Code of Practice advises that 'reasonable' may vary according to these criteria:

Whether taking particular steps would be effective in overcoming the difficulty that disabled people face in getting access
The extent to which it is practicable for the service provider to take the steps
Financial and other costs of making the adjustment
The amount of disruption caused by taking the steps
Money already spent on making adjustments
The availability of financial or other assistance

All businesses should conduct an independent disability access audit, these can be undertaken by Penzance-based Safety UK Ltd in compliance with the regulations. The company offers a 20% discount to Chamber members. For further information or to request a copy of Safety UK's free guide contact their offices on 01736-361007.

Tailor MaDe for Management Development

Small and medium-sized businesses in Cornwall are set to benefit from a new project creating tailored training packages developed specifically to raise the skills of managers and senior staff.

Thanks to money from the European Social Fund, Cornwall College and Truro College have come together in partnership to listen to local businesses, and offer flexible, high-quality, demand-led management development solutions tailored just for them. What's more, much of this can be offered for free, or at a heavily-subsidised rate.

It's long been recognised that businesses in Cornwall struggle to develop their management skills, and aren't always able to equip senior staff with the tools they need to reach their full potential. Indeed, findings recently published by both the Learning and Skills Development Agency and the Federation of Small Businesses have reinforced these fears; yet both concluded that despite the barriers faced by many SMEs, colleges and Government support services aren't always able to give the flexibility or the quality of service that businesses need if they are to engage in any form of management development training.

Tailor MaDe was designed with exactly that in mind. Pulling on the vast resources of these two major colleges, carefully recruited advisers, each with first-hand business experience, will be working with local businesses to help identify what their needs are, and then to develop flexible, tailored solutions to address those needs.

Emma Suckling, Project Manager of Tailor MaDe, said, "We're already really pleased with how the Project's going. It doesn't matter how much you prepare, you never quite know what to expect until you get started; but businesses we've spoken to so far have been really enthusiastic. The initial response has been great all round, and if things carry on the way they've started, this is going to be a really important project in helping local businesses grow."

If businesses in Cornwall are to have a long-term future, they need to be ready for anything; but a business can only be fully prepared if the people in charge are well equipped to deal with anything that's thrown at them. If the Cornish economy is to remain strong, it needs competitive businesses, which in turn need good managers. Tailor MaDe seeks to be a significant step in the right direction.

Chamber members or any business interested in more information about Tailor MaDe should contact Emma Suckling on 0800-731-7594.

Chamber Voices Strong Opposition to Market Jew Street Plans

The Chamber has adopted a robust position of opposition to the proposals for changes to traffic management in Market Jew street and has restated its long held view that a "proper" one-way approach is both better for the town and more logical for motorists. Further, that the flow of traffic should be in an easterly (ie downhill) direction, thus reducing the fuel consumption and pollutant emissions of vehicles.

Unfortunately the previous representations which had been made on behalf of the chamber at each stage of the "consultation" process appear to have fallen on deaf ears. Chamber chairman Mike Waters was asked to write a strongly worded letter of protest to the County Council Planning, Traffic and Estates department on our behalf - and a letter was duly dispatched on 5th May.

In the letter, the proposed plan is identified as "obviously flawed as it will cause traffic congestion at both ends of the street." It summarises with the considered view that "in order to negate the anticipated congestion, the proposed flow of traffic should be reversed, i.e. all traffic flowing down Market Jew Street ONLY".

The Chamber is not persuaded of the need for buses and taxis to have two-way access to the street. Mike's letter describes this proposal (driven by the bus company's reluctance to alter routes and timetables) as "ill conceived". The bus company has shown recently that it has no problem making sweeping changes when it needs to demonstrate an investor-friendly cost-cutting agenda.

The proposal for a "bus gate" outside St John's Hall is particularly scathingly criticised, with a prediction that driver confusion could lead to accidents.

New disabled parking bays in Chapel Street are described as "totally unwarranted", since the existing provision is never used to capacity.

In reference to the fact that the Chamber's previous recommendations had been ignored, the letter asks, pointedly, "What is the point of consultation if you chose to ignore the outcome?"

Penzance Chamber of Commerce seeks to engage positively with any process which seeks to develop improvements to our town. We welcome change where it is needed and our members - many of whom trade in Market Jew Street are crying out for changes in traffic management. However, the change must be for the better and must not be allowed to be directed by those whose appreciation of how the town works is at best sketchy and at worst coloured entirely by narrow self interest.

Other May Meeting Items

The May Meeting authorised the upgrade of our long-serving (should that be '-suffering'?) secretary's computer. With a new system and some additional training we hope to help Yvonne provide an even better service to members in the coming months.

In a discussion about illegal and legal parking in the town, questions were raised over how many members might be aware of the availability of long-term parking season tickets? If you need to park in any of the car parks for long periods each day or most days, these work out a much cheaper option than merely paying as you go.

A further warning about scams was issued - especially those "phishing" for online bank account details and, subsequent to the meeting, a Health and Safety Registration scheme that demands �199 for a completely unnecessary service. Members should be on renewed guard against those who seek unscrupulously to divest them of their profits!

For the first time the chamber was able to consider and express a view on a number of new or renewal street trader licences - to become a regular feature at forthcoming meetings.

Finally an update on the new (and rapidly swelling) Chamber Christmas light account prompted renewed appreciation for the efforts of Hazel Trembath who is, almost single-handedly, going to see to it that the Chamber has a luminous yuletide presence. Next on Hazel's fundraising agenda is a duck race lights on the Golowan Sunday (27th June).

Five Years of Shopping at the Wharfside

Can it really be five years since the Wharfside opened? In some ways it seems like yesterday. In others, Penzance's first and only purpose-built shopping centre has become so integral to the town, it's hard to remember how things were before the opening day on the 18th May 1999.

At the time the centre was first mooted there was the usual clamour of the doomsayers and the "why change" brigade predicting that the sky would fall if the project was built. Today, the benefits the centre has brought have made converts of many. Few would doubt that the eastern end of Market Jew Street is more vibrant and more commercially viable today than it was before 1999, or that the improved access from Wharf Road and the Harbour Car Park has made a positive contribution to the flow of pedestrian traffic through the centre of town. The policy, defined at the outset according to centre manager John Bastow, of attracting new retailers into Penzance rather than relocating those who already enjoyed a presence, has improved choice for residents and visitors and entirely dispelled any fears that the centre would shift the commercial fulcrum away from our traditional shopping areas.

Penzance has no fewer than five retail areas - Market Jew Street, The Greenmarket, Chapel Street, Causewayhead and the Wharfside - which is a lot for a town of our size. Giving shoppers a reason to traverse the length of Market Jew Street, the Wharfside can only have served to improve the prospects for all - although stopping and selling to all this new passing trade remains the challenge it has always been to our independent traders. In any case, having the 25 retail units of the Wharfside has meant that more shoppers can get their retail therapy close at hand rather than travelling to Truro or beyond. By extension, this means that revenues for other shopkeepers have benefited from keeping those with opened purses right here in the west.

The centre has created more than 400 full- and part-time jobs in retailing and associated services as well as offering improved security for traders at its end of town through CCTV installations. As well as the permanent retailers, the service bay is home to the highly successful Farmers' Market every Saturday.

The centre has become a fully let commercial success. This has been in no small part thanks to the efforts of John Bastow himself and his tight-knit team. John has been centre manager since the opening and somehow manages to find time to be the Chamber of Commerce's treasurer. The owners of the centre, (Charville Estates, the brainchild of brothers David and Robert Pulford) carried the idea of developing a centre on the site for twenty years, through planning snags, two recessions and two economic booms before seeing the realisation of the development. The company specialises in small town centre regeneration.

For many visitors to Penzance the view out over the bay from the centre has become one of the defining pleasures of the town. A far cry from when this panorama could be snatched only by peering through a gap out over the old gasworks.

The future for the Wharfside remains bright with some exciting possibilities for further development and expansion. As has been reported, Charville Estates (Penzance) Limited has been in discussions with Second Site and a number of national retailers as well as the planning department at Penwith District Council, and are now poised with a plan for the retail & residential re-development of the gasworks site, subject to successfully acquiring the site from Second Site. There are other ideas although John and his team are, for the moment, playing their cards close to their chests. "A number of options are under discussion," he hints, "although they're all just that at the moment - discussions. We'd like more of the Market Jew Street traders to ally with us for the future - especially on issues related to distribution," he says. We'll all have to see how the town develops over the next five years!

Join the Chamber

The Chamber of Commerce represents the interests of local business with the County, District and Town Councils, Government agencies and public bodies. It actively campaigns on issues affecting the business community as well as issues affecting the community as a whole. This requires finances and direct involvement by committed people, and deserves the support of every business in the region.

Our Chairman is coordinator of the West Cornwall Group of Chambers and the Cornwall Business Partnership. He is a member of the Priority Management Group 3, which approves Objective One funding in the area of Learning and Skills development He is also a member of the Penzance Regeneration Steering Group that has worked on the submission of an Objective One bid to greatly enhance the prosperity of the town and its inhabitants. Other members represent the Chamber on such bodies as the Police Consultative Committee and Tourism Committee.

All businesses have problems from time to time, and it has been proved that representation from a Chamber Officer on behalf of the member concerned can greatly enhance the prospect of a satisfactory conclusion. With major issues, such as the Penzance Regeneration Project, West Cornwall Hospital, Objective One and so on needing input from the business community there has never been a better reason for all businesses to become Chamber members - the greater our membership, the bigger our voice. JOIN NOW!

We invite membership applications from individuals and businesses large or small. For further information, visit the Membership Enquiry or Membership Application pages on this site.

Forthcoming Meetings

The next monthly Chamber Meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 6th at 7.30pm at the Pirates Rugby Club, Alexandra Road, Penzance.

The Voice of Business in West Cornwall

Chamber Monthly News - May 2004

Revolution in Approach at Your Chamber