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Business as Usual (BaS)
Corinium Radio January 2018
The big
news for January was the launch of the Cirencester Chamber of Commerce Business
Awards 2018 held at the Corinium Museum. We were treated to a comedy duo comprised
of President Les Stephens and Vice President David Fowles presenting an
entertaining Question & Answer session about the Awards, for the benefit of
would-be entrants or sponsors. David will give more details about this later in
this programme.
Mark Tawn
of Davey Law gave a very compelling argument in favour of sponsoring the
Business Awards categories, which was so inspiring that almost all the
categories had found sponsors by the end of the evening!
Amanda
Hart of the Corinium Museum spoke to us of the benefits of entering the
competition, and how winning could prove a huge boost to a company or
organisation. She should know – last year the Corinium Museum won not one, but
TWO Awards!
The entry
forms are now up on our website cirencesterchamber.org.uk, ready to
download and fill out. Use this as an opportunity to look at your business, see
what’s working and what isn’t. Please make sure you get the entries in to us in
good time, before the end of March.
After the
business of the evening was done, the attendees moved back into the atrium where
a large spread had been provided by New Brewery Arts, and plenty of bubbly and
fruit juices were available to wash it down. The Chamber makes a point of
supporting local businesses wherever possible when promoting its events.
Please get
involved. It’s a real boost to your business to get an award!
Design
tenders are opening for the proposed Waterloo Car Park decking, though at this
moment we don’t know when it will reach the Consultation stage. In anticipation
of this work, alternative car parking is being sought for use while construction
is underway, given that we will lose a further 200 spaces at that point.
The latest
news is that Cirencester Rugby Club has just confirmed they will provide 150
spaces for Monday-Friday use, which will probably be allocated as long stay
parking. A very good start!
In the
meantime the popular ‘Free after Three’ parking continues in the Brewery and
Forum car parks. It is guaranteed till
the end of March, but is hoped to continue as it’s proving a great asset for
the retailers.
Another
well established business has closed down - Jack’s cafe in Black Jack Street. So
many cafes, usually part of chains such as Caffe Nero and Coffee#1, have opened
in Cirencester over the last ten years that they have proved a threat to independent
shops like these. Even more eateries will come with the proposed cinema
complex, which now seems inevitable, since Wildmoor demolished the old Jungle
shop in December, as a token gesture to prevent their planning permission from
expiring. We still have no clear idea of when this might happen, and are
currently left with an unattractive abandoned building site to greet the town’s
visitors when they park in the Brewery.
The
regenerated Market Place is continuing to thrive, and is a very attractive
asset to the town, bringing in visitors, and shoppers. However, few of the market traders themselves are local
businesses, so it is still to be ascertained if
the shoppers spend locally too.
There is
still a major problem with traffic flow. A large majority feel that having
tested the alternative in Castle Street, and found it unsuccessful; the council
should be open to changing the flow so it goes out of the town as before. The
Review Our Market Place (ROMP) pressure group continues to push for this.
The new
Chesterton Development has been approved despite great controversy and
opposition to the huge numbers proposed. ‘Say no to 2350’ has been the cry of
the Save Our Cirencester group which has campaigned tirelessly since it was put
forward. They feel 1200-1500 houses would be a more sustainable number.
After a
cracking start, with a huge celebration in the church with a huge turnout of
500 businesses and community supporters, the Bathurst Friendship initiative has
stalled a little. Hopefully, only temporarily. There is definitely the need for
a central coordinator to answer all the queries and give guidance.
A lot of
businesses and also the Chamber of Commerce will be supporting the World War 1
celebrations this year to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of
the Great War.
Our Mayor,
Councillor Nigel Robbins, is leading this project and increasing awareness
amongst both businesses and community alike.
If you have an item of
local business news you think may be of interest to us, please email them to
me, Jan Sparrow, at biz.scene@coriniumradio.co.uk
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