Your Business Bulletin from Thanet & East Kent Chamber

Thanet & East Kent Insider

12th June 2017 Issue No.: 216

1. General Election Hustings

After chairing three hustings during the previous general election campaign just two years ago followed by the Chamber Question Time “European Union: In or Out?” event featured on ITV Meridian last June, the Chamber detected a somewhat diminished appetite for intensive political debate. But, at the request of our membership and at short notice the Chamber arranged an East Kent hustings on Friday, 2 June 2017. On the panel were representatives from the four main political parties; Craig Mackinlay MP (Con), Del Goddard (Lab), Martyn Pennington (Lib Dem) and Cllr Rev Stuart Piper (UKIP). Organised by popular demand as a BBC-style Question Time, it is worth noting that none of the panel had previously seen the questions. The issues debated included the NHS, fishing rights, the Manston Airport site, the Unique Selling Points of our coastal towns, Section 40 of the Crimes and Courts Act 2013, unemployment, the East Kent skills deficit and a final two personal questions which did not feature in party manifestos. Registered Chamber members will find a full list attached.

2. Who Won The Debate?

Chamber members in attendance will judge who fared best in the lively debates that followed nearly every question. The issue of the future of the Manston Airport site produced the most responses from the floor with incisive, but entirely civilised insults accompanying some of the exchanges. Heckling changed to mirth when each member of the panel was asked to name his favourite meal. Readers who were not present must ask someone who was there in order to match the panellist with the dishes nominated which were “Any dish with fish”, “Steak, definitely steak”, “Curry, I love a curry” and “Barbecued barracuda with parmesan”. Pictures from the morning and all recent Chamber events can be found on our official image website at http://antonimages.co.uk/events/chamber-of-commerce/

3. Manston and RiverOak

RiverOak Strategic Partners (RSP) has confirmed the dates of its six-week consultation on its plans to reopen Manston Airport as an air freight hub. As detailed in RSP’s Statement of Community Consultation, a series of free events have been arranged in East Kent where members of the public are invited to scrutinise and comment on the proposals. With the objective of encouraging as many as possible to respond, RSP is hosting sessions in Broadstairs, Cliffsend, Margate, Sandwich, Canterbury and Ramsgate. The dates times and places of the consultations are as follows: Wednesday, 14th June 2017 at The King’s Hall, Beacon Hill, Herne Bay CT6 6BA from 1400 hrs to 2000 hrs; Thursday, 15th June 2017 at The Pavilion Harbour Street, Broadstairs CT10 1EU from 1400 hrs to 2000 hrs; Friday, 16th June 2017 at Cliffsend Village Hall, Foads Lane, Cliffsend CT12 5JH from 1400 hrs to 2000 hrs; Saturday, 17th June 2017 at Sands Hotel, 16 Marine Drive, Margate CT9 1DH from 1000 hrs to 1400 hrs; Tuesday, 20th June 2017 at The Guildhall, Cattle Market, Sandwich CT13 9AH from 1400 hrs to 2000 hrs; Thursday, 22nd June 2017 at ABode Hotel, 30-33 High Street, Canterbury CT1 2RX from 1400 hrs to 2000 hrs and Saturday, 24th June 2017 at Comfort Inn, Victoria Parade, Ramsgate CT11 8DT from 1000 hrs to 1400 hrs.

4. Are These Consultations Important?

RSP Director George Yerrall says: “The consultation is very important to us as it allows the local community to scrutinise our proposals and share their views and thoughts with us. This, in turn, will enable us to refine our proposals further before submitting the Development Consent Order application to the Planning Inspectorate, later this year.” Copies of consultation documents will be available from 12th June 2017 at www.rsp.co.uk and at public libraries during normal opening hours in Birchington, Broadstairs, Cliftonville, Deal, Herne Bay, Margate, Minster-in-Thanet, Newington, Ramsgate, Sandwich and Westgate. There will be two business-only briefings on Wednesday, 14th June at The King’s Hall in Herne Bay and on Thursday, 15th June 2017 in Broadstairs at The Pavilion. Businesses wishing to attend are invited to email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to book a place. The consultation period ends on Sunday, 23rd July 2017.

5. Jaguar Land Rover

The Chamber is delighted to announce that the Chamber Golf Day 2017 at Royal St George’s Golf Club Sandwich on 24th October 2017 will be sponsored by Barretts Jaguar Land Rover and will feature as top prize a new Jaguar XE. In addition, the leading individual player will win a weekend with a Jaguar or Land Rover. As in previous years, Chamber members are invited to submit a team of four players. Many companies take advantage of the opportunity to invite some of their key customers to join their team. Played under the Stableford scoring system, enthusiastic occasional golfers have just as much chance of scoring points for their team as the dedicated club golfer who ventures out three times a week. The joy of playing this prestigious course, regularly ranked as the best in England, is enhanced in the knowledge that past winners at Royal St George’s have included Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, Henry Cotton, Walter Hagen and Tony Jacklin. Ian Fleming was Captain-elect of Royal St George’s at the time of his early demise in 1964. It is no coincidence that the most celebrated golf match in world fiction took place at the thinly disguised “Royal St Mark’s” when James Bond triumphed over Auric Goldfinger. The book “Goldfinger” was of course written before the film of the same name and before Shirley Bassey had added her five pennyworth. For more details of how to enter your team, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject “Chamber Golf Day 2017”.

6. Events So Far This Year

Chamber members were treated to expert guidance on marketing on 10th February at our “Market Hard, Sell Easy” Chamber Business Networking Breakfast. The expert speakers were Jean-François Chodecki of Corporate Creations and Alison Wilby of Maximus Marketing. On 25th February, James Cardwell-Moore, Commercial Director at Business Stream, explained how East Kent companies could take full advantage of the new deals available following his company’s acquisition of Southern Water’s business customers. On 9th March, the Project Manager of GEN² Property Limited, David Mounter, outlined the latest news on the plans to construct a High Speed railway station at Cliffsend, between Manston and Ramsgate. Chamber members heard of the likely transformative effect on the economic development of our East Kent economy and were given the opportunity to give their input on this project which is due to be completed in early 2020. The meeting on 6th April entitled “Property, Property, Property” was appropriately blessed with three speakers. Mike Williams, Senior Geoenvironmental Engineer at the MLM Group, showed why his firm was working on 9,000 live projects with a value in excess of £1.5 billion. Michael Whittaker, a chartered accountant at McCabe Ford Williams, gave a professional overview of the costs, profits and pitfalls of the Buy-To-Let market. Robert Najem, Commercial Director at Barnard Systems, outlined the 40% savings that can be made by building new homes and commercial edifices using modern steel modular construction methods. On 19th May at our “Lean. Mean & Keen” meeting, Gary Burgess gave a well-received account of how to maximise efficiency, reduce waste and keep customers happy. As the Continuous Improvement Manager at FujiFilm Speciality Ink Systems Ltd, Gary drew on his 29 years of industrial experience to give Chamber members some practical suggestions on how they could boost productivity and increase their profits. Start-ups and established companies found that they could benefit significantly from adopting some of the processes espoused and encouraged by Gary’s parent firm of FujiFilm, the world’s largest photographic and imaging company.

7. Ronnie Philpott and Barry Coppock

East Kent has lost two supremely community-minded public servants with the passing of Veronica “Ronnie” Philpott last month and Barry Coppock before Easter. Ronnie gave unstintingly to the town of Dover, as a councillor, as mayor and as a keen supporter of the town’s many cultural, educational and charitable organisations. Her unfailing commitment and sunny disposition will be much missed in the business community. Barry Coppock was the Leader and Chairman of Thanet District Council and a busy TDC councillor from 1991 to 2003. Barry had a unique way of expressing his impatience at anybody who wasted his time in meetings. He claimed that his favourite word in the English dictionary began with ‘boll’ and ended with ‘cks”. A supporter and advisor to China Gateway plc in later years, Barry leaves many people in Thanet sharing the grief of his wife Jackie, a former Mayor of Ramsgate, and his great friend Frank Thorley. In 2004, Coppock Close in Newington, was named in honour of Barry and Jackie and provides a permanent memorial.

8. Dover Counselling Centre

Founded in the wake of the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster in 1987, Dover Counselling Centre (DCC) is respected throughout the world for its pioneering approach to addressing mental health issues. The increasing demands nationwide for its counselling services means that DCC has outgrown its building in St James Street, Dover. As a result, the charity is moving its administration headquarters to new premises in Gordon Road, Whitfield. An official opening of the new building, now named Horizon House, is scheduled for next week. The Chamber understands that a mystery guest, billed as “a star of television, film and theatre”, will be making the keynote speech and it is expected that there will be considerable media interest in the event. It is interesting to note that the positive results of professional mental health counselling, defined by DCC from its inception as “To be there and care”, are at last being recognised more widely. There is now common agreement on the parity of esteem for mental health and physical health. After answering more than a quarter of a million telephone calls since 1987, DCC has more than played its part in bringing about this welcome change.

9. C. G. Hibbert

The Chamber is delighted to join in the celebrations to mark the 250th anniversary of one of Kent’s most respected companies, C. G. Hibbert of Dover. Cruise ships, ferry operators, airlines, airport shops, duty-free outlets, oil rigs, ships chandlers, the diplomatic service and the UK military are among the long-standing clients who have benefited from the logistics and storage expertise provided by this preeminent company. The portfolio of brands it supplies covers market leaders throughout the drinks and tobacco industry. Less well-known to businesses outside the sector is that C. G. Hibbert also offers Bonded Warehousing, Consolidation of Bonded Stores, General Warehousing and Storage, Transport and Delivery of Goods in the UK and Europe, HMRC Documentation, Duty Management, Containerization to Ports Worldwide and Travel Retail Distribution. The company welcomes enquiries from interested parties which can be addressed direct by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

10. New Members

The Chamber is pleased to welcome the following new members to the Chamber: Pettit Recruitment Solutions of Sandwich, Maximus Marketing of Ramsgate, Town and Country Cleaners of Canterbury, Business Stream of Edinburgh, Venture Telecommunications of Broadstairs, Artemis Recruitment Consultants of Margate, Clover House of Whitstable, Unitemps of Canterbury, Paul J Mahoney (Inspiring Safety) of Garlinge, Hartwell Architects of Dover, Maximus Green Ltd of Ramsgate, Victoria Gayle Interiors of Ramsgate, Matilda Hays Flowers of Ramsgate, KES Light Haulage of Dover, RiverOak Strategic Partners of London, Domestic Butler of Ramsgate, Quinn Estates of Canterbury and Transworld Business Advisors of Tonbridge.

11. Fact Or Fiction

A chamber member recently called our research office in Sandwich and related a tale of his experience the previous weekend. We have our doubts about this story, but we leave it to our readers to judge for themselves. As he put it; “It was a warm afternoon last Saturday and while my dear wife was at the gym, I was sitting in the back garden wondering if I should get on with the DIY jobs I had promised or have another glass of cool chardonnay. Suddenly, a strange face peered over the garden wall and asked: ‘Got any odd jobs to do?’. Realising that this was a heaven-sent opportunity, I said: ‘Well, yes actually. Could you paint the porch out front? If so, how much would it cost?’ ‘Oh about £40 if you supply the paint’, came the friendly reply. ‘Fair enough and not bad for the whole porch’, I thought. ‘That would allow me to finish the bottle and listen to the cricket on the radio’. ‘Agreed’, I said rather too loudly and went to the shed at the bottom of the garden to find a tin of white Dulux one-coat gloss, a medium brush and a pack of sandpaper which I duly handed over with the cheery words: ‘Come back when you’ve finished and I’ll give you your cash’. Settling back comfortably into the garden lounger with the rest of the wine, I must have dozed off as the sun had gone in when the handyman reappeared. ‘All done’, he said and passed the brush and empty paint tin over the back wall. Congratulating myself on the best value deal I had ever done, I gladly handed over two crisp £20 notes and made ready to inspect the work. As I was moving around to the front of the house, our friendly handyman waved goodbye and said; ‘You had me fooled for a moment with your little joke. But I knew it was a Toyota and not a Porsche. Looks nice in white, doesn’t it?’”

 © David Foley 11th June 2017

Your Business Bulletin from Thanet & East Kent Chamber

Thanet & East Kent Insider

31st January 2017   Issue No.: 215

1. Market Hard, Sell Easy; Marketing With A Difference: 10 Feb 2017

The Thanet and Dover Chambers of Commerce will be hosting a Chamber Business Networking Breakfast on Friday, 10th February 2017 from 0730 hrs to 0859 hrs. Targeted at Chamber members wishing to boost their turnover for the year, the presenters will focus on innovative methods to bring customers to your door, to your website or to your registered agents at home or overseas. This is not just another plea to promote social media. Whatever the size of your company, you will be happy to hear a fresh approach on how to make it more profitable. Good marketing makes for easy selling. Even if you have not been dreaming of rewarding yourself with a new Jaguar 3.0 V6 340PS, you should still attend this Chamber business networking breakfast. Confirmed cyclists will also find plenty of interest. After all, a Trek Yoshitomo Nara bicycle costs three times more than the Jaguar. By contrast, the cost to Chamber members of attending our breakfast meeting is a modest £15 and includes coffee on arrival and a full English breakfast with a vegetarian option. Booking is essential. To reserve your place, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject line: “Market Hard, Sell Easy Breakfast”. Full details of the venue near Sandwich will follow with confirmation.

2. Be Wise About Water: 24 February 2016

Of all the standing charges that businesses are obliged to pay, the price of your water supply is often the least considered. That is all about to change with potentially significant benefits to businesses, charities and public sector organisations. To stay ahead of the competition, Chamber members are invited to attend our Be Wise About Water Chamber business networking breakfast to hear what market deregulation means for your company and for your costs. The Commercial Director of one of the UK’s leading water retailers will explain what will happen when Business Stream enters the East Kent market next April and Southern Water will no longer be responsible for your non-household water bill. Booking is essential. To reserve your place, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject line: “Be Wise About Water Breakfast”. Full details of the venue near Sandwich will follow with confirmation.

3. New Funding for Education and the Arts

We have been asked to find educational and arts organisation looking for financial backing for projects that test different cultural learning strategies. A fund of as much as £2.5 million has been earmarked for research into the impact on academic attainment of different cultural learning strategies. The funders are looking at the effects on resilience, self-confidence and creativity though activities that involve arts and cultural activities, particularly in areas of high deprivation. A wide range of artistic practice may qualify including visits to venues and exhibitions as well as classroom-based endeavours. Applications from arts and cultural organisations, schools, universities and other non-profit organisations should be submitted before 15th February 2017. Chamber members are invited to email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject line “Arts Funding Info” for more details and full information on how to apply.

4. Thanet Parkway Station: 9th March 2017

Offering a huge boost the local economy, the construction of Thanet Parkway Station promises to bring a dramatic cut in the journey times between Cliffsend and London. Whatever the future of the Manston Airport/Stone Hill Park site, the arrival of an adjacent high speed train service to the nation’s capital will undoubtedly encourage inward investment and stimulate economic growth. The Chamber has accepted an offer by the Thanet Parkway Station project management company to brief Chamber members on the latest developments and schedules. You will be invited to give your feedback to help shape the project prior to submission of a planning application. Chamber members wishing to attend this business breakfast on Thursday, 9th March 2017 from 0730 hrs to 0859 hrs should email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject line “Thanet Parkway Station”. The fee of £15 for Chamber members includes coffee on arrival and a full English breakfast with a vegetarian option. Booking is essential. Full details of the venue near the station site will follow with confirmation.

5. Dates For Your Diary

In response to requests from Chamber members, the following dates have been booked for breakfast meetings: 6 April 2017 on the theme of Property, Commercial & Residential and 19 May 2017 for Manufacturing. Another Chamber cross-channel day trip is provisionally booked for 23rd June 2017. Members can also expect another great Chamber Golf Day at Royal St George’s Golf Club Sandwich on 24 October 2017. Images from a selection of recent past events are available to view on our official Chamber Photographer website at http://www.rosieantonphotography.co.uk/menu/clients/dover-thanet-and-east-kent-chamber

6. Thanet Draft Local Plan

Chamber members have until 17th March 2017 to comment on their preferred options in the Draft Local Plan for Thanet and to propose any changes to the Local Plan Preferred Options 2015. Not everyone is enamored of the opportunity to analyse their reaction to “mutual proximity, accessibility and supporting amenity infrastructure” or feels obliged to be enthused by “the need to clearly demonstrate how the SPA mitigation strategy as set out in Policy SP25 is being met”. But, before you reject the dense technical prose of the economic planners, you should be aware that the main issues at stake will probably have a considerable bearing on your business and the commercial future of the district. The changes in focus include the re-designation of the former Manston airport site for mixed use development with 2,500 new dwellings and up to 85,000sqm of employment and leisure floorspace, as well as suggestions for Local Greenspace Designations. Full details are available on the website at https://consult.thanet.gov.uk/consult.ti/TLPPOR/consultationHome. Before you submit your comments, you might like to read the useful Frequently Asked Questions listed under the heading Consultation Documents.

7. East Kent College And Gary Rhodes

Such is the success of East Kent College these days with its growing status as the official Further Education provider in the Dover, Thanet, Shepway and Canterbury districts that it is easy to forget that before the impetus generated by an invigorated senior management team that followed the appointment of Graham Razey as Principal, it was called simply Thanet College and tended to be described somewhat disparagingly as “That catering college in Broadstairs”. One Chamber member has reminded us of its most famous graduate, Gary Rhodes, and relates: “At a time when all the TV chefs were trying to outdo each other with ever more fanciful French sauces, Gary Rhodes was one of the first to celebrate British cooking and he owes it all to Thanet College”. Whether Thanet College can claim all the credit is perhaps a matter of conjecture, but there is no doubt in the minds of many celebrated chefs that Gary Rhodes made a major contribution to raising the status of British food, as confirmed in the This Is Your Life episode of September 1996. Gary’s spikey hair may have surprised Albert Roux of Le Gavroche, but Peter Barratt, Gary’s tutor at Thanet College, prefers to recall the Queen Mother’s mayonnaise when he joins Michael Aspel on stage after 11 minutes of the programme. The friendly banter of a teacher with his former student will bring joy to anyone who has ever taught a class of any description, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2lGXolCW60.

8. Are Heavy Goods Vehicles Dangerous On Our Roads?

As many chamber members are involved in transport and logistics in one form or another, we are always grateful for updates from the Road Haulage Association. Apart from the odd unfortunate split infinitive as in “The RHA strives to proactively lobby issues on behalf of its members”, see https://www.rha.uk.net/policy-campaigning/top-industry-issues, it must be acknowledged that the RHA is a highly effective body that campaigns vigorously on issues such as fuel prices and road improvements from which every local company can benefit. We are grateful to the RHA for an update on the safety statistics for Heavy Goods Vehicles which will bring some comfort to transport operators in East Kent who are repeatedly hounded by ill-informed criticism of their vehicles and drivers. The RHA tells us: “HGVs have fewer killed-or-serious-injury accidents (KSIs) than the national average for all vehicles and have greatly improved their safety performance, new statistics from the Department for Transport show. HGVs were involved in 78 KSIs/billion miles 2015. This compares with: 117 KSIs per billion miles for all vehicles, 50% higher; and 118KSIs/billion miles for HGVs in 2004, showing a one-third improvement in HGV involvement in KSIs. Trucks do a high proportion of mileage on motorways, the safest of the UK’s roads.” In other words, lorries are safer than cars.

9. East Kent Councils Merger

Chamber members know that Thanet & East Kent Chamber and the Dover District Chamber of Commerce have deep roots in the commercial life of East Kent. The archives of the Dover Chamber reveal that there have been many attempts since the year 1850 to harmonise the activities of councils across the east of the county. Now it seems that the pressing need to reduce standing costs may indeed lead to a merger. Chamber members have been invited to comment on whether they agree with the conclusion that: “a single new district comprising the four East Kent coastal districts makes sense.” Transition costs of £6.8 million are projected to be more than covered in the savings that will be made over the six-year period from 2019/20 to 2024/25. Another factor to consider is that if the four district councils in Dover, Thanet, Shepway and Canterbury cannot agree on a merger, it could be imposed on them by central government. There are therefore some powerful reasons why your views should be taken into account. Details can be downloaded from the website at https://www.thanet.gov.uk/media/3689570/A-business-case-for-the-potential-creation-of-a-single-new-council-from-.pdf.

10. New Chamber Manager

We are delighted to announce the arrival of a new member of staff, Mary Campbell. Known to many in East Kent in her previous position with Adecco, the world’s largest HR company, Mary has extensive experience of the strengths and challenges facing local companies. Her in-depth knowledge of HR issues and a close familiarity with the property and maritime sectors serve to extend the range of direct support available to Chamber members and ensure that the Chamber’s back office operations should keep pace with the rapid growth of the Chamber’s activities. Mary welcomes enquiries from current and new members alike and can be reached by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by telephone to 01843 609289 or 01304 892484.

11. How Are We Doing?

Year-on-year unemployment data seems to indicate a sad picture for our county with the latest figures posted for December 2016 showing an increase of 11.1% in unemployment benefit claimants. The steepest annual rise has been in the Canterbury district which has seen an increase of almost 24% since December 2015. Thanet has the highest overall percentage of claimants at 3.4%, nearly five times higher than in Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells and three times the average for South East England. However, the annual comparison masks a substantial decrease in unemployment over the last four years. Since December 2012, the four districts of Shepway, Canterbury, Dover and Thanet have seen a fall in benefit claimants of between 50% and 57%. The unemployment rate is a significant guide to economic health. East Kent may be currently suffering from a winter cold, but it has definitively recovered from a serious illness. The family doctor is hopeful that the medicine produced by manufacturing, property and infrastructure development will ensure a restoration to full health before the end of the year.

12. Give Us The Facts

Unemployment

13. Minimum Wage

The Chamber always welcomes the opportunity to represent the views of East Kent companies to government. We would like to thank Chamber members in the sectors of our local economy in focus who have responded to our requests to give their views and have accepted an invitation to meet the key decision-makers at the Low Pay Commission who advise the government. Chamber members may be aware that the 18th Low Pay Commission (LPC) report confirmed the government’s plans to “move away from a low age, high tax, high welfare society and encourage a model of higher pay and higher productivity” (BIS, 2016b). Of course, this is set against two major changes in wage policy due to the UK’s vote to leave the European Union and the introduction of the National Living Wage (NLW) which is applicable to workers aged 25 and over. Chamber members may not be aware that the NLW is subject to a target level. The government’s stated ambition is that by the year 2020 the NLW will be around £9. The panel of commissioners who advise the government tend to be unanimous in their recommendations and so it is important that your Chamber of Commerce ensures that the trading position of East Kent companies and the particular strengths and challenges that we face in this part of the UK are reflected in their recommendation to government.

14. What Wages Must I Pay?

Your wages and salary rates are a matter for you, your accountant, your HR Manager, HMRC, your staff and your business plans for the next five years. What the Chamber can confirm is that if you wish to avoid spending time at Her Majesty’s pleasure in a small room with full board, a restricted menu and strictly limited opportunities to watch your favourite soaps, you should read the table below. A point to ponder is that although the economic cycle has fluctuated considerably since 2010, minimum wages have inexorably risen. Despite what your mum and dad may have told you, what goes up, does not always come down.

15. Spotting A Winner

The Chamber is always pleased to celebrate the successes of members. We hear with great delight that SACO AEI Polymers UK achieved record results at the end of the 2016. Part of a resurgent manufacturing sector in East Kent, AEI is a technology driven company in Sandwich which develops and manufactures thermoplastic & thermoset compounds, additives and catalyst master-batches for the wire & cable, pipe & tubing, building & construction and specialty markets. Also thriving in the building market is Barnard Systems of Dover with its steel modular construction operations. An increasingly buoyant property sector has produced excellent results at Eurocell Building Plastics in Ramsgate where turnover is at the top of the local leagues for the product, which is more than can stated for Mansfield Town, the favourite football team of Eurocell’s manager, Dave Ashley. After all, when Doncaster Rovers is ahead of you in the table, it must be a matter of concern. If Professor Rama Thirunamachandran, Principal of Canterbury Christ Church, ever wishes to trade in the futures market at the London Stock Exchange, he will certainly have every right to claim he knows how to spot a winner. His invitation to Dr Ted Malloch to speak at the North Holmes Campus in September 2015 on the theme of “A Responsible Way to Reorient Global Business” will surely pay dividends. It is not only the middle name of “Roosevelt” that equips Dr Malloch to succeed, he is widely tipped to be the new US Ambassador to European Union with concomitant responsibilities over trade and security. Gareth Doodes, Head of Dover College, is another innovator in education who believes in bringing the real world into his school. Detective Inspector Bill Thornton of Kent Police was the guest speaker at the Headmaster’s Lecture last week. Dover College students and local dignitaries were treated to a fascinating insight into the emergency service that keeps us safe in our beds at night. Dover’s member of parliament Charlie Elphicke is one of many who have praised Kent Police for its performance last April when ‘mindless louts’ came to Dover and received a prompt and appropriate response from Bill Thornton and his team. As Charlie Elphicke put it: “More than 60 people have been charged and several jailed. This is exactly the sort of no-nonsense response the people of Dover and Deal demand.” Could DI Thornton be a future Chief of Kent Police? Chamber members will follow his career with interest.

16. Don’t Waste Your Time On Soaps

We have received some stern words about the frivolous behaviour of some workers who spend time watching inane television dramas instead of devoting their free hours to devising how to improve the profits of their company. A Chamber member whom we shall call Keith clearly feels angry that so much entrepreneurial drive and corporate progress is being blunted by the obsession some employees have with soap operas and the like. As he put it: “Why do people spend so much time watching Coronation Street? Personally, I have no interest at all in why Kevin Webster and his business partner Tyrone sacked Kev’s daughter after the arson attack. As for East Enders, why should anyone care if the reunion between sisters Denise and Kim Fox never takes place, especially after Kim was left so angry by Denise’s decision not to attend the family meal she had organised to say goodbye to Emerald.” Keith continued his diatribe by dismissing The Archers: “I can’t understand why people listen to this outdated programme. Frankly, why anyone in Ambridge put up with Rob Titchener for so long is beyond me. It was clear from the moment he met Helen, that he was a dangerous psychopath. But you have to feel sorry for Henry”. Keith concluded his criticisms by singling out the amount of time wasted by devotees of the BBC’s Casualty. “Alright, it is probably right for Charlie to marry Duffy at long last, but you would think he would have realised much sooner that a simple wedding day was what she wanted and when Louise stormed into Noel’s job interview, she may have saved his bacon, but her impetuosity will count against her in the long run”. Clearly, Kevin is not one to shirk his duty to his shareholders and his determination not to spend any time following television and radio dramas is very much to his credit.

© David Foley 31st January 2017

Your Business Bulletin from Thanet & East Kent Chamber

Thanet & East Kent Insider

14th August 2016   Issue No.: 214

1. Resilience: Chamber Business Networking Breakfast 8th September 2016

The Chamber has often written about the benefits of Predict & Prevent in preference to Find & Fix. The speaker at our Chamber Business Networking breakfast next month is a world-class specialist on the subject much in demand in Australia, New Zealand, UAE, Germany, Belgium, China, France and USA. Formerly Head of Safety for Virgin Atlantic and founder of the Tall Buildings Fire Safety Network, Russ Timpson advises companies of all sizes on business continuity. In December 2015, he was awarded the title of International Fire Professional of the Year at Fire Magazine’s annual Excellence in Fire & Emergency Awards. His expertise extends to advising on a wide range of measures companies can put in place to stop a disaster before it happens and to mitigate the effects when it does. The price of £15 for Chamber members includes coffee on arrival and a full English breakfast with a vegetarian option. Booking is essential. To reserve your place, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject line: “Resilience Breakfast 8 September 2016”. Full details of the venue near Ramsgate will follow with confirmation. There will be plenty of time available to promote your products and services to other delegates.

2. Trade Delegation To Ostend: 14 – 15th October 2016

Supported by its sister body the Dover District Chamber of Commerce, the Thanet & East Kent Chamber is organising a Trade Delegation to visit Ostend on 14th – 15th October 2016. In liaison with our good friends at DFDS Seaways, the visit will bring Chamber members from East Kent to meet companies in the EU interested in establishing post-Brexit commercial links. Arriving on the afternoon of Friday, 14th October 2016, Chamber members will enjoy an informal meeting with a selection of local companies interested in their products and services followed by a formal dinner and presentations. Overnight accommodation at a central hotel will allow for some time on Saturday, 15th October for follow up meetings or leisure before returning on the Dunkirk – Dover Ferry in the afternoon. Further details will be available exclusively to Chamber members later this month so that the next time people ask you “What can be done about Brexit?”, you can tell them “New business opportunities for East Kent companies.”

3. Chamber Golf Day 25th October 2016

The Chamber is delighted to confirm that the Chamber Golf Day will again take place at Royal St George’s Golf Club Sandwich which has hosted 14 Open Championships and is the course featured as “Royal St Mark’s” in Ian Fleming’s book Goldfinger where James Bond plays the most famous golf match in the history of fiction. The 2016 Chamber Golf Day on 25th October 2016 will feature a glittering array of prizes. Companies are invited to submit teams of 4 players, see attached booking form. Sponsorship opportunities are available on each hole of the course and the prize table will again feature significant contributions from Chamber members keen to benefit from East Kent’s leading corporate golf tournament. For more details, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject line “Golf Day 2016”.

4. Suggestion To Avoid Congestion

Severe congestion blocking the main roads leading to Dover during the first weekend of the school holidays last month provoked the wrath of Dover District Chamber President Charlie Elphicke MP who described the traffic queues as “completely unacceptable” and called on the UK government to apologise. There was little relief available from public services during a wait of up to 16 hours for families, coach passengers and lorry drivers stranded on the main roads leading to the port. Our President’s views were echoed by the much respected head of the Port of Calais, Jean-Marc Puissesseau, who confessed to being ashamed of the effect on British people heading for France. Directing his ire towards French officials he said: “When we know that there will be big traffic, as it was yesterday because it was starting holidays, it should be organised.” Many Chamber members will recall Jean-Marc Puissesseau’s statement of 2013 that: “All that is good for Calais is good for Dover” and it follows that the reverse is true as well. What is bad for Dover is bad for Calais and is bad for every local company trading over that weekend, especially for restaurants, shops and businesses expecting deliveries. One hotel manager told the Chamber: “Some of the guests booked into our hotel never arrived and we now have the thankless task of arranging refunds with little chance of recovering the loss of income.” Chief Executive of your Chamber, David Foley, made these points to reporter Tom Savvides in a live broadcast on ITV Meridian News stating: “This was a situation that was predictable, it was preventable, it took a long time to find and we have yet to discover if it has been fixed”. Calling for a more effective liaison with the authorities by Dover Harbour Board, he listed the difficulties faced by many companies in the East Kent coastal business community: “Not everyone works nine to five, Monday to Friday. Deliveries could not be made, staff could not get to work and most importantly the customers were simply not there.” The Chamber will be working with public bodies to avoid a repeat of the nightmare traffic conditions that impacted so badly on so many of our Chamber members.

5. Past Events

Images from a selection of past events can be viewed on the official Chamber photographer’s website at www.rosieantonphotography.co.uk/menu/clients/dover-thanet-and-east-kent-chamber. Recent contributions include pictures from the visit of the Danish Ambassador His Excellency Claus Grube, Chamber Question Time, Make Business Rates Your Business and Ebbsfleet Garden City: Growing Opportunities For You.

6. Conference Report

First on the podium at the Chamber’s Managing Change conference was Tim Checketts, formerly Chief of Staff at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and the current secretary of the Royal St George’s Golf Club. He gave a pithy account of the usefulness of having a clear understanding of acceptable success criteria before embarking on any large scale radical changes. He suggested that in some circumstances a company may be serving the best interests of its staff, customers and shareholders by accepting an 85% success rate with a particular initiative and moving on rather than wasting energy and resources in striving for an unachievable complete compliance.

7. What About Thanet Earth?

The UK’s leading hydroponics facility at Thanet Earth was represented by its Managing Director Des Kingsley who gave an insight into a possible route to food self-sufficiency in the UK. It would require significant changes to our inherited view of what constitutes good agricultural management to repeat the Thanet Earth complex across the country, but it is worth noting that the UK now imports over half of its food supplies. The recent problems at the Port of Dover have illustrated all too clearly that there are security risks attached to an over-dependency on the goodwill of remote suppliers. The resounding success of Thanet Earth remains an inspiration to young scientists throughout East Kent. Combined Heat & Power technology ensures that tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers are grown in ideal conditions that not only ensure a low carbon footprint but contribute electricity to the National Grid as well.

8. Chief Cashier of Bank of England

The keynote speaker at the Chamber conference was Victoria Cleland, Chief Cashier of the Bank of England. Her convincing arguments about the advantages of polymer banknotes also show that changes to our most familiar objects and behaviour can be generally accepted if presented fairly and accurately. The new £5 note is made of thin flexible plastic, will be introduced on 13th September 2016 and will feature a picture of Winston Churchill. Expected to last 2.5 times longer than the paper version it will replace, Victoria assured Chamber members that “You can spill red wine on it and it will wipe away cleanly”. More surprising to her audience was the revelation that the largest denomination note issued by the bank is not for the sum of £50, as often assumed, but for £100 million. Not available from supermarket cashpoints, these special notes are kept in secure storage and play an important role in backing the value of notes from Scottish and Northern Irish banks.

9. Other Speakers

Additional insights on successful change management were provided by the Head of Planning at Southern Water, Dr Alison Hoyle, the Managing Director of Europe’s largest manufacturer of leisure hovercraft, Emma Pullen, the Chairman of Ramsgate Ferry, Dr Bill Moses and the Head of Policy & Briefing at the Post Office, Mike Granville. The largest retailer in the UK with nearly 11,800 outlets, the Post Office has just undergone the most radical transformation ever experienced since its establishment in 1660. Heading resolutely towards non-subsidised sustainability, the new Post Office prides itself on being a commercial multichannel business with a public purpose. It is a remarkable fact that 99.7% of the UK population lives within three miles of a Post Office. Throughout the day’s presentations and during those valuable discussions at lunchtime and breaks, it was apparent just what a huge task is involved in implementing successful change in established organisations. From the examples provided, successful change management seems to require strong leadership from senior directors who share with all staff a common strategy that fully recognises the needs of its customers, is not fixated on imposed targets and yet manages to maintain and promote genuine two-way communication with workers and suppliers. Does that describe your company?

10. How Are We Doing?

The latest unemployment figures list the total number of people claiming either Jobseekers Allowance or Universal Credit, as reported in July 2016 by the Office for National Statistics with selected extracts published by the ever-excellent department of Strategic Business Development & Intelligence at Kent County Council. These figures portray a snapshot of our local economy and provide an impartial measure of business activity in East Kent. Thanet remains the unemployment blackspot in Kent with the highest number (2,645) of registered unemployment benefit claimants. Year-on-year unemployment has grown 13.3%. In June 2013, the number of claimants in Thanet was 4,578. Thus, over a period of three years, unemployment has in fact fallen by 42%. The Dover district has also seen a rise in unemployment in the year to June 2016 of 5.4%, but in June 2013, 2,293 adults were registered claimants indicating a three-year fall of 45%. Similarly, the three-year figures for Kent show a reduction in the jobless total from 31,869 to 14,040, a fall of 56%. South East England has reduced claimants from 119,382 in June 2013 to 56,365 in June 2016, a fall of 53%. However, no matter which rose-tinted prism is used to view the data, it is glaringly apparent that the East Kent coastal business community has continued to lag behind the rest of the county and indeed the South East region in its recovery over the last three years. More worrying still perhaps are the figures for the last 12 months which show that Kent as a whole has increased its registered unemployed by 6.3% in stark contrast to the South East region which has reduced its jobless figures by 2.9% and Great Britain by 4.0%. After a period of recovery since 2008, Kent has suffered a challenging 12 months to June 2016. Some will claim that Brexit is the reason for the pronounced downturn and will probably claim the same for many other unpleasant facts as well. This is of course a wholly false conclusion as regards the unemployment numbers which largely relate to a period before the referendum of 23rd June 2016 when the expectation was that the UK would vote to remain in the EU. But, as any sharp operator will tell you: “You should never let a good crisis go to waste”.

11. Give Us The Facts

Unemployment

12. Keep It Clear

As part of its community engagement programme, Southern Water has launched a campaign called “Keep it clear”. Targeted at preventing blockages and interruptions to wastewater disposal, the initiative calls on commercial and residential users to flush the “The Three Ps” and nothing more. One of the Ps stands for Paper. We have sufficient faith in the practical skills and extensive knowledge of our Chamber members not to need to explain the composition of the other two words beginning with P. Apparently, cleansing wipes, nappies, ear buds, dental floss, plastic razors, industrial waste, gravel and a whole list of unsavoury items cause unnecessary blockages in our drains. We learn that such items should be bagged and binned. Southern Water has offered residents the chance to win a prize. If you can answer a few simple questions about waste disposal, you could win a handsome waste bin, described by the utility as “A designer Wesco Bin in the colour of your choice worth £130”. Enthusiastic quizzers lacking a designer waste bin should click on www.southernwater.co.uk/winabin.

13. Brexit & East Kent

A few Chamber members have expressed their concerns about the effects of Brexit on their balance sheets. For some companies, these anxieties are due to an alleged government failure to prepare for a majority voting in favour of leaving the European Union. For others, it is the result of the vote itself. The early intervention of the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, was a significant factor in calming the markets which in the first three days after the vote saw a trade-weighted fall in the value of the pound sterling of 9% and a 14% fall in the FTSE 250. One Chamber member wrote about a fall of over £800,000 in the year end income which his company is obliged to post to its overseas parent; this is compounded by an additional sharp increase in the costs of its raw materials. There will doubtlessly be winners and losers in the fluctuations of the exchange rate since 23rd June 2016, but many more Chamber members will wonder why more attention had not been given to planning for the effects of an anti-EU vote. Chamber members will have some sympathy for the heartfelt plea at the end of the same letter: “I am totally disillusioned with the lack of a credible plan to take our nation forward since the referendum. …. I can only hope stability returns sooner rather than later, before we need to take action to protect our business”. Thankfully, some stability has returned to the financial markets since that letter dated 6th July 2016. Also, that particular East Kent company, a significant employer with over 100 staff, benefits from a far-sighted Managing Director who is well-equipped to manage change and will doubtlessly make the best of the challenges he faces.

14. KPMG and Bank of England On Brexit

The Vice Chair of KPMG UK, Melanie Richards, has described a 2-2-2 Plan which she says relates to “The first two weeks, the first two months and then the first two years”. She adds that: “There is no magic in that last two years bit because you are always planning. But, I think the first two weeks and the first two months are pretty important to make sure you have got yourself in gear”. That is sound advice, you may think, but likely to be expensive if you want specific guidance on your own company’s prospects. The Dover District Chamber of Commerce has been liaising with the Bank of England for the last 165 years but can find little cheer in the dispassionate data collected by the bank’s experts in the latest Agents’ Summary of August 2016 which forecasts “a negative effect, overall, on capital spending, hiring and turnover over the coming year”, although manufacturing fares a little better. Wellington boot and umbrella manufacturers may be the only ones to find some comfort in the revelation that: “Consumer spending growth had also slowed, although that appeared to have partly reflected the effects of unusually wet weather.”

15. Reduce Your Energy Bills

Chamber member Zero Trace Procurement warns of rises in energy bills due to possible changes unrelated to wholesale prices. As Procurement Director at the ZTP Canterbury Office, Martyn Young is able to utilize a unique trace management system to facilitate the tender process for each new corporate client, reducing energy bills and contributing to enhanced profit margins. If that is not good enough for you, take note that Martyn trained as a Chartered Management Accountant and can even make the uses of data cubes in forecasting models linked to multi-disciplinary profit optimization sound interesting. To bring a smile to your face when calculating your savings on energy costs, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or telephone 01227 203109.

16. Ramsgate Ferry

A recent report in the Thanet Gazette quoted a Thanet District Council spokesman as saying: “Arrangements for the commencement of sailings to Ramsgate Port are still ongoing. Although timings have changed, positive negotiations are still ongoing." This was greeted with some mirth by one local businessman who contacted the Chamber. “They have been on-going since Sally Line withdrew in 1999”, he said, “The problem is nothing is going on.” Of course there has been some activity with the arrival of car imports, but as another Chamber member noted last week: “As far as I know, no parked car has ever spent the night at a local hotel or bought a meal in a restaurant”. The Chamber notes the progress of Ramsgate Ferry which is campaigning to restore passenger ferries from Ramsgate. With an estimated economic impact of £6,000,000 a year from a revived cross-channel operation, there is no doubt that retailers, hoteliers, attractions and suppliers will be following progress closely. On 4th August 2016, Ramsgate Ferry presented its 14th Roadshow to an audience of travel and tourism professionals at The Dorchester Hotel in London’s Park Lane. For more details, see www.ramsgateferry.com.

17. New Members

The Chamber is pleased to welcome the following new members to the Chamber: Town & Country Housing of Tunbridge Wells, tel: 01892 501426; MLM Consulting Engineers of Ashford tel: 01233 610530; Total Jobs Contacts of Ramsgate tel: 07803 163051; Princes Leisure Group of Sandwich tel: 01304 613022; Ash Civil Construction of Ramsgate tel: 01843 593268; Simply Auto Enrolment Solutions of Bury tel: 0800 00 96299; Wade Business Solutions of Broadstairs tel: 03333 660721; Café Rouge of Westwood Cross tel: 01843 808943; Cummins Power Systems of Manston Park tel: 01843 255000; Jonathan Viner Gallery of Margate tel: 07968 548764; Southern Water of Worthing tel: 01634 824201; Myspace Self Storage of Broadstairs tel: 01843 602020; The Freedman of Walmer tel: 07793 321126; The Retreat of Sandwich tel: 07951 057730; Tammet Systems of Aylesham tel: 01227 711072; Brilliant Hotels of Dover tel: 01304 821230; Beautiville Salon of Cliftonville tel: 01843296870.

18. Robert Maxwell

Finally, here is an account related by a Chamber member that may be of interest to us all and in particular to any of the 30,000 Mirror Group pensioners who discovered to their horror that the funds set aside to support their comfortable old age had been plundered by Robert Maxwell. His demise in November 1991 provoked a series of enquiries into his business affairs that revealed some unsavoury practices and led directly to the 1995 Pensions Act. Known to his sternest critics at Private Eye as Cap’n Bob, Maxwell was prone to emotional outbursts and instant decision-making that increasingly impacted on his financial acumen. Proffered by a distinguished Chamber member, we have some doubts about this story but we leave it to our good-looking readers to judge for themselves. “What happened was Maxwell saw a dishevelled worker, tie undone, shirt hanging out, passing his open office door and he shouted at him to halt. When the individual replied: ‘I’m sorry, I can’t, I’m in a hurry’, Maxwell stormed out of his office and blasted the beleaguered employee with the words: ‘In that case you are sacked. I can’t have workers like you in my company’. Calling for his cashier to attend immediately, he bellowed at the worker: ‘What is your monthly salary, tell me now, come on, come on, I’m a busy man.’. ‘I don’t know’, came the hesitant reply, ‘it depends, each month is different.’ Grabbing £2,000 from his cashier, he handed the cash over to the worker and said in front of the astonished staff now accumulating around the scene: ‘Do you see how generous I am? This man is sacked, but I am sweetening the pill. Now make sure he is never allowed in this building again.’” As our Chamber member relates: “The worker was in fact a courier delivering a parcel who had never worked for the Daily Mirror in his life. That summer he took his family on a splendid holiday, all courtesy of an angry Robert Maxwell.” The message for fellow Chamber members and bull-headed company owners alike is that if you really want the pleasure of sacking particular individuals you dislike, you have to make sure you employ them first.

© David Foley 14th August 2016

Your Business Bulletin from Thanet & East Kent Chamber

Thanet & East Kent Insider

13th September 2015   Issue No.: 213

1. Chamber Business Networking Breakfast: 18th September 2015

Most Chamber members will have already received news of our Chamber Business Networking Breakfast scheduled for 0730 – 0900 hrs on Friday, 18th September 2015. The main speakers will be Rebecca Smith, Senior Editor at Kent Regional News, and Graham Cooke, late of Radio Caroline and an established presenter for the BBC. Understanding how the printed and broadcast media operates can be of immense value to any ambitious company wishing to manage its media profile across all formats. The huge worldwide growth of social media has made the top social platforms of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn household names with Pinterest, Tumbir, Badoo and Myspace not far behind. In response, it has also stimulated the traditional media outlets of newspapers, radio and television to work more closely with Internet users in order to secure an audience for their output. Chamber members attending the networking breakfast will hear what pleases editors and how their company can make the most of the opportunities to showcase their products and services to current and potential customers. The price of £15 for Chamber members includes coffee on arrival and a full English breakfast with a vegetarian option. Booking is essential. To reserve your place, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject line: “Chamber Breakfast 18th June 2015”. Full details of the venue near Sandwich will follow with confirmation.             

2. Chamber Conference 6th October 2015: Managing Change

Our 2015 conference on 6th October 2015 will feature as keynote speaker, the Chief Cashier of the Bank of England, Victoria Cleland. Her presentation will interest anyone who handles cash or wants to know about the changes to our banknotes and coins. The 32nd person to occupy this prestigious post since John Kendrick took office in 1694, Victoria says: “My role covers far more than signing the banknotes.” Indeed, it certainly does and she works in close liaison with retailers, financial institutions, Cash in Transit (CiT) firms and UK companies of all sizes. Victoria will brief members on changes in our currency planned for the next three years, including the introduction of polymer banknotes featuring Sir Winston Churchill and Jane Austen. Following extensive public consultation, the new notes will have enhanced counterfeit resilience and be 15% smaller than the current size.  If you are interested in money, you should book a place, see item 6 below.

3. More About Our Conference Speakers

Also speaking from the podium on 6th October 2015 will be Des Kingsley, Managing Director of the UK’s largest greenhouse complex at Thanet Earth. At a time when UK scientific research is under close scrutiny, Thanet Earth offers a shining example of commercial success in hydroponics in a highly competitive market. Chamber members may recall Des Kingsley’s predecessor, Ian Craig, now Chief Executive of the parent company the Fresca Group, which has combined annual sales of more than £500 million.  Thanet Earth is a great East Kent success story from which we can all learn some valuable lessons. Its proven methodology and practice may also offer a glimpse of a route towards the UK being self-sufficient in food and vegetables, a sector in which this country currently has a £7.8 billion trade deficit. [Food Statistics Pocketbook 2014, DEFRA].

4. Yet More About Our Conference Speakers

Last year, Emma Pullen joined Stella McCartney and Elisabeth Murdoch as one of the Management Today magazine's Top 35 Businesswomen Under 35. Emma runs the British Hovercraft Company (BHC). As a hands-on Director, she is fully involved in every aspect of the manufacture, marketing, sales and administration of Europe’s largest manufacturer of leisure hovercraft. BHC is very much a family business and Chamber members will hear how Emma benefits from the support of fellow board members, husband Russ Pullen and father-in-law Ivan Pullen. Chamber members at the conference will also witness a demonstration of a BHC hovercraft so that they can see for themselves how this enterprising company has developed a great British invention and transformed it into a commercial product currently sold to individuals and firms around the world from its base in Sandwich.

5. Even More About Our Conference Speakers

Thanks to close liaison with Post Office Communications Director Mark Davies, the Post Office will be represented at our conference to give us details of the most radical root and branch reforms that have ever taken place at this beloved institution which has served the British public faithfully since 1660. Promoting a future as a multi-channel business that can satisfy the needs of SMEs across a wide range of services, the Post Office is changing rapidly as a commercial business with a public purpose. It will surprise many that 99.7% of the population lives within three miles of Post Office and that a third of all small businesses visit every week. It may also surprise Chamber members that the Post Office is not reducing the number of its branches; with almost 11,800 outlets, the Post Office has the largest retail network in the UK. Under its inspiring Chief Executive, Paula Vennells, the Post Office is becoming much more than a challenger bank. Many chamber members will appreciate the wisdom in Paula’s dictum that “Retail is Detail” and there is much to be learned from the way the Post Office is directing the future of its £1 billion a year business.  

6. Chamber Conference of 6th October 2015: Booking Your Place

Chamber members attending the Chamber Business Conference “Managing Change” will receive refreshments on arrival and a cooked meal during the lunchtime break; a vegetarian option is available.  Doors will open at 1015 hrs and the formal sessions will end at 1420 hrs with informal networking on-site until 1530 hrs. Chamber members qualify for a discounted ticket price of £30 inclusive. Full details of the venue near Sandwich will follow with confirmation. Booking is essential. To reserve your place, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject line: “Chamber Conference 2015”. 

7. Now Is The Summer Of Our Discontent

The interruption to East Kent business caused by Operation Stack has been significant. Losses to the UK of an estimated £250 million a day during this summer of discontent have been felt most sharply by the owners of companies in East Kent who have had extreme difficulties in securing supplies, making deliveries to their customers and getting staff to and from the workplace. One haulier with a depot a few miles from Dover found that one of his trucks was prevented from taking the two-mile journey to Dover Western Docks when his driver was told to join the queue of lorries on the M20 west of Maidstone where he faced a two-day wait before he could join a cross-channel ferry. Our Chamber member understandably returned his truck to the depot and faced a difficult explanation to his valued customer who was less sympathetic to the actions of strikers at Calais than the French authorities appeared to be. Increasingly desperate pleas from the Road Haulage Association Chief Executive Richard Burnett included demands for the French military to intervene to protect “the thousands of British drivers whose lives are now being put at risk on a regular basis”. [RHA Press Release, 7 July 2015]. Although the main issues causing the French ferry workers to strike have now been resolved, the long term effects to Dover and its environs from being branded a no-go trading area have yet to be assessed. It is simply unacceptable that Kent County Council, Kent Police and Dover coastguard should have to pay upfront the costs of illegal actions in Calais with no compensation payments seemingly available for those businesses which have suffered the most.

8. Is Disruption by Ferry Workers at Calais Over?

The strike action by dissident ferry workers at Calais is over for the time being. Reports in the French press differ in their conclusions. Notre Temps lists the deal that has been signed by Scop, representing the ferry workers, by Eurotunnel the former owner of the My FerryLink ferries, by DFDS the new owner and by Alan Vidalies, the Secretary of State for transport who hosted the negotiations. We are informed that 402 out of 487 Scop workers made redundant last July will be reemployed. DFDS will accept 202, Eurotunnel will take on 150 directly, 130 of these with the freight ferry Nord-Pas-De-Calais and the other 20 to be absorbed in its other activities, and one of the subcontractors will employ the remaining 50 staff for its security operations.  Other French publications are not so sure. Libération, the centre-left daily now owned by Édouard de Rothschild, which has had its own staff problems in recent years, is a little more sanguine about the resolution of the strike. In an article written on 7th September 2015, Libération’s special Calais envoy, Stéphanie Maurice, states: “Many remain sceptical about this last project: it can only happen if the British Competition and Markets Authority gives a green light and nobody sees how the arrangement could be viable”. She ends her long article with a quotation from a source close to the action who suspects that the whole sad affair will resurface in two years. The Dover Chamber President, Charlie Elphiicke MP, is adamant that EU legislative reform is urgently required as “It’s increasingly clear the Schengen Agreement is not working.” [Charlie Elphicke MP: This Calais chaos must end, 8 Sep 2015]. The Chamber will be working with all our elected representatives to promote the interests of our East Kent members on this critical issue.

9. Port Of Ramsgate

A lot of nonsense is broadcast about the Port of Ramsgate ranging from proposals that its future as an O&M base for super yachts is assured to widely over-optimistic assessments of its capacity to accommodate all the cross-channel commercial traffic diverted from Dover. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion whatever their expertise in the highly competitive ferry industry, but there is little excuse for perpetuating obvious errors of fact. Here is one of the worst offenders from a source that describes itself as ‘The World’s Leading Ferry Website’. The text may have been corrected if you are reading this after September 2015, but this is what is currently stated: “Ramsgate has been a port for many thousand years. Indeed, the Christian missionary St Augustine of Canterbury, widely considered the founder of the Church in England, entered England through Ramsgate in the late 4th Century”, see http://www.aferry.co.uk/ramsgate-ferries.htm. Wrong by 200 years. We trust that any ferry passengers booking via the website might find a more punctual schedule, although if Operation Stack is in force, they may be in for a long wait, but perhaps not two centuries. For some accurate information about the Port of Ramsgate, see below.                                                

10. Port of Ramsgate: the Facts

In the last year of Sally Line’s cross-channel ferry service from the Port of Ramsgate in 1998, Thanet District Council benefited from receipts of around £1 million in harbour dues. This is in sharp contrast to the disastrous results of the last few years when the council-owned port has received damming indictments in the national media. The princely sum of £3.4 million was lost in uncollected harbour dues from the failed TransEuropa Ferries followed by the announcement last month of £2.3 million to be paid in compensation for banning live animal exports without the legal authority to do so. Financial mismanagement on such a scale inevitably imposes considerable costs on every business and ratepayer in the district. Chamber members will understand why the Thanet & East Kent Chamber has orchestrated a series of meetings in the House of Commons, at Kent Council HQ and with the new regime at Thanet District Council to discuss a series of practical measures to revive Ramsgate as a cross-channel ferry port. If the support from our central, regional and local government in the UK could match that already offered at many meetings across the channel, there is every hope that 500,000 passengers could be flowing through the Port of Ramsgate in its second full year of operations. It was not that long ago when five Kent ports provided a cross-channel ferry service; Sheerness, Dartford, Ramsgate, Dover and Folkestone. It is surely not fanciful to suggest that the fastest growing economy of the G7 nations requires more than one short sea route to protect our £100 billion a year trade route.     

11. HR Support In Shepway

Chamber member QBH Solutions is offering free advice to companies in Shepway with fewer than 50 employees.  In an expanding local economy, there will be many firms looking to recruit staff and perhaps not entirely sure of compliance issues. Chamber members looking to supply to large companies at home and overseas may be seeking ISO 9001 status or to join the Investors in People scheme which is now offering a sixth generation management standard.  If you are simply keen to update your Human Resource skills and ensure your spreadsheets and databases do support all your staffing needs, David Burton and his team will be pleased to see you on 16th October 2015 at Basepoint Business Park in Folkestone. Published comments from satisfied customers include the words ‘down to earth helpful and friendly professional’, ‘very skilled at building a rapport’, ‘brilliant, they provided us with Job Descriptions, Contracts and an HR policy pack’, ‘easy to understand terms with no jargon’ and ‘loyal, committed and determined’ as well as intriguing insights on David Burton himself such as ‘We also become good friends and continue to be so. He and his wife came to see me in Scotland a few months ago’. To book your free place, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. More information is available on the website at www.qbhsolutions.co.uk. If you want to speak to Mr Burton direct or just want to know if his trip to Scotland was to secure supplies of the best single malt whisky, Chamber members are invited to call his mobile, tel: 07795 564089.

12. Paying the Right Tax

Geoff Smith of MHA MacIntyre Hudson has contacted the Chamber with news of significant changes in allowances for Buy To Let investors as a result of the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Summer Budget. Despite the increased burdens, Geoff maintains that there is still the opportunity for ‘tax efficient remuneration’. With Corporation Tax scheduled to fall to 18% in April 2020, the UK should become an increasingly attractive country in which to do business. Jon Cleverdon of Cleverdons Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors tells us that “Among the many surprise announcements made by the chancellor during the summer budget, it was the changes to dividends taxation that caught the wider business community off guard”. Jon also notes that “the average person in the UK has £38.19 a week in spare cash to spend however they want”. Of course not one of our Chamber members is average and, as Jon knows better than most of us, averages can be misleading. After all, if Bill Gates walked into your office tomorrow, the chances are that on average everyone in the room would be a millionaire.

13. Minimum Wage and Tax Avoidance Schemes

Harry Kemp of Kemps Chartered Accountants informs us that 285 employers have been named and shamed since October 2013 for failing to pay their employees the minimum wage. He quotes Nick Boles MP, the Minister of State for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: “From October 2015 the National Minimum Wage will increase to £6.70. Employers should be well aware of the different rates for the National Minimum Wage depending on the circumstances of their workers.” Following a uniformly favourable High Court judgment over Accelerated Payments Notices there is also a sober warning too from HMRC’s David Richardson that “Those who use tax avoidance schemes need to know they can no longer hold on to the money while their affairs are investigated. They have to pay their tax up front like everybody else.” This judgment is expected to bring forward £5.5 billion in payments to the Exchequer by March 2020. Surely there is enough in the pot to compensate companies who have suffered the slings and arrows of an outrageous Operation Stack. What about a few pennies Mr Chancellor for our East Kent Business Advice Clinic? After all, a success rate of over 95% must be better than Business Link ever managed.

14. What Can I Do About Managing My Money?

Just as the management of the Port of Ramsgate should be in the hands of professionals, the same applies to maximising your income, managing your accounts and presenting them each year to Companies House. If your accountant or advisor is not on the following list, you might ask yourself if you could do better and give one of the experts a call: MacIntyre Hudson LLP,  Mr Adrian Dante 01622 754033; Cleverdons Chartered Accountants, Mr Jon Cleverdon 01843 866599; Kemps Accounting Solutions Ltd, Mr Harry Kemp 01843 861188; JHL Accountants Ltd, Mr John Humphrey 01304 216296; Levicks Chartered Accountants, Mr Mark Hurdman 01843 862716; McCabe Ford Williams, Mr Michael Whittaker 01227 373271; Michael Martin Partnership Ltd, Mr Ian Curtis 01227 770500; Neville Weston, Mr Christopher Weston 01843 594571; Wilkins Kennedy, Mr Derek Read 01304 897650; JW Accountancy Services,  Ms Julia Westbrook, 01304 830229. Financial advice and wealth management guidance is available from the following: Regency Independent Financial Advisers, Mr Barry Williams, 01304 213902; Rift Research & Development, Ms Norma Thomas, 01233 653002; St. James' Place Wealth Management, Mr Paul Baldwin, 01959 561606, Lloyds Commercial, Mr Simon Mount, 07725 068956.

15. Wages & Salaries in Kent

As noted above, the National Minimum Wage for workers aged 21 years and over will £6.70 an hour from 1st October 2015. From 1st October 2016, the National Living Wage will be £7.20 an hour for workers aged 25 years and older. But whatever the legal obligations, every responsible employer will want to know how much to pay to guarantee a loyal staff, encourage a motivated workforce and promote a sustainable, profitable business. Accepting that remuneration is just one of many reasons to attract and retain good employees, a look through job vacancies currently published in the press and on employment websites will act as some guide. Of course, there are geographical variations which can take into account travel costs and local conditions such as competitor behaviour and living costs. We are grateful to the ever-excellent Research & Evaluation Department of Kent County Council for its clear analysis of the median earnings for residents of East Kent. The latest figures from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings relate to last year, 2014. They provide a useful guide to staff costs and salaries for full-time workers. The median full-time weekly earnings for workers living in Kent in 2014 was £541.40, above the national average of £520.80 but below the South East regional figure of £567.00. Residents of Thanet have the lowest median weekly full-time earnings, assessed at £450.90. Dover district resident earnings of £532.9 are a little under the Kent figure but comfortably over the GB rate by £12.10 a week.

16. Give Us The Facts

The table below shows the ranked resident based weekly earnings for the districts of Kent. Also added are the percentages of the population in each district with an education of NVQ4 and above as rated in February 2014 in the Annual Population Survey. For our purposes, NVQ4 can be described as the level above 2 A levels. The rankings are roughly as you might expect with the more educated earning a higher salary, although Canterbury and Ashford both show a marked difference of 5 places in their earnings and NVQ rankings.

17. Public Lecture In Canterbury

Canterbury Christ Church University is offering Chamber members free admission to a public lecture at Old Sessions House, Canterbury on the evening of Wednesday, 30th September 2015. Dr Ted Malloch will be offering insights on modern business practices under the title of ‘A Responsible Way to Reorient Global Business’. After four years at Yale University where he directed the Spiritual Capital Initiative, Ted Roosevelt Malloch is now a Fellow in Management Practice at the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford. While in a previous post of President of the CNN World Economic Development Congress, he was described by Margaret Thatcher as “a global Sherpa”. His time negotiating the commercial heights of Wall Street with Saloman Brothers and the diplomatic niceties in Geneva at the United Nations suggest that he will have some pertinent comments to make on the recent banking crisis, the prevailing attitudes to economic migrants and the duties of company directors.  To reserve your place, find the website http://www.canterbury.ac.uk/about-us/public-lectures/public-lectures.aspx and click on the box marked ‘DETAILS’

18. Ship or Bust

Chamber Chairman, Dr Bill Moses MBE, a renowned authority on all issues connected to the successful commercial operation of ports and ferries, offers his professional comments on the issues facing the Port of Ramsgate. He writes: “Talk of a freight ferry service pursued by the council leads us to ask whether resultant port activity handling unaccompanied trailers, nominal local employment, minimal income and inevitable road congestion would create anything more than a very small tick in the ‘port activity’ box? But is there an alternative and if so what could it be? It has been said many times before that councils should not be allowed to run businesses and the port of Ramsgate might be considered no exception. That stated, if the activity were to be properly structured, the benefit not only for the port but the local community could be very considerable. Take for example a passenger ferry service that if appropriately conceived and marketed could generate significant stimulus for local hotels, guest houses, restaurants, retailers and attractions. As well as generating reasonable port revenue, the exponential benefit of a relatively small percentage of passengers staying and spending money in East Kent could be very considerable; revitalizing high streets and creating direct and indirect employment on a large scale. In the meantime, turning the ferry terminal into a Sheerness overspill car park does little to convince anyone that fortunes are improving, least of all council tax payers. The terminal appears sadly neglected and by all accounts it is. But, while some aspects of deterioration are clearly visible, the increase in siltation, exacerbated by a lack of scouring caused by ships coming and going, is less obvious. Dredging is an unavoidable legacy which will cost a considerable amount to rectify. A few ships entering the harbour from time to time is not the answer and certainly cannot compare with the benefits to us all of a professionally managed ferry passenger service.

19. Chamber Golf Day

The Chamber is pleased to report that 27 of the 30 places available to corporate teams of four players at our annual Chamber Golf Day have been booked or reserved. With just three team places left, Chamber member companies wishing to participate are asked to email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. as soon as possible. The Chamber Golf Day will again take place at Royal St George’s Golf Club Sandwich which has hosted 14 Open Championships and is the course featured as “Royal St Mark’s” in Ian Fleming’s book Goldfinger where James Bond plays the most famous golf match in the history of fiction. The 2015 Chamber Golf Day will feature a glittering array of prizes including a new Jaguar XE. We understand that unlike James Bond’s car in the film Goldfinger, the cars supplied by Barretts Jaguar of Canterbury should not give front seat passengers undue cause for concern; they do not have an exploding ejector seat.  For more news about Jaguar’s local partnerships and business contract hire offers, see http://www.barretts.canterbury.jaguar.co.uk/jaguar-for-business/business-partnerships.

20. Newcomer Of The Year

Chamber member Corporate Creations beat all the other newbies to be accorded the title of Newcomer of the Year at the British Promotional Merchandise Association 2015 awards. A regular at Chamber events, Corporate Creations Director Jean-François Chodecki has made a flying start to his new division following the early successes of Hot Craze, a self-confessed ‘supplier of gadgets and gizmos’. Corporate Creations offers to “design, create and procure the perfect unusual bespoke promotional gadget or product to represent your brand and get you noticed” and adds the enticing promise “All these value added services come at no extra cost to you.” More information can be seen on the company website at http://www.corporate-creations.co.uk/ and Jean-François’s beaming smile is available to view, also as a free service, at https://bpma.co.uk/bpma-conference-2015-winners.

21. Maritime Gaff

This edition of your chamber’s business bulletin has had a definite maritime theme; understandable perhaps from the largest business support body in the East Kent coastal business community after a challenging summer when our resurgent local economy has been unfairly restricted through congestion beyond our control. It was therefore refreshing to hear of the positive experiences of one Chamber member who returned from a reportedly wonderful cruise around the Caribbean, despite an unfortunate start to his vacation which he relates to us here. We have some doubts about this story, but we leave it to our good-looking and intelligent readers to judge for themselves. As our Chamber member put it: “This was the first time I had ever been on a cruise. My wife and I had always been happy enough with Butlins and why not?  Billy Butlin had a hotel in Cliftonville, you know, but we always went to Minehead. It used to flood sometimes which could be a little awkward, but the redcoats were marvellous and our children always had a great time when they were young. An uncle passed away last year and much to our surprise, as we were not that close, he left us a tidy sum and so we thought, we’ll buy some fancy clothes, get ourselves a passport and go on a cruise. On the first evening away from Miami, there was a formal dinner. Whether or not it was because we were first timers I have no idea, but we were invited to the captain’s table. Anxious not to make fools of ourselves, my wife and I put on our new evening outfits and arrived bang on time to be sat down either side of the captain. There he was in all his finery with an aperitif in his hand and there was me more used to a boiler suit and an adjustable spanner in mine. Keen to get the evening off to a friendly start, by way of conversation I said tentatively: ‘Captain, please tell me, do ships like yours sink often?’ He looked at me with a cold stare and replied. ‘No, sir, only once’”.  

© David Foley 13th September 2015

Your Business Bulletin from Thanet & East Kent Chamber

Thanet & East Kent Insider

22^nd June 2015   Issue No.: 212

1. Craig Mackinlay MP Speaks: Chamber Breakfast 26^th June 2015

The vast majority of our Chamber members will have already received news of our Chamber Business Networking Breakfast scheduled for 0730 – 0900 hrs on Friday, 26^th June 2015. The main speaker will be Craig Mackinlay MP whose constituency includes areas with maritime, rural and urban businesses in the districts of Dover and Thanet. A chartered accountant, chartered tax advisor, Justice of the Peace and charity trustee, Craig is also a keen sailor with his own ideas for stimulating the economy of East Kent. As a Chamber President working alongside Charlie Elphicke MP and Sir Roger Gale MP, Craig will be happy to answer questions at the end of his presentation and warmly welcomes close links with the business community. The price of £15 includes coffee on arrival and a full English breakfast with a vegetarian option. Booking is essential. To reserve your place, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject line: “Chamber Breakfast 26^th June 2015”. Full details of the venue near Sandwich will follow with confirmation.

2. Did You Get a Share of £40 Million?

Last month’s Chamber Business Networking Breakfast entitled “Get a Share of £40 Million” showcased the latest plans for Betteshanger Sustainable Parks. Chamber members from a wide variety of sectors heard how they could become a supplier to this landmark development which promises to combine the latest advances in sustainable technology with a respectful celebration of its previous heritage at the heart of the East Kent mining community; a UK first. In a brilliantly succinct presentation, Director Richard Morsley outlined how local companies could benefit from the £40 million project at every stage of its construction. On completion, there will be attractive opportunities for green technology companies and firms in the food and drink industry. Betteshanger Business and Commercial Park will provide 6,700 square metres of internal space in separate units with a mix of serviced accommodation and units for start-ups. A focus on B1 (a) and B1 (b) accommodation will accompany tenancy agreements based on an “easy-in, easy-out” formula. The Food Hub Centre is expected to attract owners of food businesses with pioneering objectives who are keen to develop and bring new products to market with the support of display areas for B2C and B2B promotions. All buildings will conform to BREEAM standards, the world's foremost environmental assessment method and rating system for buildings. Private sector investors expecting a median 5% return from year six rising to 8% have received some assurance from the wholehearted backing from local and national government. With Hadlow College managing the education campus,the only college in Kent to be both Ofsted ‘outstanding’ and an LSIS Beacon provider, tenants there will have fully committed professional expertise on site.

3. Contract Law Seminar

As promised in our previous business bulletin, Chamber Members attending last week’s seminar, ‘Introduction to Contract Law’ were treated to a rich diet of legal insights that will inevitably give them a significant advantage in future negotiations and correspondence with customers and suppliers. Commercial advice and insights of the highest quality flowed from Irfan Baluch, contract law specialist at Cripps LLP which has offices in London, Tunbridge Wells, Kings Hill and Sandwich. Breach of contract, agency agreements, non-disclosure agreements, memoranda of understanding, heads of terms, ‘the battle of the forms’, what you should and, of equal importance, what you should not put on your invoice were all featured in a veritable tour de force of professional advice that proved conclusively the contention that “If you do not understand the basics of contract law, you do not understand modern business and you are vulnerable to those that do.” Inspired by how to protect their company and increase its profitable trading, chamber members were full of praise for the seminar and its presenter. There is little doubt of the demand for it to be repeated before too long.  Irfan can be reached by telephone to Cripps, tel: 01892 515 121, or via the website at www.cripps.co.uk.

4. Lord Digby Jones

The Chamber was the guest of Wilkins Kennedy for an evening at Leeds Castle with Lord Digby Jones. For six and a half years, he was the outspoken Director General of the Confederation of British Industry. One of his predecessors was Sir Howard Davies, the current Chairman of the UK Airports Commission and John Banham who later served as Chairman of Tarmac, Kingfisher plc and Johnson Matthey. Determined to be his own man and refusing to join any political party, he used his experience as a senior partner at Edge & Ellison, a Birmingham-based firm of lawyers, to flummox Jeremy Paxman soon after his appointment by telling him that he had never been interviewed on television before. Indeed, he was brought up as the son of the owner of a corner shop in Alvechurch, near Birmingham and claims that this is where he learned the fundamentals of his business creed. It obviously served him well as he progressed through the ranks to be successively a student, a Probation Officer and Assistant Physiotherapist followed by three years in the Royal Navy. After graduating from University College London, somewhat unkindly dubbed by the local rival King’s College as “that Godless institution in Gower Street", he spent 20 years advancing from being an articled clerk to a senior partner. A fierce critic of protectionism, his many appearances in the media saw him berate the public sector for its inefficiencies. A knighthood in the 2005 New Year’s Honours list was followed a few years later by his appointment as Minister of State for UK Trade & Investment and elevation to the peerage as Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham Kb. Now with a string of executive and non-executive posts to his name, he makes regular appearances on the BBC as a business trouble-shooter or commentator on the day’s newspapers. Many Chamber members will agree with his much quoted lines that: “if fundamental reform does not take place, from working practices right through to pension provision, we will end up with an ever-diminishing private sector trying to pay for, and provide pensions for, an ever increasing and inefficient, unproductive, self-interested public sector” and yet most will surely take issue with his unreasoned support for Aston Villa FC, now to be found languishing in the lower reaches of the Premier League; surely a misjudgement and one that he shares with our current Prime Minister, another Villa fan who has yet to appreciate the qualities of our East Kent teams.

5. Who Pays The Ferryman?

We are grateful to Dr Bill Moses MBE for his comments submitted to the Chamber on an issue at the heart of East Kent ferry industry. Of appeal to anyone with the best interests of our local economy at heart, here is what he wrote. “For those connected with cross-Channel business there has been a rather long, some would say arduous debate to observe in slow motion. I refer of course to the authorities’ analysis of the MyFerryLink, a company born from the ashes of SeaFrance with ships funded by Eurotunnel and yet leased, manned and operated by a workers’ société coopérative et participative, or SCOP. It was arguably anyone’s guess whether it was reasonable for Eurotunnel to be associated with a surface operation as well as a fixed link but it was a brave move at least and one with logic; part insurance policy for those occasions where traffic diversion is required, an opportunity to cater for freight operators who have always preferred to spread their favours and in addition a way to accommodate hazardous cargo, a no-no for the fixed link. Alas, it was not to last despite a last-minute reprieve. The ships were instead consigned to DFDS, a move that results in a rare two-operator service from Dover, a port that has been more used to three players almost since the advent of the roll-on, roll-off ferry services in the early 50s. Earlier cries from those who monitor and legislated on competition put the customer first in an earnest effort to ensure that he or she was not disadvantaged. In truth MyFerryLink has provided a valuable, service-oriented and competitive operation with no evidence that passenger and/or freight clients have been deprived. The story is of course not over yet. DFDS will become the prominent if not largest surface operator and with two more likely to rationalise capacity than three, it is difficult to imagine that frequency will increase. And on those occasions when Operation Stack becomes a necessity the challenge posed by increased post-recession freight volumes and capacity more accurately tuned to demand may lead to a greatly increased test for Kent County Council.” 

6. Broadstairs Folk Week

Famous far beyond its town boundaries, Broadstairs Folk Week has become the jewel in the crown of Kent Festivals. Celebrating its 50th year this summer, the festival makes a huge impact on businesses in a wide variety of sectors.  A 2012 independent survey by Kent County Council calculated that the business impact of Broadstairs Folk Week was £2.3 million and the sum will surely have risen since then. Festival Director Jo Tuffs reminds the Chamber that it all began through the efforts of the Folk pioneer Jack Hamilton who: “… arrived in Broadstairs and knew at once this was the perfect place. Funding came from the Council who provided a £100 deficit guarantee. The English Folk Dance and Song Society provided a £50 grant.” It has grown somewhat since then. The 50^th Anniversary Festival from 7^th to 14^th August 2015 will offer over 500 events including concerts, dances, parades, a craft fair, a children's festival, morris dancers in venues ranging from the 600-seater concert marquee in the town’s park to the more intimate Sailing Club on the seafront. Almost every aspect of folk culture will be represented, both a massed Ukelele Band and English clog-dancing with the Demon Barbers. Jo has unstinting praise for “an amazing army of volunteers without whom Folk Week would not happen” and adds: “There are now over 230 of them and there are still a few vacancies for anyone who would like to join for 2015.” If you already know the difference between your Broonzies and your Belshazzar’s Feast or would just like to get more involved as a volunteer, spectator or supporter, give Jo a call, tel: 01843 604080, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. More details are available on the website at www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk

7. Dredging Up The Truth In Ramsgate

Observant Chamber members with an interest in all things maritime may well have seen a grab dredger working in Ramsgate harbour recently in preparation for the installation of pontoons for small boat owners in the Western gulley of the outer harbour and latterly a near never ending attempt to influence the mountain of sand alongside the end of the East pier. But there is a misconception about this energetic little dredger. For the uninitiated onlooker, the Mannin bears such an uncanny resemblance to the dredger Ramsgate that served the port for many years, that many believe it is actually her. Alas, it is not the Ramsgate, pensioned off by the Council in 2008 for the princely sum of £66,000, a mere bagatelle and a tiny fraction of what the Council is now obliged to spend on third-party dredgers. The absence of ‘natural scouring’ by regular arrivals and departures of a ferry means that the silt is increasing; yet despite this the major part of the ports dredging needs have been struck from the budget. The result is that if a ferry service is attracted to the port, ‘catch-up’ dredging could result in a very costly inauguration. And what news you may ask of the often maligned, life-expired, Ramsgate? She’s as active as ever, renamed Helle SAJ and doing sterling work in the Baltic.  Shame she’s not the Mannin after all you may ask, we do.

8. Best Warehousing

The Chamber will be a hosting a workshop focussing on best practice in warehousing. In an expanding economy and a burgeoning logistics sector in the Dover district and elsewhere in East Kent, commercial storage space is under increasing pressure. It is particularly important for warehouse owners and managers to ensure that they are making the best possible use of their assets. An informal session will take place on Tuesday, 21^st July 2015 from 1000 hrs and will focus on sharing ideas for increasing efficacy in shipping, receiving, putaway and picking as well as recent developments in WMS (warehouse management system) software. For more details email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or telephone 01843 609289.  

9. Term Time Holiday

One senior Chamber member at a long established but fast growing company in the IT sector has contacted the Chamber with some heartfelt concerns “for small and medium businesses in complying with the restrictions on term time holidays.” He adds: “For many small businesses the employer is faced with a stark choice of either allowing a significant number of personnel to be absent at the same time or denying their employee’s children a family holiday. The problem is compounded as employees try to coordinate their leave not only with their own colleagues, but with that of their partners and their colleagues who are often working for similar sized organisations with the same problems. The value of education and the work of teachers should not be underestimated, it is essential for the success of business to have a supply of intelligent, educated school leavers, however the implication that allowing an eight year old a few days holiday in June 2015 is going to have a detrimental impact on that person’s skills in 2025 is unsubstantiated; however denying that child a holiday does put heavy strains on relationships between employers and staff, families and finances.” We welcome further comments from businesses across East Kent and will pass these to our Chamber Presidents who represent your interests in the House of Commons.   

10. How Do We Measure Unemployment?

The Chamber traditionally quotes the Claimant Count as a reliable guide to the evolution of our local economy. It is based on the exact number of people registered for benefits at our UK Job Centres each month and therefore provides accurate data from which meaningful comparisons can be made. The other main measure of unemployment is the Labour Force Survey (LFS); a statutory requirement of membership of the European Union that also allows for cross-border analysis on an equal basis. Although traditionally quoted in the media as our official unemployment rate, the LFS is at best a good guess based on a quarterly sample survey without a lot of detail.  If we accept that the three main UK economic indicators are the exchange rate, the interest rate and the unemployment rate, the only measure available every month for every geographical area, from the village in which you live to Great Britain as a whole, is the unemployment rate expressed in the Claimant Count. The Chamber has been monitoring these figures in East Kent closely for more than 8 years. A comparison of the latest data compared to the same period for the last two years is a reliable guide to our progress in the East Kent coastal business community.

The figures clearly show that unemployment for 16 – 64 year olds has more or less halved in the last two years, an encouraging picture for us all.

11. What About Youth Unemployment?

Although youth unemployment in Thanet is still the highest in the South East and remains an especial concern for 18 – 24 year olds at its current level of 5.6%, there has been a dramatic fall since May 2013 when 12.5% was the figure quoted by the Office for National Statistics and it had been 14.0% in September 2012. Similarly, there has been a sharp fall since May 2013 in Dover from 8.2% to 3.7%, Shepway from 7.0% to 3.4% and Swale from 8.6% to 3.8%.

12. Have We Never Had It So Good?

Harold Macmillan is still remembered today for his 1957 speech when he claimed: “Let us be frank about it: most of our people have never had it so good". That is not yet true of East Kent, but there is no doubt that we have made a good start with a sustained improvement in the business climate. National economic recovery policies have been a significant element; more money for investment, increased confidence in our institutions, positive fiscal reforms and confidence from consistent results that have outperformed other G7 nations.  Nevertheless, most commentators are agreed that this country has a systemic weakness in skills. Perhaps we have been fortunate in East Kent to benefit from the revival of East Kent College in Thanet, Dover and Shepway and many good and outstanding schools throughout the area. But skilled school-leavers, improving Further Education and more money available from the banks do not in themselves explain why unemployment has fallen across our region by nearly 50% in the last two years.  For this we must thank the key decision-makers who generate the wealth. These are the owners and managers of our established companies, the brave entrepreneurs who start new companies here and the inward investors who chose East Kent rather than any other part of the world. Lord Digby Jones, see above, is one of many who remind us all on a regular basis that the government has no money of its own except for what it confiscates in taxes from those who generate the wealth. If our strong upward growth is to continue and if we wish to maintain and improve our schools, hospitals and the fundamental infrastructure of East Kent, we should be nice to these wealth-creators or they might go somewhere else where a warmer welcome is on offer. Our message to key decision-makers at all levels of government in every political party is surely something along the lines of “You may wish to hug a hoodie from time to time, but do not forget to back our businesses in East Kent.”  In our popular television soap operas like East Enders and Coronation Street, company owners are often portrayed as unattractive characters with unsavoury habits, but without the money private companies generate, there would be no ITV and probably no BBC either. Mike Baldwin did have his good points.

13. Manston Update

Last Wednesday in a marquee located next to the runway, the Chamber joined BBC South East, ITV Meridian and Heart Radio to hear the latest news about the development of the Manston Airport site. On the platform were Ray Mallon, Chris Musgrave and Trevor Cartner. Their plans have a number of key features. Firstly, the site has been renamed Stone Hill Park with the name Manston dropped from future descriptions. With 200 acres designed to be attractive to advanced manufacturing companies, the owners envisage creating 4,000 jobs over a 20 year period in “a cluster of industries that work well together”. The plans include the provision of an East Kent Sports Village with an Olympic-sized 50 metre swimming pool, supplemented by a training pool of 25 metres in length.  Continuing the sporting theme, an outdoor surfing facility is promised which is reported to be sadly lacking in the South East of England. Safeguarding the future of the Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum has been achieved through gifting the freehold to the trustees and the Stone Hill Park owners expect to undertake a similar donation to the RAF Museum next door. Respect for the heritage of the airfield has provoked the allocation of 200 acres as a greenfield site where vintage aircraft may land on a grass strip, as was the case in the early days of the airport.  Chris Musgrave and Trevor Cartner have noted the interest shown by film producers acutely short of space at Pinewood Studios. The prospect of the interior shots of a James Bond film taking place in a purpose-built film studio was not viewed as fanciful, although Ray Mallon’s suggestion that Trevor Cartner might play the lead role did not receive much response from the audience or indeed the would-be actor. The final piece in the jigsaw is the residential part of the site which is expected to accommodate 2,500 homes. Trevor Cartner predicted that these would bring an annual income to Thanet District Council of £4 million. Added to a new homes bonus of £24 million, Trevor is confident that the plans will be accepted and that a Compulsory Purchase Order will be successfully rejected. As for the prospects of a revived airport, he said: “What would it do for the social and economic fabric of the area- not a lot.” He added later: “The CPO is in pieces now. I know that people aren’t stupid” and “A CPO will fail. It will not see the light of day.” Ray Mallon and Trevor Cartner reserved some harsh words for those people supporting the return of mainline aviation activity to the site stating that any CPO or similar would require a huge sum in financial backing: “£76 million or no game on”. Local politicians objecting to the Stone Hill Park scheme were labelled as “Irresponsible in the extreme”, operating from misguided principles and “all because we had elections in May”. There were several references to what was perceived as a succession of past failures at Manston: “Previous passenger airlines, more comebacks than Frank Sinatra”. When questioned on how achievable the project is, Trevor Cartner expressed himself as being certain of delivering the scheme, echoing Ray Mallon’s words earlier that: “We can prove beyond reasonable doubt that the scheme is deliverable”.

14. Sporting Life

With so much construction taking place in East Kent, one Chamber member, whom we shall call John, felt compelled to join in and build an extension to his house. We have our doubts about this story, but we leave it to Chamber members to judge for themselves. “It was a few weeks ago and I thought it is about time I had a clear out of the garage before converting it into part of a two-bedroom annex. As always with a new supplier, I turned to the classified section of my Chamber diary. There was a long list of telephone numbers under the heading ‘Building Services & Construction’. I picked the nearest and dialled the number. ‘Hello’, said a female voice, ‘Can I help you?’. ‘Yes please’, I said, ‘I want a skip outside my garage door’. She paused for a moment and then answered sharply, ‘Well, we won’t stop you’ and promptly put the phone down. Can you believe it?”  No John, but thank you anyway.

© David Foley 22^nd June 2015