Your Business Bulletin from East Kent Chambers of Commerce

30^th April 2020     Issue No.: 220

1. Recovery & Resilience Webinar for Companies 6 May 2020 at 1500 hrs

The Chamber is offering an expert briefing on how companies can respond and recover from a crisis. Horizonscan is a global leader in advising blue-chip companies on crisis management, winning a place in the CIR Risk Management Hall of Fame alongside Vodafone and Aviva for its pioneering approach to managing risk. Chief Executive Russ Timpson will offer advice and guidance to all participants. The webinar is free to all Chamber members as well as their associates, suppliers and clients. To register your place, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject line “Recovery Private Sector 6 May 2020” and quote the email addresses of the participants. You will receive a prompt acknowledgement and full joining instructions will follow before 6 May 2020.

2. Recovery & Resilience Webinar for the Public Sector 7 May 2020 at 1500 hrs

The Chamber is offering an expert briefing on how public sector bodies in East Kent can respond and recover from a crisis. This webinar is open to East Kent councillors, council officers, NHS staff, government employees, care home managers and workers in the public sector. Horizonscan is a global leader in advising organisations in a wide variety of sectors, Chief Executive Russ Timpson will consider government best practice at home and overseas and offer detailed guidance on crisis management for public bodies. The webinar is free to all participants with an email address at a government-funded body. To register your place, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject line “Recovery Public Sector 7 May 2020” and quote the email addresses of the participants. You will receive a prompt acknowledgement and full joining instructions will follow before 7 May 2020.

3. PPE Crisis in East Kent

We thank all those Chamber members who have contacted us with offers of support for our care workers in East Kent. Our doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, medical orderlies, carers, NHS staff and all front-line workers are battling above and beyond the call of duty in their efforts on our behalf. Many East Kent companies have responded generously with a range of skills and practical support and we thank them unreservedly for their whole-hearted commitment and community spirit. Offers of Personal Protection Equipment have been warmly welcomed. We have also received urgent requests for PPE from managers working in medical centres, care homes and hospitals. As a result, with other committed bodies we are looking to organise a scheme whereby the supplier and users are brought together on a local East Kent basis. This is intended to supplement and not replace any current channels.

4. PPE Crisis Response

The East Kent PPE (EKPPE) scheme seeks to break the logjam between PPE suppliers and PPE purchasers. EKPPE will not engage in financial transactions between parties nor will it invoice for goods, handle payments or engage in financial responsibilities of any description; these functions remain a commercial arrangement between supplier and purchaser. EKPPE will conduct some limited screening to monitor specifications, suppliers and purchasers but neither EKPPE nor the Dover District Chamber of Commerce can accept liability for any aspect of the service. EKPPE will make every effort to respond promptly to every request with goodwill and efficiency but it may not always be possible to provide a match between demand, supply and delivery. We ask that all communications should be sent by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the correct subject line and at a specified time period as follows:

PPE Requirement

Between 1700 and 1800 hrs from organisations needing PPE.

PPE Supplier

At any time of day or night. From organisations or individuals who can supply PPE.

PPE Transport

Between 0700 hrs and 1100 hrs. From organisations able to pick up and deliver PPE within East Kent.

PPE Volunteer

From logistic professionals able to offer administrative skills in support of EKPPE.

All organisations and individuals communicating with EKPPE agree that operations will conform to UK government advice and guidelines as outlined at https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus. They also agree that their contact details and their emails can be shared with other EKPPE users. Without express written permission, EKPPE will not use the data for any marketing purpose other than to advertise the service and to communicate with other EKPPE users.

5. Why do we need EKPPE?

Given the current mismatch between PPE supply and demand, it is extremely difficult for the UK government to record and respond to the local need by a care home in Dover for 2 boxes of 100 large latex-free premium vinyl examination gloves or by a mental health charity in Ramsgate for 100 FFP face masks or a doctor’s surgery in Deal needing 50 x 500ml bottles of hand sanitiser. The skills and professional resources available to the East Kent Chambers of Commerce suggest that we have a reasonable chance of meeting some of those needs, thus reducing the pressure on the NHS and all that entails. We have already found a source of approved face masks at £1.10 each ex-works; similar products have been seen for sale retail at £10.00 per unit. EKPPE represents an opportunity for furloughed workers, skilled professionals, established suppliers and committed volunteers to join us in a short-term response designed to mitigate long-term damage to our East Kent community.

6. East Kent Chambers of Commerce Media Watch

Although managed and financed separately, Dover District Chamber of Commerce and Thanet & East

Kent Chamber are often asked to comment on business issues relating to companies trading in East Kent. Under the banner of East Kent Chambers of Commerce, we do our best with media organisations to reflect the needs and interests of companies operating in our East Kent coastal business community. Last year, we received much attention from overseas channels wanting to know local attitudes towards our imminent departure from the European Union. The importance of East Kent to many other non-EU members was illustrated by the visit to the Dover Chamber by a team from Dagbladet, Norway’s leading newspaper. Domestically, BBC Radio Kent, BBC Television, TRT World News, ITV Meridian and Sky News were all keen to hear the authentic voice of Chamber members.

7. That’s past history, what about this year?

All history is in the past, that is why it is called history. As for East Kent’s future, the year 2020 began in splendid fashion with some companies forecasting their best-ever returns. The promise of The Open in July 2020 and an expected growth in property, manufacturing and tourism had given cause for considerable optimism. Indeed, our foreword to the 2020 East Kent Business Directory made a specific request. “Let’s be especially nice to our visitors this year. They come here, they spend their money and they go away again”. Of course, since the beginning of the lockdown on 23^rd March, they stopped coming, they stopped spending their money and so many revenue-earning opportunities stopped too. Our feedback from Chamber members was featured on ITV Meridian News when we stated that: “If this goes on beyond the middle of June, then this will have a severe cascading effect on the whole of the local economy”. Some well-established companies such as George Hammond PLC of Dover and Shepherd Neame of Faversham can rely on their strong balance sheets, well-managed property portfolios and enlightened staff relations to have every confidence in retaining their customer base when travel restrictions are lifted. Shepherd Neame will certainly retain much goodwill after reopening its on-line shop earlier this week and promising a donation to the NHS for every transaction completed before the end of May. Other businesses of more recent vintage may not survive if the lockdown endures for longer than three months. Standing costs, interest charges and the potential consequences of wrongful trading may see some companies go to the wall however generous and understanding the government might be with small business rates relief, small business grant funds and guaranteed loans.

8. What can I do now to help me and my organisation?

The short answer is of course, to sign up for our webinar on Resilience and Recovery where you will hear practical, easy to follow guidance on how to safeguard your future and protect your ROI from being RIP. If you have difficulties in understanding your business continuity insurance, contact James Marrett at Ideal4U Insurance, email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., who will be happy to explain the basics to you. Similarly, if your tax position requires a review or you need to extend your financial year without penalty, then one of the following will be pleased to advise: John Humphries at JHL Accountants Dover, tel: 01304 216296; Harry Kemp at Kemps Accounting Solutions Broadstairs tel: 01843 861188; Michael Whittaker at McCabe Ford Williams Herne Bay tel: 01227 373271; Mark Minus of MHA MacIntyre Hudson Canterbury tel: 01227 464991; Christopher Weston of Neville Weston Ramsgate tel: 01843 594571; Derek Read of Wilkins Kennedy Sandwich tel: 01304 249997.

9. Be Like Brian

If you are not free for one of our webinars and you have no elderly neighbours requiring medicines, shopping or help with their social-distancing arrangements, you may like to take a leaf out of the book of Brian Dale of Total Jobs Contracts Ltd. On learning of the lack of face shields at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, earlier this week he and fellow director Bradley Dale sourced, purchased and delivered 1,200 face shields with another 1,500 to follow. We salute you Brian and Bradley. You have been an inspiration to the founding of EKPPE and we will be doing our best to follow your example.

10. Update Your IT Skills

Not everyone is gifted at database management or setting up video conferencing for their staff and clients and not every computer whizz wears dirty jeans, manky trainers and an old t shirt. If you need to upgrade your on-line presence with the assistance of specialists wearing clean shirts and proper footwear, contact one of the following: Andrew Ward of ADM Computing Canterbury tel: 01227 473511: Martin Hynes of Business Computer Solutions Ltd of Ramsgate tel: 01843 572600; Chris Maflin of Cariss (ICT) Broadstairs tel: 01843 823724; Steve McManus of Coastal Data Systems Ramsgate tel: 01843 823324; Mark Styles of Communicate Technology PLC Sandwich tel: 01740 661066; Richard Salter of Think Big Tech Sandwich tel: 01843 570000.

11. Update Your Premises

Since acquiring the Charles Dickens pub in 1975, Thorley Taverns has expanded its network of pubs, bars, restaurants and hotels to include 22 premises on our East Kent coastline. Taking advantage of the absence of guests and customers, company chairman Frank Thorley is determined to use the unencumbered access to refurbish and upgrade many of the establishments. The UK pub and restaurant sector has been hit hard by the lockdown. Except for a few off-licence sales and take-away meals, our East Kent pubs have witnessed their revenue fall to near zero and they may be scheduled to be among the last to be fully accessible to the public again. Shepherd Neame and Thorley Taverns have been big investors in East Kent, as evidenced by the large sums spent recently on The Lord Nelson in Dover, The Minnis at Minnis Bay, the Bell Hotel in Sandwich, The George in Broadstairs and The Botany Bay in Kingsgate.

12. What are Bounce Back Loans?

On Monday of this week, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, announced a new 100% government backed loan scheme for small business. In brief, we have been informed that from 4 May 2020, businesses will be able to apply for a loan on a simple, website form and be guaranteed a prompt response “within days” with no obligation to make any repayment for the first year during which period the UK government will pay any interest charges due. This initiative should address directly some of the cash-flow problems experienced by small businesses. Its success can be measured by how quickly the promised cash arrives in the applicant’s bank account. If it takes less than a week, we can expect a significant number of jobs to have been saved. Of course, the problem with a loan is that you have to pay it back eventually and Chamber members will have to consider carefully their latest business plan and likely revenues; not an easy task.

13. More on Grants, Loans and Cash

We have received many enquiries from Chamber members regarding their entitlement to financial support during the COVID-9 crisis. In most cases, the answer has been a resounding “Yes, you are” and the telephone call has ended with all parties happy. There is now a government checker website where you can be directed towards the financial resources to which you are entitled. Just log on to https://www.gov.uk/business-coronavirus-support-finder/y, answer a few questions and you may get a pleasant surprise.

14. File Sharing

With so many people working from home, there has been an increase in file transfers over the Internet between staff members of the same company. We understand that on occasions large graphics files can get lost in cyberspace with potentially disastrous results in terms of data security and intellectual property. The same team at ProjectFusion that created the Digital Court Room and Client Portal for compliance-led industries now offers a file transfer service dubbed “safedrop” which can send and receive files of up to 10Gb in size in complete safety. Conforming to ISO27001, safedrop offers a range of pricing to suit different budgets and claims the Home Office, Hampshire County Council and prestigious solicitors among its many happy clients. For more details, see the website at https://www.safedrop.com or telephone 0207 739 4352. On the same theme of document safety, the GDPR police can also nab you and up to 4% of your global turnover for mislaying printed data. Turtle Document Management can spare you the embarrassment and financial loss by collecting your paper and metal waste and disposing of it all securely and in conformity with UK legislation. Based in an indubitably super attractive oast house near Cranbrook, Turtle Document Management operates throughout Kent, Sussex and the home counties and would welcome the opportunity to collect the waste from any company trading in East Kent. Managing Director Darren Townsend will welcome your email enquiry to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. but if you wish to speak to him on the telephone, he can be reached on 01580 388188.

15. Local Support

One of the encouraging factors that has emerged from the COVID-19 crisis is that people and companies in East Kent do really care for each other and understand the importance of a sustainable economy. Dover District Council, Canterbury City Council and Folkestone & Hythe Council have reached out to businesses in their area. The same is true of the Members of Parliament in East Kent and we will be ever grateful for the guidance, goodwill and practical advice offered by Sir Roger Gale MP, Craig Mackinlay MP, Natalie Elphicke MP and Rosie Duffield MP. There is probably not a lot we can do in East Kent to address the issue of the leadership succession in North Korea, but there is much that has been achieved and will be achieved at a local level where we see more closely and more vividly what our problems are and how they can be overcome. Anthony Curwen has managed Quex Parks Estates with conspicuous success over many years. How he looks after seven farms so well with just three members of staff is a lesson to us all. When Anthony said earlier this week that “over centralisation concerns me” he is in effect placing a vote of confidence in our own capacity to work together in East Kent for the benefit of the whole community.

16. …. And Finally

When it comes to using limited resources to maximum advantage, there can be fewer better exponents than Switzerland. Denied many raw materials and without a seaport of its own, it manages to strengthen its currency year after year and offer a comfortable lifestyle to its citizens and workers. The cost of materials in Rolex Oyster watches is not very great, yet by applying brain power and astute business sense, they retail for £5,000 or more. One Chamber member contacted us last month with a story about Switzerland. We were not convinced of its veracity, but we leave it to our wise Chamber members to decide for themselves. He related: “The thing is you see, I was given this fancy Swiss watch for Christmas. It looked absolutely beautiful and I felt like a millionaire whenever I wore it. It said on the casing it was shockproof, waterproof and scratchproof. You can just imagine my disappointment when it caught fire”. He continued: “I cannot criticise Switzerland though with all those lovely mountains and tasty chocolates and of course the flag is a big plus”.

© David Foley 30^th April 2020

________________________________

David Foley

Chief Executive

Thanet & East Kent Chamber Limited

Dover District Chamber of Commerce

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Mob: +44 (0) 7967 284850

________________________________

It’s happening now, it’s happening in East Kent.

For details of membership, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Offices in Broadstairs, Sandwich and Dover.

For images from some recent events, see https://rosieantonphotography.co.uk/photos/chamber-of-commerce

Thanet & East Kent Chamber Limited (TEKC) is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 4518138. Correspondence address: Thanet & East Kent Chamber Limited, Kent Innovation Centre, Thanet Reach Business Park, Millennium Way, Broadstairs, Kent CT10 2QQ. Tel: 01843 609289. Registered Office: Innovation House, Discovery Park, Ramsgate Road, Sandwich, Kent CT13 9FF. Important: This email may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient it may be unlawful for you to read, copy, distribute, disclose or otherwise use the information used in this email. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, please telephone or email us immediately. Errors and omissions may occur in the contents of this email arising out of or in connection with data transmission, network malfunction or failure, machine or software error or malfunction, or operator error. TEKC accepts no responsibility for any such errors or omissions and you are advised to confirm the accuracy of the contents of this email before relying on it for any purpose. All the information in this email is written in good faith and believed to be correct at the time of writing. TEKC cannot be held responsible for any agreements, financial transactions or liabilities incurred in relation to any of the companies, organisations or events mentioned in this email. You are advised to seek the appropriate professional advice before undertaking any financial transaction or incurring any liability of any description. Our Privacy Policy is available at www.tekc.co.uk/privacy-policy   If you wish to stop receiving emails from us, please reply with the subject line "UNSUBSCRIBE".

Your Business Bulletin from East Kent Chambers of Commerce

25^th October 2019     Issue No.: 218

We are grateful to the many Chamber members who have expressed their views on the current negotiations regarding the future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union. Although there are clear differences of emphasis, there is widespread agreement among our ambitious companies on some key aspects.

1. Infrastructure

Whatever the outcome of the current discussions at Westminster and in Brussels, we welcome the recently announced new investment in our infrastructure. East Kent already benefits from the UK’s fastest train service, High Speed 1, but we have not always been blessed with the best trunk roads.
A cursory examination of the Dover Chamber’s archives reveals that since the year 1850 there have been many pleas for an improved thoroughfare between London and Dover. We are told by our many members in the logistics sector that they can drive from the outskirts of Glasgow to Dover in around 8 hours. But if they take the A2 route, the only time they encounter a red traffic light or a single carriageway is on the approaches to Dover. The news that funding for road-widening of the A2 between Lydden and Dover has finally been given the green light suggests that the stimulus of Brexit has had at least one benign effect on our transport network.
Before we get too self-satisfied, we should look at the incentive to economic development produced by the A16 that links Dunkerque to Abbeville by way of Calais, Boulogne-sur-Mer and Le Touquet. The road link between the French Channel Ports is in sharp contrast to the country roads along our Southern coastal route.

Of course, we have the advantage of being free to admire the picturesque Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway as we trundle behind farm wagons; although it can be disconcerting to a hard-working HGV driver, harassed by the twin dictates of a seasoned transport manager and a heartless tachometer, to be overtaken by the side of the road by a ninety-year old third-size steam locomotive travelling at 25 mph. The Folkestone to Honiton Highway scheme, first mooted in the 1950s, has been postponed by successive governments. Hansard reveals that plans for a Hythe bypass were recorded in 1985 as “suspended pending further review”.

2. Media Watch

In the last year, the Chamber has been approached by media organisations at home and abroad for comments on our local economy. Not all of them are hoping for forecasts of doom and gloom to enliven their bulletins. The organisations that come to East Kent to talk to us have the distinction of wanting to hear the truth about East Kent business and not the manufactured accounts by office-bound experts from outside the area who seemingly have the remarkable talent of knowing what East Kent business owners think without ever having talked to them. We are particularly grateful to the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Jon Cunliffe, for the meeting in Dover when in roundtable discussions with local hauliers and transport professionals he took back to government a fully informed view. As we noted at the time: “Sir Jon was treated to an insight into the economic factors determining success in East Kent and the vital role that Chamber members play in supporting employment and business growth.”

3. Norway

In September this year, we addressed the concerns of our trading relations with Norway. In a series of interviews, the Chamber was asked to comment on potential disruption at our ports. Jesper Nordahl Finsveen of Dagbadet, Norway’s leading newspaper, declared that half of the fresh salmon eaten in Britain is imported from Norway and serious delays could be ruinous to the trade. Chamber Director Tony Thompson and Chief Executive David Foley pointed to the contingencies measures in place and the key role of East Kent in feeding the UK’s industry and commerce. They could find no recent record of British workers or companies blocking the traffic at Dover. It was agreed that it is not in the interests of French or Norwegian companies to prevent their UK trading partners from buying their products

4. Our East Kent Community

here is not a Chamber member in our network who does not a help a community organisation in one way or another. Pilgrims Hospice, East Kent Mencap, The Bay Trust and Dover Counselling Centre may get the highest profile, but they are not the only charities supported.

Some of our Chamber members are foster carers and willing volunteers at their neighbourhood centres. Others give their time freely to their local hospitals, health trusts and various helplines. We were asked by Sky News about business sentiment regarding the number of migrants arriving on our East Kent coast this Summer. We acknowledged that the prime duty of a government is to protect its citizens and to safeguard its borders, but we also emphasised this country’s honourable history as a safe home for genuine refugees from an area of the world where their lives are in jeopardy.

The Chamber cannot accept every invitation to comment on East Kent business issues, but we are mindful that our members have every right to expect that their views will be represented at all levels of government.

5. Tourism

We are grateful to our Chamber Presidents, Sir Roger Gale, MP, Craig Mackinlay MP and Charlie Elphicke MP for their prompt response to the threat to East Kent tourism from the M2 closure at junctions 7 to 5 in July and August this year. We accepted that some disturbance is inevitable if our roads are to be improved and renewed.
Our objection was to the short notice and the timimg at the start of the summer holiday period. As we put in our letter to Highways England: “You do not need a Nobel Prize in Economics to assess the damage the proposed closures will cause the Thanet resorts of Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs at the height of the tourist season”. We are pleased to report that the intervention of our Presidents and the belated recognition of the importance of seasonal tousrism to our East Kent economy helped to mitigate the worst effects of the closures and will assist in encouraging greater liaison between the Highways Agency and our Chamber members in the future.

6. BBC & ITV

The BBC and ITV currently have a sharpened interest in our corner of the UK as it is closest to mainland Europe. In speaking to our national media outlets, we are aware that potential inward investors and some key clients of our members could be deterred from business ventures by alarmist predictions about East Kent’s future which are not based on solid evidence.

We are keen to present a balanced picture that reflects the good news about East Kent as well as outlining the challenges. Disaster scenarios that will probably never happen do not brighten our day but can still present some commercial opportunities for an enterprising business. Michael Caine used to say that he had been in some very bad films but had lived in some very nice houses. Thus, we were pleased to quote to viewers of ITV News the Port of Dover’s claim that 17% of the UK’s goods by value pass through the Port of Dover and that the companies that nourish East Kent are worthy of the government’s best attention.

7. East Kent and China

On 14th October 2019, the Chamber was delighted to welcome a delegation from the Yunnan Design Institute (YDI) to our research office in Sandwich. Founded in 1951, YDI has 1,700 staff dedicated to working on civil and industrial projects.
Organised in harmony with the UK’s Institute of Construction Management (ICM), discussions centred on how ICM's Competence Registry™® project could be adapted and extended for suitability on Beijing’s multi-billion Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which is targeted at investing a minimum of £750 billion in establishing a 21st century silk road linking 71 countries. The “Belt” refers to the overland network and the “Road” describes the maritime routes.
As the projected investment could rise to over £6 trillion, we can forgive any temporary confusion over names and look forward to supporting our good friends at ICM in their efforts to establish a global headquarters in East Kent from where the register can be administered.

8. New Members

TWe have been delighted to welcome so many new members to the Chamber this year. Property, training, transport and healthcare have been noticeable growth sectors. It is always gratifying to be associated with large successful companies such as Nissan, Marks & Spencer and Stagecoach as well as with well-established enterprises like George Hammond PLC and Dover Marina Hotel & Spa which have all supported so many jobs and suppliers in East Kent.

9. Healthcare

Healthcare has shown particularly sharp growth recently. New members Kent Cardio and Wren Healthcare are already known to many members from their activities earlier in the year. Less familiar is LifeCells which had its official launch at Discovery Park Sandwich two weeks ago.
You do not have to understand precisely what LifeCell’s means when it marvels at the “miraculous resilience of neonates”; it is much easier to grasp that stem cell technology offers the genuine hope of treating hitherto hopeless cases. LifeCells stores and preserves cord blood and tissue from new-born babies for later use in adressing life-threatening diseases. Any prospective parent might conclude that the capacity of Lifecells to preserve a child’s future through stem cell banking is worth investigating. If any member of your family is expecting to hear the pitter patter of tiny feet shortly, you can email Managing Director Jeffrey Vernes direct to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for further information. If the noise is from a mouse, get a cat.

10. EVENTS

Our events have been well attended this year. We are grateful to our speakers and presenters: Dr Konrad Grosser of Kent Cardio, Sally-Anne Spicer of Dover Counselling Centre, Brian Urwin of Think Healthy Me, Simon Baxter of LKM Recycling, Rob Lilly and Melanie Rogers of Vattenfall, Tony Freudmann of RiverOak Strategic Partnership, Russ Timpson of Horizonscan, Dr Sally Dixon of Azimuth Associates, Gareth Doodes of Dover College and Sam Gurney of Taylor Gurney Town & Country Real Estate Agents. We are also thankful for the many seminars and briefings provided, notably from Sir Jon Cunliffe of the Bank of England, Nic Wood of Life Feed Pro, Gary Burgess of FUJIFILM Speciality Ink Systems, James Marett of Ideal4U Insurance Services and Dean Martin of Your Leisure.

11. WIN A NISSAN QASHQAI CONNECTA

Our 18th Chamber Charity Golf Day will again be at Royal St George’s Golf Club Sandwich. With a top prize of a Nissan Qashqai Connecta, the UK’s top selling SUV, Teams will be keen to do their best around this famous course which will host the 149th Open Championship in July next year. As we have more players booked this year than last, we ask for the names of all players to be declared on or before 29th October 2019. Tee-off times for all teams will be despatched on 30th October 2019 so that members can prepare their excuses for missing that three-foot putt on the 18th hole in good time for the Golf Day on Tuesday, 5th November 2019. Nissan has a range of vehicles to suit all pockets including the all-electric new Nissan Leaf which can park itself at the touch of a button, the Nissan X-Trail with 5 or 7 seats and the Nissan 370Z which can reach 60mph in just over 5 seconds. Full details of all Nissan vehicles are available from Justin Newton at Canterbury Nissan, tel: 01227 766777.

© David Foley 30^th April 2020

________________________________

David Foley

Chief Executive

Thanet & East Kent Chamber Limited

Dover District Chamber of Commerce

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Mob: +44 (0) 7967 284850

________________________________

It’s happening now, it’s happening in East Kent.

For details of membership, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Offices in Broadstairs, Sandwich and Dover.

For images from some recent events, see https://rosieantonphotography.co.uk/photos/chamber-of-commerce

Thanet & East Kent Chamber Limited (TEKC) is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 4518138. Correspondence address: Thanet & East Kent Chamber Limited, Kent Innovation Centre, Thanet Reach Business Park, Millennium Way, Broadstairs, Kent CT10 2QQ. Tel: 01843 609289. Registered Office: Innovation House, Discovery Park, Ramsgate Road, Sandwich, Kent CT13 9FF. Important: This email may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient it may be unlawful for you to read, copy, distribute, disclose or otherwise use the information used in this email. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, please telephone or email us immediately. Errors and omissions may occur in the contents of this email arising out of or in connection with data transmission, network malfunction or failure, machine or software error or malfunction, or operator error. TEKC accepts no responsibility for any such errors or omissions and you are advised to confirm the accuracy of the contents of this email before relying on it for any purpose. All the information in this email is written in good faith and believed to be correct at the time of writing. TEKC cannot be held responsible for any agreements, financial transactions or liabilities incurred in relation to any of the companies, organisations or events mentioned in this email. You are advised to seek the appropriate professional advice before undertaking any financial transaction or incurring any liability of any description. Our Privacy Policy is available at www.tekc.co.uk/privacy-policy   If you wish to stop receiving emails from us, please reply with the subject line "UNSUBSCRIBE".

Your Business Bulletin from Thanet & East Kent Chamber

Thanet & East Kent Insider

7th February 2018   Issue No.: 217

1. Royal Harbour History Festival 2nd March 2018

David Gower, Henry Blofeld and other celebrities will be among the many well-known faces attracted to Ramsgate next June. Chairman of RHHF 2018, Victoria Nielson, will be joined at our Chamber Business Networking Breakfast by the owner of the Royal Harbour Hotel, James Thomas, to outline the benefits of heritage tourism to East Kent; a sector that adds over £20 billion a year to the UK economy. They will focus on the plans for the Royal Harbour History Festival, but Chamber members from across the region will find much of interest to help them promote their products and services in the next few years. The price of £15 for Chamber members includes a hot drink 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: “RHHF 8 March 2018”. Full details of the venue near Ramsgate will follow with confirmation.

2. Healthy Workers, Healthy Profits 22nd March 2018

The Chamber is delighted to welcome Andy Scott-Clark as a speaker at our Chamber Business Networking Breakfast on Thursday, 22nd March 2018. As Director of Public Health at Kent County Council, Andy has a strategic and community leadership role in promoting good health. His job description includes the need for him to “understand the link between economic success and good health”. He does. Chamber members will find the evidence he presents to be of significant value in their commercial and personal lives.  Although ultimately accountable to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, Andy is mercifully free of any active political role and is widely respected as a trustworthy and independent professional dedicated to improving the lives of all workers and residents in Kent.  The price of £15 for Chamber members includes a hot drink 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: “Healthy Workers Healthy Profits 22 March 2018” Full details of the venue near Sandwich will follow with confirmation. There will be plenty of time available to promote your products and services to other delegates.

3. Chamber Question Time 8th Match 2018

The ever-popular Chamber Question Time will take place at 1800 hrs in Dover on Thursday, 8th March 2018. Open to everyone with links to Dover, the panel of business experts will answer questions on a variety of pre-submitted questions. Organised along the lines of the BBC Question Time, it is expected that business rates and transport issues will be among the many topics given an airing. Entry is free of charge but reserving your place is recommended. Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject line “Dover Question Time” to receive a prompt response with confirmation of the venue in central Dover.  Questions should be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject line “CQT Question 8 March 2018”.

4. How Are We Doing?

As any Doncaster Rovers supporter will know, one of the great joys of being near the bottom of the league is that any win is greeted with delight. The marked year-on-year increase in registered unemployed in East Kent must foreshadow an improvement in the twelve months to December 2018. The lamentable figure of +37.5% for the Dover District is likely to reduce significantly before the end of the year. The opening of a large Lidl store in Whitfield should more than offset any redundancies by Tesco and of course the significant number of new jobs at the St James development will feed into the figures before 2019. Discovery Park, formerly occupied exclusively by Pfizer, now supports over 3,000 jobs in Sandwich and is set to attract more skilled employees as the dynamic new owners implement their plans to make these premises, “a global leader for science and enterprise”. Similarly, following an announcement last week, it is now official that the East Kent College Group will be the main and official provider of Further Education in Dover, Thanet, Shepway, Swale and Thanet. Building on East Kent College’s outstanding success in responding to the needs of companies across the area, we can now expect a coordinated approach to skills training that will serve to boost employment as the college leavers become better prepared for a more successful transition to the workplace. Medway outperformed Kent last year with the jobless total falling by 80, whereas every district of Kent increased its registered jobless in the year to December 2017; Maidstone suffering the least with just a 0.8% gain. Whether last month’s announcement by Shepway District Council that from April this year it will be rebranded as “Folkestone & Hythe District Council” [BBC News, 19 Jan 2018] will make any significant contribution to employment rates is open to speculation, but it will certainly help to attract inward investors. There is little doubt that Shepway is sometimes confused with Sheppey. The change will allow the local authority to sit neatly alongside other councils named after their principal population centres, as is the case with Dover, Canterbury, Maidstone and Ashford. Two areas remain a mystery to many from outside Kent. There are some who need to be convinced that Swale has nothing to do with a 1976 film featuring Clint Eastwood and that Thanet is not spelt with an initial “F”.

5. Give Us The Facts

Unemployment

   Based on the claimant count of jobseekers aged 16 – 64 years. Office for National Statistics (ONS) Jan 2017. See www.nomisweb.co.uk

6. High Speed May Be Medium Speed, But It's Ours

We are informed by Chamber members in East Kent that the High Speed railway line to London St Pancras has been a great asset, not only for fast rail travel to and from London, but as a unique selling point. Any company with a base near a High Speed station can justly claim to be accessible by train “via the UK’s only high speed train service”. With the delays to the construction of HS2 that advantage may persist for longer than was previously anticipated. Critics may complain that the HS1 domestic service did not become operational until 2009 and is High Speed in name only: the Shinkansen service was introduced to Japan in 1964 and the latest test version of JR Central’s Superconducting Maglev train has clocked 375 miles per hour while pulling seven carriages. If the SCMaglev were to replace the current Class 395 Javelin trains, such a service from the East Kent coast to London would barely leave time for passengers to read the headlines of a newspaper.  As the position stands now, Chamber members tell us that they are most interested in the fastest HS1 times to bring them to London between 0800 hrs and 0900 hrs on weekdays. As always, the Chamber is happy to oblige, see below.

7. Fastest HS1 Weekday Journey Times To London Arriving 0800 hrs - 0900 hrs

8. Media Watch

The Chamber welcomes opportunities to bring the views and interests of Chamber members to a wider public. We are often asked by printed and broadcast media for statements and interviews that have a bearing on the business climate of East Kent. Our good friends at the BBC South East and ITV Meridian are not alone in seeking to find out what is happening in the offices, warehouses and factories of our area. Although steadfastly apolitical in every aspect of our operations, the Chamber is inevitably asked to comment on matters such as Brexit, transport infrastructure and national policies. We do our best to support the local economy as a way of serving the best interests of our members. Comments on Tesco, Manston Airport, cross-channel bridge plans and corporate funding for charities can be found on the KMTV website at http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kmtv/video/chris-co-wednesday-24th-january-2018-11364/  With such a large trade imbalance with Germany, it is not surprising that the German national broadcaster should wish to access the thoughts of companies closest to the EU border. Das Ertse’s broadcast is available to view at http://www.daserste.de/information/politik-weltgeschehen/morgenmagazin/videos/brexit_2610nl_8000-100.html  Chamber members can make up their own mind if the interviewer’s questions on BBC Radio Kent were answered fairly on matters related to Dover retailers by listening to the broadcast of 27 January 2018. (Right click and save as to download)

9. Water and Business Stream

Many Chamber members will recall the presentation by Business Stream at our Chamber Business Networking Breakfast in February last year giving all those present notice of the imminent changes in the supply of water to commercial users in East Kent. Although the commercial water market in England was not fully opened to competition until April 2017, Business Stream has been operating in the deregulated water industry in Scotland since 2008 and can therefore claim more specialist knowledge and capability than any other UK water provider. The Chamber has been happy to introduce large users to key decision-makers at Business Stream who are able to offer competitive rates as well as advise on the significant savings that can be made by monitoring usage in greater detail. Sometimes the mere presence of Automated Meter Reading (AMR) meters can led to lower bills as well making leakages much quicker to spot and stop. Companies of all sizes can find more information on the website at https://www.business-stream.co.uk or contact the chamber by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for contact details of the appropriate Business Stream contact for your location.   

10. Water and Southern Water

The Chamber enjoys excellent relations with Southern Water and has been more than happy to represent the views of local companies at Southern Water Stakeholder workshops during the past year. Although its headquarters are firmly rooted in Worthing, Southern Water has made extensive efforts to forge closer links with East Kent firms and has reacted positively and quickly to matters raised by this Chamber. Extensive investment in new equipment at the Palm Bay Pumping Station has sharply reduced the risk of a repeat of the sewage dumping on the beaches that drew so much ire in the past from coastal hoteliers and retailers. As well as a concentrated focus on developing short and long-term plans for our area with a projected £6 million earmarked for investment in the main Thanet pumping station, Southern Water has also introduced many business-friendly initiatives designed to make it easier for developers and builders to work with them.  A prime example is the fixed cost schedule just introduced for charges to connect new homes to the existing network. For your copy of the new charges that come into effect later this year, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject line “Southern Water New Connection Charges”. For a copy of Southern Water’s latest plans to the year 2050, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject line “SW Water Futures”. We will respond promptly.  

11. Thanet Earth

We have often celebrated the successes of Thanet Earth and its contribution to domestic food production. At a time when companies throughout UK are calling for more workers with STEM skills, i.e. skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, we have in East Kent an outstanding example of excellence in Thanet Earth. Another greenhouse at this country’s largest hydroponic facility is expected to harvest its first crop of cucumbers this month, doubling the production on the Birchington site and significantly reducing our dependency on cucumber imports. At the sharp end of technological innovation in food production, A&A Growers at Thanet Earth has equipped the 6.1ha greenhouse with sodium lights and diffuse glass, a UK first in large scale salad production. As well as A&A, Thanet Earth is home to Kaaij Greenhouses, Rainbow Growers and the Fresca Group. Thanet Earth can teach a few companies about productivity too. Tomato production has now reached 15% of the UK planted tomato area but, such is the efficiency of its growing system, that the percentage of UK tomatoes grown is just under 25%. These technologically advanced companies on site have each made significant investments in East Kent and provide a beacon of enlightenment for every school leaver with an interest in STEM subjects who resists the temptation to believe that a lottery ticket or an appearance on a Simon Cowell talent show are the best routes to success.

12. General Data Protection Regulation

The provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) scheduled to enter law in the UK on 25th May 2018 stipulate some frightening fines, up to 20 million Euros in some cases, for companies that fail to abide by the new legislation. Chamber members who attended the ‘Love Your Data’ Chamber Business Networking Breakfast just before Christmas were treated to a bravura presentation by Colin Smith of Brachers LLP. In the best BBC traditions that would have delighted John Reith himself, Colin proceeded to inform educate and entertain chamber members on a difficult subject that should be of vital interest to public and private sector bodies alike. The Information Commissioner’s Office has yet to provide detailed guidance which complicates the matter further. The ICO currently states that: “In the future, standard contract clauses may be provided by the European Commission or the ICO, and may form part of certification schemes. However at the moment no standard clauses have been drafted”. [https://ico.org.uk] With this in mind, Chamber members will be keen to seek professional guidance before 25th May 2018 this year. Colin can be reached by telephone at Brachers LLP, tel: 01622 776451. Other law firms able to provide expert legal advice are Mowll & Mowll in Dover tel: 01304 873344; Cripps LLP in Sandwich tel: 01732 224006; Boys & Maughan in Margate tel: 01843 234000; Barnes Marsland in Broadstairs tel: 01843 861595; Anderson Law LLP in Shilligford tel: 07970 627439 and Chatalkoy Arbitration Litigation Mediation in Deal tel: 07778 067749.

13. East Kent Business Directory

The East Kent Business Directory and Chamber Diary 2018 features a detailed list of leading companies trading in East Kent together with a classified section making it easy to find a supplier in nearly every sector of our local economy. Published by the Thanet & East Kent and Dover District Chambers of Commerce, all registered Chamber members are entitled to a free copy. If you did not attend any of our events at the end of last year or for some reason have not received a copy, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will respond promptly. Handsomely bound with brass corners and a commentary on the previous year’s trading conditions, the 2018 publication has a wealth of useful information to make it an attractive and useful resource on your office desk. 

14. More On Manston

No matter on which side of the great Manston debate your views lie, aviation or mixed development, you will surely find a wry smile to greet the following account for which we must thank Alan Saunders. Of all the pilots who have escaped from the elements and landed their aeroplane safely at Manston in the last 100 years, there is one who has more reason than most to regret his decision. Uffz Heinz Ehrhardt was cruising home happily enough on his flight back to Germany when he ran into dense fog over the Thames estuary.  The date was 20 May 1943. The aeroplane was a Focke Wulf 190. With fuel running low, he mistook the north Kent coast for the Pas-de-Calais coast line. Landing at what he thought was the Luftwaffe aerodrome at St Omer, he was somewhat startled when he came to a halt in front of a Hillman staff car and was then summarily escorted to the dispersal hut of RAF 609 squadron. A photograph of a distinctly sheepish Ehrhardt flanked by his RAF Typhoon pilot captors appears on page 147 of Alan Saunders excellent book “Arrival of Eagles: Luftwaffe Landings in Britain 1939-1945”.

15. Boys & Maughan

After more than two centuries of serving the population of East Kent, you could think that an accumulation of dusty documents could restrict the space available at Boys & Maughan. After winning five accolades at the ESTAS Conveyancing Awards, new display cabinets might be required at their offices in Margate, Birchington, Broadstairs, Canterbury or Ramsgate.  Winners of the prestigious titles of Best Solicitors in Kent 2017 and best firm with two to five offices in the country, Boys & Maughan benefited from a survey of over 500 of their customers which revealed that 99% would be happy to recommend the conveyancing team to any family or friends moving home. We have not heard if Phil Spencer, the Channel 4 Property celebrity presenting the awards, advised on the location, location, location where the awards should be displayed, but we can be sure that Robert Moulsdale, Andrew Baker and the other 100 or so staff at Boys & Maughan will be up for the challenge to beat the record haul of 2017.  What is the reason for such a successful year? Conveyancing Partner Richard Durrant puts it down to: “… the incredible hard work that everyone puts in day after day”.

16. All Drivers Take Note

Many chamber members are engaged in the transport industry. We are always grateful to the Road Haulage Association for its regular updates. A recent notice will be of interest to anyone with a driving licence. “From March, drivers who ignore smart motorway lane closures face a £100 fine and three penalty points on their licence.”. Our good friends at the RHA have some pointed comments on the Foreign Secretary’s plan to build a bridge over the English Channel and note: “A similar proposal was rejected by the Government in 1981, and we think that we’re better off spending smaller amounts of money on improving our crumbling roads as well as opening more lorry parks. The Channel Tunnel and the ferry routes are working well within capacity, so it makes no sense to commit huge amounts of taxpayers’ money in an uncertain economic climate to a costly bridge project that we don’t need.” And so say all of us.

17. A Maritime Story

As established Chamber members will be aware, we end our business bulletins with a narrative which we are not always able to verify to the standards you have every right to expect from the leading business support body in the East Kent coastal business community. Although we are not able to confirm the following account from one of our distinguished Chamber members, you may well be curious about what we heard at our last Chamber business breakfast. “It was my great grandfather who was the musician. He took up the violin as a teenager and from the age of about 16, he was able to earn a few pennies playing popular tunes outside the North Western Hotel in Liverpool. He must have been about 18 when a gentleman emerged from the nearby Lime Street Station and paused to listen. That man was Frederic Cowen, the conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic, who was so impressed he subsequently sponsored my great grandfather to study music seriously and he thus became a double bass player in the junior section of the orchestra. That must have been around 1910. Anyway, the White Star Line was based in Liverpool and one of its directors had a passion for the double bass and arranged for my great grandfather to join the orchestra of the RMS Olympic which was due to arrive in Liverpool on 31 May 2011. I don’t really know what happened immediately after that except that my great grandfather was on excellent terms with the captain of the Olympic who took him to Southampton in April 2012. It was there that he joined the musicians of the Titanic for its fateful maiden voyage. Of course, we all know what happened next. As to whether my great grandfather was a great player, all I know is that my great grandmother always said he was very popular and went down well with the other members of the orchestra.” 

© David Foley 7th February 2018

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