Thanet & East Kent Insider

12^th February 2011      Issue No.: 143

1. Life After Pfizer

The next Chamber business networking breakfast will take place from 0730 to 0900 hrs at Pfizer Social & Sports Club Sandwich on Friday 11^th March 2011. Entitled “Life After Pfizer”, it will feature a series of short talks from senior figures who will advise on the business opportunities in East Kent following the announcement of the closure of the Pfizer site in Sandwich. We expect a large number of delegates to attend this event. More details will be available in the next week’s edition of this bulletin. Bookings will open on Wednesday, 16^th February 2011. Cost: £12 for Chamber members, £16 for non-members. To reserve your place, telephone 01843 609289 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The event is being organised jointly by the two largest business support organisations in the East Kent coastal business community, the Thanet & East Kent Chamber and the Dover District Chamber of Commerce.

2. Wanted 6 MW Power Station

An associate of the Thanet & East Kent Chamber is looking to purchase a 6MW power station for export to East Africa.  The ideal generator might consist of daisy chained caterpillar 1.5 MW 3516 engines, V16s. The buyer is particularly interested in any generator that has been used on stand-by applications with low hours completed. SWIFT Codes for all Banks in Australia If you are able to assist, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.with the subject line “TEKC 6MW Power Station”.

3. Dramatic Profits

Chamber member Sarah Thorne Theatre Club reports a 28% increase in paid admission receipts for the year to 31^st December 2010. Director Michael Wheatley-Ward must be the envy of heavily subsidised public theatres which have mostly struggled in recent years, despite considerable public subsidies. What’s his secret? It must be to balance artistic taste with commercial knowledge. Of course, it helps if you are supported by Sarah Thorne’s official patrons, Dame Judi Dench and David Suchet. Anyone who can call on the services of the redoubtable M and the mercurial Hercule Poirot is not going to have much trouble with sponsors changing their minds or anyone sneaking in without paying.

4. Public Lecture By Sports Minister

CanterburyChristChurchUniversity will be holding a public lecture on Friday 11^th March 2011 at 6pm at the Old Sessions House at the Canterbury Campus. Entitled “London 2012 and the opportunity for British Sport” delegates will hear the Minister for Sports and Olympics, Hugh Robertson MP, outline the benefits of the Olympics for Kent. Free parking is available on site in North Holmes Road after 5.30 pm. For more details, telephone 01227 782266.

5. More About Petrol

One topic which has exercised those little grey cells of members more than any other in the past year has been the price of petrol. The Thanet Surcharge remains at 3p per litre of unleaded. This means that the cheapest litre of unleaded petrol still costs 3p more in Thanet than in Canterbury. There may be no imminent prospect whatsoever that motorists and business in Thanet will take Egyptian-style umbrage at this injustice. We note however that on the last day of February the Facebook group ‘Keep Fuel Below £1’ is planning a Go Slow procession through the Dartford Tunnel to protest at the rising cost of fuel. The Thanet & East Kent Chamber could not possibly support any illegal activity of this nature and advises members not to join the group which is meeting at 8.00 am on 28^th February 2011 at A2/M2 Farthing Corner Moto Services in Medway.

6. News From Dover

What Is The Big Society? It seems as if everyone who defines The Big Society has a different definition. But how about this one from Philip Blond in The Independent of 9^th February 2011?  “The Big Society agenda is still not as widely grasped or realised across all departments as it should be – one important indication of the government's vision will be if the proposal from the Tory MP Charlie Elphicke to mutualise the port of Dover is accepted by the Department of Transport.” Does this matter for the rest of East Kent? It does when you consider that Ramsgate and Whitstable are also publicly owned ports. The Dover mutualisation plan involves establishing an immediate fund of £50 million to be invested in the local economy with another £50 million to follow. This would surely help to fulfill some of the holes in the commercial landscape occasioned by the withdrawal of Pfizer.

7. Energy Costs

We are grateful to Chamber member Martin Young of Atlantic Business Resources, tel: 08456 185088 mob: 07813 537456, for information on energy costs and trends. The latest E.ON Market Report comments on changes in the 12 month period to 31^st January 2011. The average front month power contract price increased by 25% over the twelve months. For gas, the increase was even higher at 36%. Oil prices over the year also rose sharply with the average front month contract price up 21% since January 2010. Civil unrest last month produced a spike of over USD 100 /bbl. There was little comfort for coal users. The average forward coal contract price was 25% higher last month than one year previously. E.ON informs us that: “more than 70% of UK power stations use coal or gas”. In a government publication, we learn from HM Revenue & Customs that “Suppliers of taxable commodities and others” are liable to account for Climate Change Levy (CCL). The increases will come into effect on 1 April 2011. For details of the new charges call the HMRC helpline tel: 0845 010 9000 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.with the subject line “TEKC HMRC CCL Changes 2011”.

8. Thinking Of A Holiday?

Kent Trading Standards regularly reminds us of the deviousness of man, with the occasional woman joining in to complete the picture of infamy, or as Kenneth Williams put it in Carry On Cleo: “Infamy, infamy! They’ve all got it in for me”. To avoid anyone deceiving you over free health care during your next holiday in Europe, you might like to keep well away from any dubious websites offering to charge you for a European Health Insurance Card. Medical treatment in EU countries is available for free or at reduced cost to UK residents visiting European Union countries or Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland if you have an EHIC card. To apply for your free card, visit www.ehic.org.uk.More details are available by telephone to 0845 606 2030 or from your local Post Office. For greater peace of mind, you might prefer comprehensive travel insurance cover to take account of a much wider range of eventualities. Contact Terry McDowell at A Class Insurance of Hersden tel: 0844 5449855 or Phil Day or David Brown at Millards of Sandwich, tel: 01304 613072.

9. Golf In April

Bookings for the Chamber Spring Golf Day at Prince’s Golf Club, Sandwich on 1^st April 2011 are arriving steadily at the Chamber. Teams of four players are invited to join the group of over 50 players already registered for this inaugural event which complements the established and now international Chamber Golf Day at the Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club on7th October 2011. For details, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.or telephone Graham Rayner direct, tel: 07899 873535.

10. A Class Insurance

Terry McDowell a partner at Chamber member A Class Insurance would like to advise all readers of the Thanet & East Kent Insider that as from 14^th February 2011, the company’s new address will be Unit 30, Evans Business Centre, Sparrows Way, Hersden, Canterbury, Kent CT3 4AL. Terry welcomes enquiries from clients new and old by telephone to tel: 0844 5449855 or by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

11. Have Your Say

Thanet & East Kent Chamber members are not famous for keeping quiet when their interests are at stake. If you live or work in Thanet, here is an opportunity to make your views known on crime to those in a position to do something about it. The Chief Inspector of Kent Police and the Community Safety Enforcement Manager invite you to one of a series of evening meetings to find out all about local crime and what you think should be done about it. All four events start at 1830 hrs and are scheduled to finish at 2000 hrs. We are grateful to Louise Askew of Thanet District Council for confirming the following dates and venues:

More details are available direct from Thanet District Council, tel: 01843 577120.

13. Young Sports Leaders

We are grateful to Roz Franklin, the super competent cricket administrator and sports centre manager at Kent County Cricket Club for sending the Chamber details of a course for future sports leaders. Designed as leadership training for young people interested in organising team activities, the programme will take place from 0900 to 1500 hrs on Monday 21^st and Tuesday 22^nd February 2011 at Kent Spitfires Study Centre at the Kent Cricket Ground in Canterbury. There is a charge of £25 for the two days. For more details, contact Hannah Ladd, Programme Manager; by telephone to 01227 473619 or by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.with the subject line “TEKC Young Sports Leaders”.

14. Happy Union

One Chamber member has related to the Chamber a story of a happy union at his hotel. We have our doubts about this account, but you must make your own judgement. As this hotel manager put it: “Funnily enough a similar thing happened in Dublin a few years ago when I was looking after a 4-star in the city centre. A couple, both called Leslie, got married. He was a Leslie O’Reilly and she was called Leslie Shaughnessy, if I remember correctly. Of course, weddings are big business for all of us in the trade these days. Anyway, I was still surprised when I read that the engaged couple had made a booking, but there it was written in our register for the first Saturday in January, ‘Wedding of Mr Ariel Abrahams and Miss Ariel Worthington’. Anyway, the marriage went ahead as planned in our main ballroom. The ceremony was not up to much, too much modern music for my taste; but, as you can imagine, with two Ariels, the reception was terrific”.

Thanet & East Kent Insider

29^th January 2011      Issue No.: 141

1. Hartsdown Technology College

At the invitation of Connexions Partnership Kent & Medway, Thanet & East Kent Chamber was invited to speak yesterday to pupils of HartsdownTechnologyCollege. Eight classes in succession heard the Chamber’s presentations on the acceptable face of business and the importance of wealth-generation in a modern society. Responding to the invitation to start a business, pupils produced some innovative ideas that included multi-coloured furry footballs and new-age mascara to be sold in pyramid-shaped packaging. The Thanet & East Kent Chamber is receiving an increasing number of requests to speak to schools and colleges. We welcome the opportunity to encourage young minds that hard work, good presentation and an entrepreneurial spirit can produce a satisfying and successful career. We offer a range of initiatives at all levels from primary school to university including formal speeches and BBC Question Time style presentations. For more information, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.with the subject line “Enterprise in Education”.

2. All Men Are Equal But ....

We are grateful to Vanessa Wolfman of VisitKent for news of a short course on the Equality Act 2010 which will replaces the existing anti discrimination laws in October 2011. The new legislation is expected to remove some inconsistencies and make the provisions easier to be understood by hard-working business people without the need to refer to a legal dictionary. The changes include new provisions on direct and indirect discrimination as well as dealing with disability and harassment.  Any business with a tourism element will have particular obligations under the Equality Act 2010. SWIFT Codes for all Banks in Australia Starting at 0930 hrs, the course runs until 1630 hrs and will take place at The Village Inn Maidstone on Wednesday 9^th February 2011. All delegates are invited for lunch. At the time of writing, there are still some places left. To book or for more details, call Vanessa tel: 01622 696936 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.with the subject line “TEKC WelcomeAll One Day £25”

3. Prince’s Golf Club

Prince’s Golf Club is scheduled to host the first Chamber golf event of the year on Friday 1^st April. General Manager, Michael Lovett, is looking forward to showing players and visitors all the changes and improvements at the Club. The renovation work on all bunkers on the Shore/Dunes course is now completed and is receiving excellent reviews. The new Lodge development is expected to open later in the year, an update will be available at the Prince’s Chamber Golf Day.. There will be a firm focus on Sandwich golf this year with the Open Championship being played at Royal St Georges next July. Prince’s is offering Chamber members the opportunity to host corporate events during the week. The team at PGC can create bespoke packages which promise an exciting day in close proximity to the entrances to Royal St Georges. For more details about Prince’s, please call David Holder on 01304 611118 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject line “Chamber Golf Enquiry”. For details of the Chamber Golf Days, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.with the subject line “Chamber Golf Days”.

4. Thanet Youth Strategy

It will not have escaped data watchers that Thanet is officially ranked as the most deprived district in Kent. The future of our local economy will depend very much on retaining the best school leavers and improving the skill levels of our workforce. If you have an interest in the Thanet Youth Strategy, Sarah Phippin invites you to send your comments to her before 31^st March 2011. For a copy of the consultation papers email Sarah to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.with the subject line “TEKC Thanet Youth Strategy” or you can call her or her line manager Nedine Watson-Cutts, tel: 01227 284408.

5. Young People Today

Do you ever hear anyone describe young people living near you with these words: "The children now love luxury; they show disrespect for their elders and betters, they chatter instead of exercising. Children are tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer get up when their seniors enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up their food at the table, cross their legs and tyrannise their teachers”. Thus spoke Socrates over 2,400 years ago. If you did hear these words at the time, you have obviously made the most of your pension contributions. On the other hand, if you are under retirement age, you might like to contact one of our Chamber pension experts. Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.with the subject line “TEKC Pension Consultant”.

6. Turner Contemporary Update

Chamber member the Turner Contemporary has announced details of its opening exhibition which runs from 16^th April to 4^th September 2011. As previously mentioned in the Thanet & East Kent Insider, the show will be centred on JMW Turner’s extraordinary painting The Eruption of the Souffrier Mountains, in the Island of St Vincent, at Midnight, on the 30th April, 1812, from a Sketch Taken at the Time by Hugh P. Keane, Esq 1815. It depicts a volcanic eruption. The Turner Contemporary tells us that the exhibition will also feature new commissions with an overall theme. “The works in the exhibition play at the borders between what we can see and know and the truly fantastic. This dynamic relationship between imagination and reality also reflects the process of realising our long-awaited new gallery, starting from ideas and drawings to a physical building.” The Turner Gallery is expected to play a central role in the regeneration of Margate. All Chamber members will surely be wanting to see a successful future for this iconic building located at end of Margate’s Harbour Arm in front of the house where England’s greatest artist lived from the age of 11 years when he started at a school in Love Lane, Margate.

7. How Are We Doing?

Here is some core data relating to the district of Thanet collected from the latest available public sources. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) information is reproduced under the terms of the Thanet & East Kent Chamber Click-use License no. C2010000980. All rights reserved. Note: NOMIS is a service for ONS operated by the University of Durham since 1981.

8. Choose Your Margate

Louise Askew, Economic Development Officer at Thanet District Council, has contacted the Thanet & East Insider to ask readers to choose their favourite typeface to be used to promote Margate. There are three options presented. Your vote will count if it registered by close of play on Friday 4^th February 2011. To view the choices and have your say, click on http://www.thisismargate.co.uk/culture/this-is-margate-toolkit/public-vote-for-margate-typogr.aspx Further details on the overall approach can be found at http://www.thisismargate.co.uk/culture/this-is-margate-toolkit.aspx. These are exciting times for Margate. There will always be cynics who are only too willing to criticise any development that does not accord precisely with their recollection of the seaside town of their youth. But, Margate is at last promising to burst out of the torpor that has bedevilled its recent past and the majority of local business will be keen to be part of the transformation.

9. London Array Update

The London Array welcomed the Thanet & East Kent Chamber to a closed briefing at the Royal Temple Yacht Club last week. We were delighted to receive confirmation of the twenty-five local suppliers engaged by the company. One Chamber member recently awarded a contract for over £600,000 has a particular reason to welcome the London Array to Ramsgate, but readers can be assured that we will be promoting the products and services of all our Chamber our members with equal vigour.

10. Website for £99

If you want to know how you can have a website to promote your organisation for as little as £99, then prepare one page of text with your logo now and read next week’s edition of the Thanet & East Kent Insider to find out. The edition of 5^th February 2011 will also feature an item on branding and what Starbucks can do for you.

11. Thanet Local Board

Thanet Local Board met last Tuesday evening in Westgate-on-Sea. Seated under instructional posters intended to guide the growing minds of St Saviour’s Church of England Junior School pupils, the Kent County Councillors of Thanet presented an update on local matters and answered questions from the floor. After the obligatory procedural items, Thanet Youth Council outlined its activities. We learned that there are 60 elected Youth Councillors, 4 from each of the 12 districts plus 12 community members. More details are available on the website at www.thanetyouthmatters.co.uk. Next on the agenda was Kent Savers Union when loan sharks received the sharp end of the tongue of Chief Officer, John Fowler. Annual Percentage Rate interest charges in excess of 2,000 are apparently not uncommon. The unwary and the vulnerable in our community can acquire a huge debt through the precipitous signing of a loan agreement with nationally advertised providers. Credit Unions offer an alternative where modest rates of interest and professional counselling can provide a fast track back to financial probity. Mr Fowler gave the floor to Dr John Pritchard, President of the Isle of Thanet Credit Union, who outlined the credit and savings regime at Wantsum Savers located at 1 Duke Street, Margate. With a characteristic fluency and oratorical mastery that betray his background as an international lawyer, Dr Pritchard gave a brilliantly incisive account of the work of Wantsum Savers. When your public supporters include the Archbishop of Canterbury, you can fairly claim to have good long-term prospects.

12. What’s The Point Of Thanet Local Board

TLB provides an opportunity for KCC Councillors to explain to the local community what County Hall is doing, funding and providing. The voluntary sector received some welcome attention. Nigel Furley gave a fulsome account of the work of Funding Buddies and the support available to charities and allied bodies in Thanet. The audience also received details of the grant recommendations for 2010/11. Questions from the floor included undiluted comment supporting the expansion of ManstonAirport and the ensuing prospects for job creation; this and the prospect of a Manston Parkway Station in the next few years received warm enthusiasm from the KCC Councillors. Dry matters of public finances and second homes were somewhat overshadowed by the entertainment provided by the Platform Theatre Company. A thoroughly professional performance of the short play “Shakers” delighted everyone in the hall. There was even a suspicion that a smile crossed the lips of the religious figures in the posters on the wall. We understand that Kent Community Organisation supplied the secure environment for the actors to flourish and Cllrs Chris Wells and Mike Jarvis of instrumental in arranging the public funding. As Michael Wheatley-Ward has demonstrated for many years, theatre can provide a positive force for good among young people

13. More On Retirement

Thanet & East Kent Chamber member, John Harrington, has some sound advice to add to our recent articles on retirement. Here are his words: “No doubt we have all read the reasons why the age limit on retirement has been removed and like the article points out there are a number of organisations that benefit from an older workforce. However, in these organisations there will be a professional HR department dealing with the policy and management of staff following the change. In the majority of SME’s that department does not exist and is normally left to the owner. When staff have decided to retire it can be a major step in their life and it should be a time to remember, pleasantly. With this change there is a risk that staff who decide to continue will be forced to leave if their employer decides to dismiss on the grounds of capability as the employer may not have an alternative if the person concerned has not been performing but the employer has “lived with it” as they were approaching retirement age. An employer can, of course, have a discussion with the employee to understand what their future plans are. In my experience consultations do not take place as a matter of course and where no formal appraisal scheme is in place it can make a discussion of this type even more difficult. As you would expect there are guidelines on what can be addressed in the meeting with the employee to avoid a claim on age discrimination grounds. If handled correctly this can be a time where that valued member of staff can retire feeling good about the business having given many years of good performance both prior and post the previous retirement age. I do however feel that we will see an increase in claims as employers mismanage the consultation and execute the termination outside of the guidelines. I hope I am wrong. “So do we, John. John Harrington can be contacted direct by telephone to 07810 713023 or by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.with the subject line “TEKC Enquiry”.

14. Do You Know What Ethics Is?

This week’s end piece is sent from Chamber member Jon Cleverdon of J Cleverdon Chartered Accountants of Broadstairs, tel: 01843 866599. He proves to doubters that accountants do have a sense of humour, unless of course, they live near Chelmsford. Why is that? You can see for yourself in the following contribution. “The managing partner in an accounting firm is very annoyed with one of his employees and calls him in to reprimand him. Managing Partner: ‘How could you possibly advise the client in the way you did? That was completely unethical. We are always conscious of Ethics in this firm. You do know what Ethics is, don’t you?’ Employee: ‘Of course, I know what Ethics is. It’s a county in southern England.’”

Thanet & East Kent Insider

22^nd January 2011      Issue No.: 140

1. Finland Calling

In liaison with our sister Chamber, the Dover District Chamber of Commerce, we will shortly be meeting senior officials from the government of Finland. If any Chamber member has had commercial relations with a Finnish company, is currently working with a Finnish company or would like to work with a Finnish company, please email urgently the details of your interest to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.with the subject line “Finland”. The UK is the fourth largest trading partner of Finland after Germany, Russia and Sweden, comfortably ahead of the United States and China. Although blessed with a population of just 5.35 million, there is an affluent market of domestic consumers and a comparatively flourishing electronics sector headed by Nokia; a key reason perhaps why the statistics reveal more than one mobile telephone per inhabitant. The percentage of manufacturing companies is approximately twice that of the UK. Thanks in part to generous reparations received after WWII, the native shipyards have taken full advantage of the decline in UK shipbuilding and now lead the world in building cruise ships. The world’s largest passenger ship, Allure of the Seas, left Finland for her home port in Florida last October and began her maiden voyage last month.   She joined her sister ship Oasis of the Seas in the fleet of Royal Caribbean International. Each vessel measures just less than 362 metres in length. SWIFT Codes for all Banks in Australia It was discovered recently that Allure is in fact five centimetres longer, not a lot between two sisters listed at 225,282 gross tonnes apiece.   

2. How Are We Doing?

The ever excellent Research and Intelligence Unit at Kent County Council informs us that unemployment in Thanet has fallen by 5.6% over the last year. Any jumping for joy should be restrained by the realisation that Great Britain enjoyed a 10.6% fall in the twelve months to December 2010 and the South East an even better 19.4%. Against the trend, unemployment in Margate Central ward increased by 6.2% and in Cliftonville West by an even more disappointing 11.1%. Of the Thanet wards with at least 100 registered unemployed, the star performer was Garlinge where daytime television has lost 27% of its available daytime television audience compared to a year ago. Good news for Garlinge, bad news for Jeremy Kyle. The full picture for East Kent is listed below.

3. Railing Against Rail?

The Thanet & East Kent Chamber has received much comment on the High Speed link. Most Chamber members appreciate the comfort of the carriages and welcome any investment in our transport infrastructure. There are nonetheless some serious concerns about many aspects of the service. As the High Speed link has now been operating for over a year, the Thanet & East Kent Insider is reviewing the case for and against. Since our mission in life is to boost the businesses within our membership, we cannot be regarded as an independent authority. But, as the largest business support body in the area, the Chamber is duty bound to reflect the views of the private sector in our corner of East Kent.

4. Give Me The Facts

 Here are the weekday journey times from selected East Kent stations for High Speed trains arriving at London St Pancras between 0800 hrs and 0900 hrs.

Fastest Weekday Journey Times To London Arriving 0800 – 0900 hrs.

See Southeastern Trains Timetable for period 12 December 2010 – 13 May 2011

5. Who Is The Operator?

The High Speed train service is operated by Southeastern Railway Company.

6. Who Is The Real Owner?

Southeastern Railway Company is owned by the Govia franchise.

7. Yes But, No But, Yes But Who Is The Real, Real Owner?

The Govia franchise has two shareholders; the Go-Ahead Group 65% and Keolis 35%. Govia describes itself as “ It's a unique franchise, bringing together under one operator the existing classic rail network and the new high speed domestic services on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. Which were fully launched in December 2009.” See http://www.govia.info/.  The poor grammar may betray the non-native speaker background of Keolis, described elsewhere on the website as: “currently owned by AXA, through AXA Private Equity, and the Caisse dépôt et placement du Québec (52%), SNCF (45.5%) and key Keolis managers (2.5%).”   Voilà, there are quite a few French speakers in that lot which makes it a pity perhaps that there is not a restaurant car on the line from East Kent to London St Pancras.

8. What Are The Good Points?

We rely on Southeastern Railway to tell us the main advantages of the service. In a press release to coincide with the first anniversary of the service, Southeastern’s Managing Director Charles Horton expressed his satisfaction with the performance of HS1 over the previous twelve months: “The overall success of the service is testament to the strong industry partnership working with Hitachi, HS1 and Network Rail. The first year has been very encouraging and we are looking forward to more and more people discovering the benefits of travelling by High Speed.” This view is shared by HS1’s MD, Paul Chapman, who adds: “It is only with positive cooperation between HS1, Southeastern, Hitachi and Network Rail (CTRL) that we can offer passengers such high levels of performance and reliability on the high speed line.” The same press release continues: “Passenger feedback is extremely positive and reliability performance is strong and continues to grow.”

9. How Big Is Southeastern?

The company has a workforce of 3,500 people serving 179 stations carrying 400,000 passengers a day on 400 trains producing 156 million passenger journeys a year.

10. What Do The Critics Say?

There is much concern about the rise in ticket prices and the benefits of HS1 for the citizens in Thanet, Deal and Sandwich. Roger Gale MP for North Thanet has stated publicly that he is very much in favour of improving transport links to his constituency but finds great difficulty in supporting HS1 under its current management. As he put it recently: ” I really would like to applaud High Speed One but I suspect that I shall be pushing up daisies before any real benefits accrue to those whose interests I try to represent.” In a statement issued just before the first anniversary, he wrote: “A year on, then, my view is that High Speed One has been brought about at inordinate cost and waste, to the benefit of a very few and to the detriment of the many who are paying for it but who wish to use other services.  Dick Turpin would have been amazed.” A subsequent meeting with Charles Horton did not satisfy his objections as he wrote later: “I questioned Mr. Horton as to the justification for a wholly unacceptable 12.8% fare increase heaped on top of three years of already above average increases.  The response appears to be that ‘we have to take a market judgement’ which seems to me to be a euphemism for ‘We`ve got a captive clientele in East Kent so we are holding them to ransom to pay for the “High Speed” trains and for reductions in subsidy’”. He added subsequently for good measure: “I have made it clear to Southeastern that I will, personally, oppose any renewal of their franchise.  Whether that view will find support in the House or within the DfT I know not but one thing is certain: we cannot continue in this climate of “more for less” payment.”

11. Are Thanet Towns Well Served?

Another way of looking at the table in 4 above is to list the data by journey time.

Fastest Weekday Journey Times To London Arriving 0800 – 0900 hrs.

Is the East Kent coastal business community well served by comparison with Ashford, Sittingbourne and Canterbury? You can decide.

12. What About The Performance?

The performance of Southeastern in the period from 12th December 2010 to 8th January 2011 shows an average punctuality of 72% or to put it another way, 28% of the trains did not arrive on time. The annual average punctuality is quoted by Southeastern  as being 82.6%, fractionally above a less than demanding threshold of 82% below which refunds have to be paid to season ticket holders. By international standards, such performance is unlikely to win any accolades from those in the know. The performance statistics of Central Japan Railway Company on the Tokyo/Osaka line show an average delay of just 30 seconds “including delays caused by uncontrollable reasons such as heavy rain, typhoons and heavy snowfall”. Bearing in mind that this company has been operating High Speed services across an earthquake zone since 1964 with no fatalities or injuries from crashes or derailment, there might be a reason to doubt the assertion by Govia that “ it's reassuring to know we're directly linked to the best in the world”, see www.govia.info/doc/keolis/index.html. 

13. Can Southeastern Provide A Station At Manston?

There is undoubtedly an anxiety among local companies that Manston Parkway Station may not materialise in the near future. Cllr Clive Hart, Leader of Thanet Labour Party, wonders how even the current 81 minute journey time to Ramsgate can be maintained if Manston Airport gets the station the local economy so badly needs. As Clive puts it: “ Basically we cannot understand how an extra station can be inserted into the route, with all the delay that slowing down, stopping, restarting and speeding up again, can possibly save ten minutes in the journey from London to Ramsgate.” The airport station is a key element in the Growth Without Gridlock plans of Kent County Council and provides a ready solution for objectors to Boris Johnson’s plan for an airport in the Thames estuary. This particular island of eccentricity resurfaced again last week before it was swamped with waves of criticisms from business leaders who know better. Cllr Rodney Chambers, the Leader of Medway District Council, was quoted by the BBC as saying: “ "It has already been rejected by the government and the aviation industry - with nine out of 10 air carriers saying they oppose the scheme.”  With colourful imagery, he continued: “I believe it is time that Boris Johnson realises that his pie-in-the-sky Thames Estuary airport plan will never get off the ground.” By contrast, the expansion of Manston presents seems to attract widespread support from the business community.

14. Can I Take A Train From Ramsgate to Beijing?

The short answer is “Not yet”. There are indeed the bare bones of a plan to link London King’s Cross to Beijing by rail with optimists quoting two days for the 5,000 mile journey. Asia News reports that work is to start shortly on the building of the first stage, a rail link from Yunnan province to neighbouring Burma. Starting at Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, and ending in Rangoon, Burma's largest city, the track will be 1,200 miles long. According to Wang Mengshu of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a professor at Beijing Jiaotong University, the line is part of a project to boost cooperation between China and Southeast Asian nations with the stated objective to “enhance the economic development of China's western regions.” China is also looking for a more efficient way of transporting the raw materials required by its rapidly expanding manufacturing industries. Earlier this year in a statement of intent with implications for anyone in the shipping industry, Mr Wang said: “ We are aiming for the trains to run almost as fast as aeroplanes." In a hint about financing arrangements, he said: “We would actually prefer the other countries to pay in natural resources rather than make their own capital investment." There is no reason to book your rail ticket yet, but we will keep readers fully informed.  

15. Final Word On Trains

We are grateful to one Chamber member who relates an account of a recent encounter with a ticket collector on a train travelling to London Victoria. We have our doubts about this story but we leave it to you to judge for yourself. “I was feeling frustrated as the train was at least fifteen minutes behind schedule and I had an important meeting in the City which I just couldn’t afford to miss. When the ticket collector came into our carriage, I remonstrated with him and said finally: ‘What on earth is the use of having a timetable if your trains never follow it?’ With a weary smile on his face that must have betrayed at least twenty years of dealing with every type of awkward passenger, he turned to me slowly and said: ‘But look at this way, sir, how would you even know the trains were late if we didn’t have a timetable?’   I could hardly argue with that, could you?”.

16. Our Sponsors

Girlings Solicitors has been managing the legal affairs of commercial and private clients for over a century. Twenty-six partners and one hundred and twenty members of staff ensure a comprehensive range of services from the local offices in Ashford, Canterbury, Folkestone, Herne Bay and Margate. Offices in France and Spain complement specialist departments for charities, individuals and companies. For details, telephone 01843 220274 . Express By Holiday Inn took on the daunting task of restoring the former Prospect Inn at Minster. The result is a spectacular hotel that combines the best of Oliver Hill’s 1930s design with ultra modern facilities and technological support. Conveniently located for business guests and holiday makers in East Kent, the meeting rooms and 105 bedrooms are available at competitive prices throughout the year. For details, telephone 01843 820250 . Adecco is the world’ s largest HR solutions company offering a comprehensive service of temporary and contract staffing, permanent recruitment, outsourcing, outplacement, career services, training and consulting. Officially designated as a 2009 British Superbrand, Adecco is represented in Thanet and Dover by its Broadstairs office, tel: 01843 609292 . CARISS design, install and support education and business computing systems as East Kent’s leading specialist company in Open Source Software.  To lower your carbon footprint, reduce your power consumption and adopt a thin client system, call CARISS, tel: 01843 823724 . Mach Associates are the high-fliers in providing Internet technologies and specialist software solutions with a particular expertise in servicing the travel industry. A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and with ISO9001 accreditation, Mach Associates also offers reduces telecom operating cost through VOIP/PBX phone systems. tel: 0870 321 9986.  Sota Connect offers a comprehensive IT service covering best-value voice, data and Internet services for companies of all sizes as well as public sector organisations. The company operates two state-of-the-art data centres of over 10,000sq ft. Sota Connect owns and operates a unique 200km fibre network from London to Ramsgate with high bandwidth Internet access giving superfast Internet connections, tel: 0800 072 2420 .

© David Foley January 2011

Thanet & East Kent Insider

15^th January 2011      Issue No.: 139

1. Flu Vaccination

As noted in previous editions of the Thanet & East Kent Insider, Chamber member The Spencer Wing in Margate and Ashford has been offering on-site flu vaccinations to local companies. We promoted this service extensively as a Predict and Prevent measure for which many Chamber members have been grateful. Such has been the success of the scheme that last Thursday Annie Churchyard advised us that supplies at The Spencer Wing have now been exhausted. With next year in mind, we congratulate those Chamber members who took full advantage and remind all our readers of a new proverb for the twenty-first century: “It’s the early bird that gets the vaccine”.

2. Thanet District Council Consultation

 We are grateful to Louise Askew, Economic Development Officer at Thanet District Council for drawing our attention to the consultation questionnaire available at www.thanet.gov.uk/budget  until Friday, 21^st January 2011. Here you have the opportunity to state your preferences as to where you think Thanet District Council should spend its income. Please bear in mind that if you are a Council Tax payer in Thanet, just 14% of your payment is allocated to Thanet District Council. The rest is earmarked as follows: Kent County Council 71%, Kent Police Authority 9%, Kent Fire and Rescue 5% and Town & Parish Councils 1%. Some readers will deduce from this that you are nearly twice as likely to have your business robbed than burned down; but, of course, it is not as simple as that. After all, your headquarters could be robbed just before it catches fire. If you would prefer to make your comments direct to the recipients of the biggest  proportion of your Council Tax payments, then you may wish to state your views in person to your local Kent County Councillors, see item 4 below. SWIFT Codes for all Banks in Australia

3. Connecting Carers

Connexions Kent supports teenagers in making choices about their careers, training opportunities and lifestyles. Liaising with employers, parents and carers is essential if the organisation is to continue the success of its programmes in Thanet and East Kent. With this objective firmly in mind, the Thanet branch is holding an open evening in Cliftonville from 4.00 pm to 7.00 pm on Wednesday, 16 ^th February 2011. If you are interested in attending, please call Lauren, tel: 01843 593395 or text 07501 228500 with your name and contact details. More information on the services offered by this Chamber member can be found at www.connexionskentandmedway.co.uk.

4. Kent County Councillors

The Thanet Local Board is holding a public meeting at 7.00 pm on Tuesday, 25 January 2011  at St Saviour's Church of England Junior School, Elm Grove, Westgate-on-Sea, Kent CT8 8LD. Doors open at 6.30 pm. These meetings provide an opportunity to liaise directly with your local Kent County Councillors over all aspects of the services for which KCC is responsible. We expect the following to attend: Cllr Bill Hayton, Chairman; Cllr Robert Bayford, Leader of Thanet District Council; Cllr Robert Burgess, Cllr Elizabeth Green; Cllr Charles Hibberd; Cllr Michael Jarvis; Cllr John Kirby and Cllr Chris Wells. There will be time for questions. The Thanet & East Kent Chamber will be fully represented. If any Chamber member has particular issues and is unable to attend in person, please forward your comments to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will do our best to raise them either at the Thanet Local Board or, if appropriate, during a separate meeting with the Leader of Thanet District Council. 

5. Census News

If you are one of those people who dislike answering questions, the Thanet & East Kent Insider has three pieces of advice for you. Firstly, do not appear as a contestant on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire. Secondly, do not work for a Chamber of Commerce because we not only to listen to the questions, but we have to find the answers without the prospect of a million pound bonus. Finally, prepare yourself for the 2011 Census which is due to take place on Sunday, 27 ^th March 2011. Whatever your view of the exercise, census data is a vital source of information for business and informs important decision-making on almost every aspect of our lives including health, transport, education and housing. It is in the interests of every Chamber member to assist Kent County Council, the Office for National Statistics and all public authorities involved to ensure the speedy and efficient collection of data. You might like to inform your colleagues and clients of the date and ensure that all employees are aware of the postcode of their main workplace; information that is critical in planning routes to work. Further details are available on-line at www.census.gov.uk, by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and by telephone to tel: 01622 221627  

6. More About Petrol

The Thanet & East Kent Insider article last week under the headline “Petrol Prices Bring More Shock Horror” seems to have set a trend. In a paragraph detailing the annual rise in the price of a litre of unleaded petrol from 82.9p to 124.8p, we stated that: “the cheapest gallon of petrol now costs £5.67.” Three days later, the Daily Telegraph followed a similar line with a few additions: “Petrol could soon hit £6 a gallon for the first time”. We are delighted to focus attention on this issue. A rise of over 50% in the retail price of petrol adds to the costs of every business in East Kent. The possibility of Brent Crude soon crossing the alarming threshold of 100 USD a barrel hits at the heart of business confidence and could lead to the outbreak of fuel protests on a scale not seen since 2000; that is the conclusion also of David Wallop, the Consumer Affairs Editor of the Daily Telegraph, see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/8250860/Petrol-prices-to-hit-6-a-gallon.html. Local businesses are particularly peeved at the Thanet Surcharge which currently stands at a minimum of 3p a litre compared to outlets in Canterbury.

7. Bye Bye Retirement Age

The government has announced that from next October, companies will be prevented from issuing employees with compulsory retirement notices at the age of 65 unless there is a justifiable reason. The Employment Relations Minister, Ed Davey, is widely quoted by Reuters and others as rejecting the need for compulsory retirement on the basis that “It is high time we ended this outdated form of age discrimination”. The Financial Times has made the point that many large companies have already phased out the 65 ^th birthday deadline and quotes JD Wetherspoon, BT, The Co-operative Group and Marks and Spencer as examples. Our own Chamber research department finds that The Cooperative Group alone has around 123,000 employees. Despite using a Bob Dylan song in its advertising, the organisation enjoys good relations with its staff and customers and takes a self-confessed pride at being: “ a trusted brand and ... Britain’s largest farmer.” We also learn that it is more aware than most of our extended life expectancy as senior management has to wait much longer than it did for revenue from one if its main products: The Cooperative Group is Britain’s largest funeral provider. JD Wetherspoon, BT and Marks and Spencer have a combined market capitalisation of just under 21 billion GDP and seem to muddle through alright. It is fair to point out that not all employers have welcomed the measure. The Confederation of British Industries published its five pennyworth last month in a press release that stated boldly: “C ompanies will face huge uncertainty and greater risk of tribunal claims if the Government does not tackle the unintended consequences of the decision.” Among its main concerns are the dreaded Employment Tribunal claims which the CBI states had risen by 56% the previous year. With one exception, see 8 below, to date the abolition of compulsory retirement age has provoked no danger signals from the members of the Thanet & East Kent Chamber, many of which happily employ workers much older than 65 with great success. As always, we welcome the views of members. Your views are a hundred times better than our assumptions. Please send any comments by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the subject line “Compulsory Retirement Age”.

8. Guinness, Poetry and Rosebuds

The imminent scrapping of a compulsory retirement age has caused one Chamber member to reflect on mortality or as he put it: “Henrick has a point, I may as well gather some rosebuds while I can. Cheers.”. What a talented and interesting membership we have at the Chamber. Robert Henrick, the 17 ^th century poet,  wrote: “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old time is still a-flying; And this same flower that smiles today, Tomorrow will be dying”. Henrick’s father, a rich goldsmith, died falling out of a window. We don’t know if this made his son want to squeeze every enjoyable moment out of the day, but our Chamber member may think so for he continues: “I like a drink or three from time to time. My great Aunt Margaret used to have a full pint of Guinness every day and she lived to be 98 years old.” When the Chamber replied to his email congratulating him on the longevity of his family genes, he wrote back. “Thanks. That’s fine, but Aunty Margaret’s doctor said that she would have made a hundred at least if she hadn’t drunk so much”. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

9. Our Sponsors

Girlings Solicitors has been managing the managing the legal affairs of commercial and private clients for over a century. Twenty-six partners and one hundred and twenty members of staff ensure a comprehensive range of services from the local offices in Ashford, Canterbury, Folkestone, Herne Bay and Margate. Offices in France and Spain complement specialist departments for charities, individuals and companies. For details, telephone 01843 220274 . Express By Holiday Inn took on the daunting task of restoring the former Prospect Inn at Minster. The result is a spectacular hotel that combines the best of Oliver Hill’s 1930s design with ultra modern facilities and technological support. Conveniently located for business guests and holiday makers in East Kent, the meeting rooms and 105 bedrooms are available at competitive prices throughout the year. For details, telephone 01843 820250 . Adecco is the world’ s largest HR solutions company offering a comprehensive service of temporary and contract staffing, permanent recruitment, outsourcing, outplacement, career services, training and consulting. Officially designated as a 2009 British Superbrand, Adecco is represented in Thanet and Dover by its Broadstairs office, tel: 01843 609292 . CARISS design, install and support education and business computing systems as East Kent’s leading specialist company in Open Source Software.  To lower your carbon footprint, reduce your power consumption and adopt a thin client system, call CARISS, tel: 01843 823724. Mach Associates are the high-fliers in providing Internet technologies and specialist software solutions with a particular expertise in servicing the travel industry. A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and with ISO9001 accreditation, Mach Associates also offers reduces telecom operating cost through VOIP/PBX phone systems. tel: 0870 321 9986 . Sota Connect offers a comprehensive IT service covering best-value voice, data and Internet services for companies of all sizes as well as public sector organisations. The company operates two state-of-the-art data centres of over 10,000sq ft. Sota Connect owns and operates a unique 200km fibre network from London to Ramsgate with high bandwidth Internet access giving superfast Internet connections, tel: 0800 072 2420  

© David Foley January 2011

Thanet & East Kent Insider

8^th January 2011      Issue No.: 138

1. Manston Parkway Station

Local companies will be happy to learn that moves are afoot to bring forward the plans to build a railway station at ManstonAirport to provide a faster link to London. As reported in the Thanet & East Kent Insider of 6^th November and 13^th November 2010 and in KoS Media’s Your Thanet article of 11^th November 2010, this chamber was kindly invited to meet Rt Hon Philip Hammond, Secretary of State for Transport. At the time, it was not envisaged that a dedicated railway station at Manston could be constructed for “at least 4 years”. With signs of a recovering economy, the Thanet & East Kent Chamber has joined our associates at the Dover District Chamber of Commerce in pressing for an early start to this initiative. With the promise of 1,000 jobs for every 1 million passenger movements, the development of Manston offers one of the best opportunities to reduce Thanet’s huge benefits bill which currently stands at £180 million per year. We share the concerns of our elected representatives in all parties and at every level of government that environmental considerations should not be ignored, but we also remember that that the American aircraft at the airport in the 1950s were not noted for their quiet engines. The US 406th Fighter-Bomber Wing stationed at Manston loved its F-84 Thunderjets; local librarians less so.  TheBombadier Q400 aircraft that now provide the daily flights to Edinburgh and Manchester are described by their manufacturer as “the quietest turboprops flying today”; Q stands for Quiet. SWIFT Codes for all Banks in Australia The American airmen who helped to safeguard our shores in the cold war were not particularly concerned with low noise operations. They were more focused on reaching any one of the 20,000 locations in the Soviet Union that President Eisenhower’s administration had identified as potential targets. East Kent residents must feel much safer now living conveniently close to an airport hub, so useful for your holidays and business trips, rather than living next to a launch pad for Moscow bombing missions. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

2. Home Workers Beware

We are grateful to Marion Ward, Advice and Education Manager atTrading Standards Kent for advising us on the perils of getting involved with some home working schemes that are fronts for illegal money lending or ‘loan sharking’. The victims are charged a registration fee or invited to take out a loan instead of paid work. We have learned that in September 2010, a pregnant woman was prosecuted for carrying out a spate of burglaries. Her defence was that she was obliged to pay a loan shark.  She had answered an advert offering the chance to earn extra money but had been offered a loan instead. She was not able to maintain the repayments. Trading Standards welcome information from anyone who has been approached about any similar schemes or has seen any advertising for the same. You are invited to telephone Consumer Direct, tel: 08454 04 05 06 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting. 

3. Tourism & Transport

Images from the Tourism & Transport Business Networking Breakfast of last month are available for viewing and purchase from our official photographer, see http://www.photoboxgallery.com/DDCC. Please note that the web address is case sensitive. Photographs can be ordered from as little as 5p per copy. There are also opportunities to have your favourite images printed in a variety of formats for corporate gifts including greetings cards, mugs and t-shirts. Members who attended the Chamber Golf Day at the Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club also feature on the website together with a selection of images from other events.

4. Transport & Tourism Follow Up

The Chamber Transport Advisory Group is expecting to hold its first meeting in late February 2011. If you any advice or recommendations, please address them by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Full details of Kent County Council’s transport 20 year plan to ease congestion can be found at https://shareweb.kent.gov.uk/Documents/News/growth-without-gridlock.pdf. Early versions of this document listed referred to “lorry road user charging”; the text should have read “foreign lorry road user charging”. This relates to the proposals to institute a tax disc for foreign lorries called a “vignette”, as described in the Thanet & East Kent Insider of  5^th December 2010 under the headline “3. Who Pays?”. An executive summary of KCC’s Growth Without Gridlock is available at https://shareweb.kent.gov.uk/Documents/News/growth-without-gridlock-summary.pdf. Be warned that this document leans more on the ‘executive’ than the ‘summary’ as any reader ploughing through the 40 pages will discover. You will be pleased to know that there are lots of pictures and diagrams to keep you amused.  

5. Energy Costs Shock Horror

We are grateful to Martyn Young of Atlantic Business Resources, tel: 0781 353 7456 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting  end_of_the_skype_highlighting, for bringing our attention to the E.ON Market Report of January 2011 which gives a detailed breakdown of the gas, oil, coal and carbon markets for the period December 2009 to December 2010. Some of the monthly figures quoted are alarming, such as the 6% increase in oil prices during last month alone. Monthly fluctuations may normally be of interest to speculators more than the rest of us who have longer term trends in mind, but when the pace of rises is increasing so sharply, it suggests that anyone who does not review their energy costs now might have serious cause to regret it in the near future. As Martyn put it in an email to the Thanet & East Kent Chamber: “This must be hurting a lot of businesses who are on spot rates”. Indeed, the annual and monthly figures give rise to serious concerns for any UK business with a high dependency on power.

6. Enough Comment, Give Us The Facts

Here are the figures E.ON gives for the annual change from December 2009 to December 2010 together with the monthly change from the beginning to the end of last month.

7. Help! What Can I Do?

If you have not reviewed your energy costs in the last year, it might be wise to do this without delay. Professional cost management experts are usually able to find you the biggest discounts at no cost to your business. The following Chamber members are recommended: Martyn Young of Atlantic Business Resources tel: 0781 353 7456 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting; David Batten of Auditel (UK) ltd tel: 0797 3469411 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting  end_of_the_skype_highlighting; Jeremy Bailey of Auditel tel: 01843 588 776 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting.  

8. Why Have Energy Costs Risen So Much?

Record gas prices were a result of increased demand due to the freezing weather in December 2010. Coupled with low gas storage levels, the greater demand for generation led to higher coal and gas prices. Thus, annual electricity contracts became much more expensive. Oil prices in December suffered from sharply increased demand in the US and Europe leading to a peak of 90 USD/bbl for the first time since October 2008. Demand from Asia for Australian coal had declined at the end of November but supply problems pushed up these prices as well.

9. What’s All This About Carbon Then?

E.On informs us that Carbon Permits have become an increasingly important driver for the UK power prices “as more than 70% of UK power stations use coal or gas.”  Since burning gas and coal produces harmful emissions, higher generation means higher carbon costs or as E.ON puts it: “The cost of ‘clean power’ also takes into account the cost of carbon permits traded under the EU scheme”. When you get your next utility bill, you might like to bear this in mind as your hair goes vertical and your face a bright purple.

10. Petrol Prices Bring More Shock Horror

Established Chamber members will recall the Broadstairs Petrol Index that the Thanet & East Kent Insider instituted in 2008 following a series of sharp rises in prices at the fuel pump. The Chamber BPI received coverage in local newspapers which shared our alarm at the Thanet Surcharge; the difference in price between a litre of unleaded in Thanet as opposed to Canterbury. We now look again at the BPI and the increase in motoring costs in the past twelve months. On 5^th January 2010, the cheapest litre of unleaded petrol available within 5 miles of the Thanet & East Kent Chamber office in Broadstairs cost 82.9p. One year later on 5^th January 2011, the cheapest available costs 124.8p; a rise of just over 50%. To put it another way, the cheapest gallon of petrol now costs £5.67. Has your revenue increased by over half?

11. News From Dover

Dieter Jaenicke, the Chairman and founder of Viking Recruitment, has been awarded the prestigious Merchant Navy Medal for services to merchant shipping and his work with British officer cadets. Following an investiture ceremony at Trinity House, Dieter now joins the ranks of hero seafarers such as Captain Peter Stapleton, who fought off Somali pirates in MV Boularibank in 2008, and Commodore Ronald Warwick, the former Master of Queen Mary 2. We offer our sincere congratulations to Dieter in the knowledge the East Kent coastal business community takes pride in his success. A new hotel is due to open on Dover Sea Front next month. To be known as the BestWesternMarinaHotel and Spa, it will operate in the refurbished premises of the former Churchill Hotel. A new fitness centre and sauna are expected to be popular with residents and guests. As part of the same group that operates the Dover Ramada Hotel at Whitfield, the management will be looking to attract more holiday makers and cross-channel travellers of all descriptions. A recent economic impact study by the Dover District Chamber of Commerce showed that Channel Swimming contributes over £3 million pounds to the local economy with most of it centred on the port. Angie Wiggins, Manager of Dover Counselling Centre, thanks members of the Thanet & East Kent Chamber for the £276 raised at our annual Thanet v Dover Golf Day at the Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club. DCC was established following the sinking of the Herald Free Enterprise ferry which claimed 193 lives on 6^th March 1987.  It is a registered charity that offers professional and confidential counselling to East Kent residents and workers and is still ministering to some of the families who lost loved ones on that fateful day.

12. Dedicated Followers Of Cricket

If you are one of those people who agree with George Bernard Shaw that “The English are not very spiritual people, so they invented cricket to give them some idea of eternity” then you may be less enthused than most by England’s recent Ashes victory in Australia; our first away series triumph down under for 24 years. Radio listeners to cricket have long been thoroughly entertained by the BBC’s Test Match Special team, although the schoolboy humour has often been inadvertent. This was probably the case with the incomparable Brian Johnston’s famous remark during England’s game against the West Indies: “The bowler's Holding; the batsmen's Willey”. Somehow, Michael Holding and Peter Willey were never quite the same players again. But to understand the full measure of dedication and pathos that cricket inspires, we turn to one Chamber member who relates the following account from his days as a club cricketer in the East Kent league. We have our doubts about this story, but we leave it to readers to judge for themselves. “It took place in the third over of a Saturday match when we were playing the village side at Lyminge. I was halfway through my run up when their opening batsmen suddenly moved away from the wicket, took off his cap and stood with his head bowed. We then noticed a funeral cortege moving slowly along the road alongside the boundary at the end of the ground. We all removed our caps and stood still in respectful silence until it had passed. Echoing the thoughts of our entire fielding side, I couldn’t help saying to the batsman: ‘That was a kind gesture. Thank you for bringing it to our attention’. He replied: ‘Think nothing of it. It was the least I could do. After all, we were married for thirty-one years’”.

© David Foley January 2011