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.

• 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. 

• 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

Dover District Chamber of Commerce (est 1850)

Thanet & East Kent Chamber Ltd

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Mobile: +44 (0) 7967 284850 www.doverchamber.co.uk

__________________________________

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

Images from recent events: https://rosieantonphotography.co.uk/photos/chamber-of-commerce

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Offices in Whitfield, Dover, Sandwich and Broadstairs.

Dover & District Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DDCoC) is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 87634.

Correspondence address: Dover District Chamber of Commerce White Cliffs Business Centre, Honeywood Road, Whitfield, Dover, Kent CT16 3EH. Tel: 01304 892484. 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, fax 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. DDCoC 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. DDCoC 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.

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Dover Business News

Your Business Bulletin from Dover District Chamber of Commerce

7^th February 2018   Issue No.: 218

1. Chamber Question Time 8^th Match 2018

The ever-popular Chamber Question Time will take place at 1800 hrs in Dover on Thursday, 8^th 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”

2. Smye-Rumsby ... Now, Where Have I Seen That Name?

Anyone in and around Dover contemplating their next overseas trip may well pop into Dover Euroexchange in Snargate Street to seek some holiday money. Less well-known to the general public is the company next door, Smye-Rumsby, and yet its client base spreads far and wide. It is 70 years since Bernard and Josephine Smye-Rumsby first posted an advert in the front window of their Dover home for a radio repair service. Expansion into television and ship-to-shore communications soon followed. An agency service contract with Decca Marine Radar led to sales of Decca Navigator receivers. Installing a communal TV system for 221 Gateway flats on Dover seafront in 1958 was another of the early successes, as was securing Sir Donald Campbell as a client two years later. Pub quizzers will know that Sir Donald Campbell is the only person to set both water and land world speed records in the same year; a feat he achieved in Australia on 31st December 1964. The advent of cellular phones saw the demise of Smye-Rumsby’s Kentcall Private Mobile Radio network, but the company has since developed its radio expertise, mast sites and multi-site communication systems to the extent that it is now the beloved supplier to clients as diverse as TW Services, Quex Park, English Heritage and Richmond Rugby Club. For information about digital hand-held radio communications, technical support and B-Cam body worn cameras give Philip Smye-Rumsby and his team a call at their Dover workshop. Full contact details can be found at www.smye-rumsby.co.uk

3. Royal Harbour History Festival 2^nd 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.

4. Healthy Workers, Healthy Profits 22^nd March 2018

The Chamber is delighted to welcome Andy Scott-Clark as a speaker at our Chamber Business Networking Breakfast on Thursday, 22^nd 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.

5. How Are We Doing?

As any Doncaster Rovers supporter will know only too well, 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 and 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”.

6. 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

7. 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.

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

9. 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 listening to the broadcast of 27 January 2018. (Right click and save as to download)

10. 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.   

11. 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.  

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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. 

15. 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”.

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 7^th February 2018

Dover Business News

Your Business Bulletin from Dover District Chamber of Commerce

11th June 2017 Issue No.: 217

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. 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”.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

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

Dover Business News

Your Business Bulletin from Dover District Chamber of Commerce

14th August 2016   Issue No.: 214

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

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

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

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

3. Chamber Golf Day 25th October 2016

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

4. Suggestion To Avoid Congestion

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

5. Past Events

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

6. Conference Report

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

7. What About Thanet Earth?

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

8. Chief Cashier of Bank of England

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

9. Other Speakers

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

10. How Are We Doing?

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

11. Give Us The Facts

Unemployment

12. Keep It Clear

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

13. Brexit & East Kent

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

14. KPMG and Bank of England On Brexit

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

15. Reduce Your Energy Bills

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

16. Ramsgate Ferry

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

17. New Members

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

18. Robert Maxwell

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

© David Foley 14th August 2016

Dover Business News

Your Business Bulletin from Dover District Chamber of Commerce

13th September 2015   Issue No.: 213

1. Chamber Business Networking Breakfast: 18th September 2015

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

2. Chamber Conference 6th October 2015: Managing Change

Our 2015 conference on 6th October 2015 will feature as keynote speaker, the Chief Cashier of the Bank of England, Victoria Cleland. Her presentation will interest anyone who handles cash or wants to know about the changes to our banknotes and coins. The 32nd person to occupy this prestigious post since John Kendrick took office in 1694, Victoria says: “My role covers far more than signing the banknotes.” Indeed, it certainly does and she works in close liaison with retailers, financial institutions, Cash in Transit (CiT) firms and UK companies of all sizes. Victoria will brief members on changes in our currency planned for the next three years, including the introduction of polymer banknotes featuring Sir Winston Churchill and Jane Austen. Following extensive public consultation, the new notes will have enhanced counterfeit resilience and be 15% smaller than the current size.  If you are interested in money, you should book a place, see item 6 below. Established members of the Chamber will know that the Dover District Chamber of Commerce has enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with the Bank of England for over 160 years.

3. More About Our Conference Speakers

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

4. Yet More About Our Conference Speakers

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

5. Even More About Our Conference Speakers

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

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

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

7. Now Is The Summer Of Our Discontent

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

8. Is Disruption by Ferry Workers at Calais Over?

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

9. Port Of Ramsgate

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

10. Port of Ramsgate: the Facts

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

11. HR Support In Shepway

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

12. Paying the Right Tax

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

13. Minimum Wage and Tax Avoidance Schemes

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

14. What Can I Do About Managing My Money?

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

15. Wages & Salaries in Kent

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

16. Give Us The Facts

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

17. Public Lecture In Canterbury

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

18. Ship or Bust

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

19. Chamber Golf Day

The Dover District Chamber of Commerce Chamber is pleased to report that 27 of the 30 places available to corporate teams of four players at our annual Chamber Golf Day have been booked or reserved. With just three team places left for 12 players, Chamber member companies wishing to participate are asked to email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. as soon as possible. The Chamber Golf Day will again take place at Royal St George’s Golf Club Sandwich which has hosted 14 Open Championships and is the course featured as “Royal St Mark’s” in Ian Fleming’s book Goldfinger where James Bond plays the most famous golf match in the history of fiction. The 2015 Dover Chamber Golf Day is expected to welcome 120 players in 30 teams all competing for a glittering array of prizes including a new Jaguar XE. We understand that unlike James Bond’s car in the film Goldfinger, the cars supplied by Barretts Jaguar of Canterbury should not give front seat passengers undue cause for concern; they do not have an exploding ejector seat.  For more news about Jaguar’s local partnerships and business contract hire offers, see http://www.barretts.canterbury.jaguar.co.uk/jaguar-for-business/business-partnerships.

20. Newcomer Of The Year

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

21. Maritime Gaff

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

© David Foley 13th September 2015