A few photos from our Christmas lunch enjoyed by members and guests.

On Friday, 14th December, the Chair and Directors of the Torquay Chamber of Commerce delivered a large number of Christmas Boxes to the Shekinah Mission in the town centre.  The Shekinah Mission is a homelessness charity which has been working to help socially excluded and disadvantaged people since 1992.

The boxes were donated by the Directors and members of the Chamber, and were gratefully received by the staff and residents of Shekinah.

We wish them all a safe and Merry Christmas.

Government department responsible for promoting British trade across the world and ensuring

that the UK takes advantage of the huge range commercial opportunities open to it. With a global

network, it aims to help businesses take control of their international business development,

assisting them to export their goods and services effectively.

Local International Trade Adviser Support – steve.southcott@mobile.trade.gov.uk 07469 391223

Strategic export development advice from experienced former exporters and international trade

advisers.  Access facilitation to export related events, training workshops and online webinars.

Department for International Trade (DIT) website – www.great.gov.uk 

Lots of free information relevant to new, occasional and experienced exporters.

UK Export Directory – https://find-a-buyer.export.great.gov.uk/ 

Get promoted internationally for free with a great.gov.uk trade profile.

Export Opportunities – https://opportunities.export.great.gov.uk/

Find and apply for overseas opportunities for free.

Selling via Online e-Market Places – https://selling-online-overseas.export.great.gov.uk/

Find the right marketplace for your business and access special offers for sellers.

Financial Support for Exhibitions – https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tradeshow-access-programme

Funding support for participation at selected overseas exhibitions and tradeshows.

Overseas Market Research – https://www.great.gov.uk/market-research/

Chargeable (OMIS) service whereby worldwide British Embassy officials can undertake specific

activities such as field market research, potential distributor search, contact introductions or

appointment arranging services on your behalf.

Exporting Trade Finance – https://www.great.gov.uk/get-finance/

Export Finance (UKEF) – UK’s export credit agency. Able to provide working capital loans, credit

insurance and bank guarantees so UK companies can trade with overseas markets.

Business West export support programmes – https://www.export4growth.co.uk/

Export Essentials – assistance for new or novice exporters to get to grips with planning their export

strategy. Includes ‘Ready For Export’ workshop and access to specialist support on various topics.

Extend Your Global Reach – Intensive strategic and commercial assistance to help your business

enter or expand into the high-growth markets of China, India, Latin America or South East Asia.

Great British Food Programme – http://www.greatbritishfoodprogramme.co.uk/

Virtual and physical support to connect South West Food & Drink sector producers with

international buyers.

Torquay Chamber of Commerce, the Police and Torbay Council – Working together to clean up Torquay

The Torquay Chamber of Commerce is now insisting that the time has come for action, as well as words, to help promote a new and vibrant town, to support the forthcoming developments, which are due to commence very soon.

The Chamber’s Chair, Susie Colley, and Steve Thorne from Jane’s, met with Superintendent Capey from the Devon and Cornwall Police on 18^th July 2018, to discuss how retailers and the Chamber can work together with the Police, the Council, and other agencies to address the issues affecting the town, which have become so contentious in the last few months.

The Chamber is fully aware of the following:

* Financial cuts in the services provided by the Council;

* Financial constraints on the Police;

* An increase in the town of “professional beggars” and Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB), including intimidation of shoppers and retailers.

Objectives and future and ongoing actions by the Police

* The police have a dedicated operation – Operation Roxbury – which is focussed on issues in the town.

* Operation Roxbury features as one of the main priorities within South Devon, and as such, resources are being re-deployed to support policing activity.

* Not all policing activity will be visible.

* The local neighbourhood team have initiated a problem profile, to ensure that they have an ongoing story board of activity.

* The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014; has been reintroduced to allow the Police to exercise Dispersal Powers.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/12/part/3/enacted?view=plain

* For the summer period, a dedicated overtime budget has been secured to enhance the number of policing resources dedicated to town centre issues.

* The policing approach is looking at 3 main areas:

o Drug related issues;

o Associated criminality, such as shoplifting;

o ASB;

* The police are continuing to work closely with partners, such as the council, to make best use of legislation such as CBOs and s35 powers.

* 35 Misuse of Drugs Act Warrants in the past 6 months, that have a correlation to town centre related issues.

* The police will ensure that a Community Impact statement is given to Magistrates prior to sentencing those who are in Court – not prior to hearing the case, as that would jeopardise the sentence, but afterwards, so that the Magistrates are aware of the damage the miscreant has caused to the community.

* Regarding communication, Superintendent Capey has taken on board the comments in relation to the development of improved communication, and will ask Inspector Stevens to look into this.

* Regarding the use of the 101 system, the incident log, it is the intention to ask Sergeant Nichola Drury to develop an initial draft to share for comment.  Please note however, that, as discussed, this should not be seen as an alternative to utilising 999 or 101 (including email to the force control room) where incidents occur, as this remains the most reliable method for spontaneous allocation of resources, and also creates an overview of incident levels, from which the force assesses demand.

Objectives and future and ongoing actions by the Chamber and Retailers

* Use the template to report ASB and minor crime etc on a daily basis (this template, which will be constructed by the Police, will be available for download from the Chamber’s website, and will be sent to all retailers).

* Using the template and sending it to the Police by email (the address will be on the form) will relieve the retailers of wasting time trying to use the 101 system.

* The Chamber will lobby Kevin Foster, Torquay’s Member of Parliament and leaders of the three political parties, for more funding and assistance, as Torquay is very near the top of the worst areas of deprivation in the country.

* The Chamber will ask Kevin Foster MP to ask the question, when next the House sits, as to when Austerity is to be lifted and are all MPs aware, that by cutting all the services, it will have an extremely long term detrimental effect on the country as a whole.

The idea of the Chamber’s members offering a discount to fellow members is currently being discussed.

More information on this in due course.

The Chamber Chair, Susie Colley, has undertaken training and is now a Dementia Friends Champion.  She is very happy to come and talk to anyone who feels they or their staff would benefit from learning more about how to be involved in our campaign to help Torquay become a dementia friendly town.

If you would like to discuss this further, please email:

chair@torquaychamberofcommerce.co.uk or phone Susie Colley on 01803 314600 .

Some people have already benefited from this:

“The dementia training was extremely rewarding, enlightening and a must for anyone in any business.

I learnt so much about how dementia affects people’s perceptions  and how my business can change a few simple things to help those with dementia.

It was an hour well spent !”