Feb 2012 Alton Chamber News

Chamber NewsAlton www.AltonChamber.co.uk

February 2012

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Chamber NewsAlton

The Voice of Alton Business

www.AltonChamber.co.uk

February 2012

Inside this issue…▪ Chamber Award Winners▪ Business profile: Loadmasters Ltd.▪ Apprenticeships▪ News of Feb meeting and much more…


February 2012

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Alton Chamber News is the official journal ofAlton Chamber of Commerce & Industry,produced as a service to members.

Copy Date: Friday 9th March 2012

Editor & Advertising: Stephen LewisE-mail: [email protected]: 01420 544881Post: 4 High St, Alton, Hants GU34 1BUWeb: www.altonchamber.co.uk

COVERSTORY

Weighing a DC3,part of theBattle of BritainMemorial Flightby Loadmasters(Business Profile)

IN THIS ISSUEPage2 Editorial3 President’s Awards4 Secretary’s Corner5 Business profile: Loadmasters Ltd.6 Parliamentary Record: Apprenticeships7 Feb Networking Meeting Job & Business Fairs8 Energy Alton - free advice

Group Reports:ALVA / Beer FestivalAccommodation, Retail

Welcome to the all-new Alton Chamber News. I havebegun my mission to get more contributors by starting theBusiness Profile section, as well as the article from DamianHinds MP. I hope to further increase the list of contributorsin order to broaden the coverage and representation ofthe Chamber’s many activities.

Past experience tells me that in general people do notcontribute of their own free will, but if asked, theygenerally oblige. It is apparent that some people areamazed that you’re interested in what they do. This isyour newsletter - it carries information about businessesand also news relevant to business. Don’t be shy; I knowit’s hard to step out from the shadows, but this is a goodplace to express opinions, pass on interesting news and toboast about what you do.

We all know that boasting is not a very British thing todo. Our national preoccupation is moaning; the papers arefull of negative news and on the whole, people seemreluctant to shout about what they do. I am the world’sworst publicist, so I’m not talking down to you from uponhigh, rather as a fellow sufferer! It is really hard to speakand write about what you do with confidence, but assuccessful networkers will tell you, that’s the only way tospread the word about your business.

Networking organisations are a good way to learn andhone these skills. As luck would have it, Alton has a few:Alton 4 Business, Alton Business Club, Hub Club, and the‘Austen Chapter’ of Business Network International (BNI).You might also try Toastmasters International if you wantto learn the skills needed to make professional speechesand presentations. Our recent joint networking meeting(report on page 7) recognises that the local networkingorganisations are complimentary to the Chamber’sactivities, and I hope that this way of working willcontinue to develop.

I hope you enjoy this edition and I invite you to putforward comments and ideas for further improvement andadditions. Naturally the design and content will changeover time - like the Chamber, it has to move with thetimes and the changing needs of the members.

Stephen Lewis [email protected]

UPCOMING EVENTS February: Already happened (see page 7) March 22nd (Thur): Visit to Arrowsmith Engineering April 26th (Thur): tba May 24th (Thur): tba June: tba

Editorial


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Feb Networking Event reportChamber’s new Approach to Business Networking

Alton Chamber joinedforces with Alton 4 Business(A4B) and Alton Business Club(ABC) to hold a successfulnetworking evening in theinformal setting and relaxedatmosphere of the GrangeHotel on Thursday 8th Feb.

The Chamber’s President,Andy Goodall, was delightedwith the number and range ofbusiness representatives thatattended – on what was a coldevening. He went on to add:

“In these recessionary times, it is more important thanever that local organisations work together in order to addthe strength and expertise that enable them to sustain andgrow their business. Local suppliers are often able to offerquality expertise and capability at a service level notachieved by remote suppliers. This holds true across a

JOB & BUSINESS FAIRSIn the last issue we reported that the idea of a business

fair was in the works. More recently, the Alton CommunityAssociation, who run Alton Community Centre, have beendeveloping a project with Community First East Hampshire(www.cfeh.org.uk) to run a ‘Job & Work Experience Fair’.This has attracted funding from Hampshire County Counciland, along with other similar events in other local towns,is part of an initiative to help people leaving education togain work experience in today’s difficult job market.

The objectives of the Community Centre’s event linkedwith discussions surrounding the Chamber’s ideas for abusiness fair. Thus, just recently, a meeting was held withall parties to see if there was any value in running a jointevent. The originator of the Chamber’s idea was PaulSusans of Wettone Matthews, and his desire was to givepeople running small businesses a place to promote theirservices to the public (Business to Consumer or B2C).Meanwhile, others on the Chamber’s committee werethinking we should be running a business to business (B2B)event. As you can imagine, this difference of opinionsgenerated a great deal of interesting discussion.

In the end, we decided that the Chamber would takePaul’s idea and run with it on the day following the Job &Work Experience Fair. This will be a Saturday. I have tosay that I (secretary) like this idea, but I have not seenanything like it before. Essentially the concept is to offerlocal small businesses a cost-effective way to promote

whole range of businesses, from Web Designers toDecorators; Solicitors to Secretarial Support. Alton and itssurrounding area is home for a number of world-classorganisations, many smaller niche businesses, who wouldbenefit from the expertise offered through the matrix andvirtual services that the local network can provide.”

Chamber joins forces with Community Centre

their services face to face with their potential customers.As a consumer, I think this is an excellent idea, but we willbe interested to see what the business people make of it.We also decided to work towards an entirely different B2Bevent to be held in the autumn.

The ‘Job & Work Experience Fair’ is for people fromages 16 to 25 and will be held at Alton Community Centreon Friday 25th May. On the following day, Saturday 26th

May, the Chamber will run a companion event (as yet tobe named) from 10am ‘til 2pm for the public also at theCommunity Centre. The two are likely to be jointlypromoted through schools, colleges, local papers, postersand leaflets. The Community Centre event will be free toparticipating businesses, whilst the Chamber's event willcharge a modest fee for exhibitors. If these events interestyou, then look out for updates in future issues of thisnewsletter and in the local press.


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PARLIAMENTARY RECORD

Apprenticeships: good for young people,employers and the economy

This is a non-political occasional section to offer our MP Damian Hinds a place to talk about issuesrelevant to business, both locally and at a national level.

Last week (6th-10th Feb) was NationalApprenticeships Week and I took theopportunity to visit some of the employersin East Hampshire, including in Alton, whoare taking apprentices on.

We all know why apprenticeshipsmatter: it's a win for the employer, whogets loyal, well-trained staff; a win for theapprentice, who gets the chance to learnand earn at the same time; and a win forour economy - every £1 of publicinvestment returns an estimated £18 tothe wider economy. At ministerialquestions last week I asked the minister,given those returns, to "reassure us that heis taking all reasonable steps to continuethe successful growth of apprenticeships".

That growth is impressive. Last yearmore than 450,000 people started anapprenticeship - an increase of over 60% onthe previous year. In East Hampshire,there has been an increase of over 50% inthe number of people beginningapprenticeships over the last academicyear, with 280 people taking up places in2009-10 rising to 430 for the year 2010-11.

Close to home, Alton College have recently announcedthat they are going to be running a new apprenticeshipprogramme from the start of the new academic year inSeptember. One key focus is customer service - we mustnot lose sight of how big a part of the economy servicesform. I know that they are looking for local business towork with and anyone who would like to know more aboutworking with them can contact Christine Burke at theCollege.

Apprenticeships are a key way for us to help young (andnot so young) people to lay a solid foundation for theirfuture and bridge an important time in their lives. Inaddition to picking up practical experience, which you justcannot replicate in the classroom, establishing goodworking habits early on is itself a basic life skill whichserves young people throughout their careers.

But apprentices are also good for business. They are alsothe most focused way possible of addressing skills needs inour local economy. There is a direct financial incentive aswell. Companies with 50 employees or fewer can receivea grant of up to £1,500 for taking on a first apprentice agedbetween 16 and 24. This is expected to support up to20,000 new apprenticeships in 2012/13. I hope a goodnumber of them will be in East Hampshire!

But we can do more, too. In Parliament, I sit on theeducation select committee and we often hear fromemployers that, to really excel in the new world economy,we need to invest more deeply in the human capital of thenation. In Germany, perhaps the world leader onapprenticeships, there are more extended lengthplacements. I am pleased that the Prime Minister is nowinviting businesses, universities and training providers tobid for their share of £6 million from the HigherApprenticeship Fund. This is going to create thousands ofnew higher level apprenticeships in sectors like aerospace,engineering and renewable technologies.

Youth unemployment has been a stubborn and growingproblem for many years, but the growth in apprenticeshipplaces can help to equip young people with skills that arein demand, starting them on a path to a real career as wellas building up our skilled workforce right in our localcommunity.

Damian Hinds MP (MP for East Hampshire)House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA0207 219 7057 [email protected] advice surgery 1st Friday of each month

Damian Hinds at Alton College for the announcement of the new CustomerServices apprenticeship programme. Also pictured is Sara Russell, Vice Principalfor Curriculum, Quality & Organisational Development at Alton College


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The Alton ChamberPresident’s Dinner waswell attended and hada jovial atmosphere.Our guest speaker wasEHDC councillor GlynisWatts whose portfolioincludes Economy andCommunity. Her speech emphasised thedesire of EHDC to build closer links withthe business community. Glynis thenjoined our President, Andy Goodall, inpresenting our 2011 awards:

GROWTH: Get Fresh & Fruity (top)We recognise the work that Mark West

has put into developing the wholesaleside of his business. Mark works all hoursof the day and night to both stock his shopand provide many local restaurants withthe same high quality products.

INNOVATION: JC Solicitors (right)Tanya Jeffery and Kellie-Jayne Cox

have established a welcoming and downto earth business. Their innovation hasbeen the way they have presented theirbusiness and for the many fixed-priceservices that allow people to easily seewhat each service will cost.

EXCELLENCE: M.E.Howitt (lower right)We recognise the high-quality goods

and service that Sandra Howitt’s treasuretrove of leather goods, clothing, luggageand saddlery has to offer. The shopattracts shoppers from places far andwide; something that the Chamber wantsto encourage and develop.

HONORARY LIFE MEMBERSHIP (below)We gave our former President and

committee member Bob Dickson Hon LifeMembership in recognition of all the workhe has put into the Chamber - well done.

President’s Awards


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ADVERTISE HERE!We have decided to offer space foradvertising. This is for two reasons,firstly because we want funds to printsmall quantities of this newsletter inorder to reach a wider audience, andalso to provide marketing opportunities

for our members (and non-members).We are creating a rate card which beissued upon request, offering spacesmade up of units - this is a two unitadvert (quarter-page banner). For moreinfo: [email protected]

Welcome New MembersIt’s pleasing to report that we gained 2 new members at

our Networking meeting:

Business: DESK FAIRYContact: Janet Dunkley (principal)Field of business: Business & Secretarial servicesWeb: www.deskfairy.co.ukTel: 01420 83307 Mob: 07989 978544E-mail: [email protected]: 88 The Butts, Alton, Hampshire. GU34 1RD

Business: BUSINESS DESIGN STUDIOContact: David Woodroove (director)Field of business: Graphic & Web DesignWeb: www.createdesignstudio.co.ukTel: 01420 549637E-mail: [email protected]: 65 Medstead Road, Beech, Alton, Hants. GU34 4AE

Membership RenewalsFor those with January or February renewal dates, you

should have received your membership renewal invoice byE-mail from our treasurer. Can we encourage you to makeyour remittance sooner rather than later? It makes ourfinancial planning so much easier.

The Portas ReviewThe Alton Society published an analysis of this report in

their recent newsletter and it is only right that we tooshould examine it. I plan to write an article in the nextissue, looking at the implications for retailers and whatideas we can draw from it. To read the report, go to:www.maryportas.com/news/2011/12/12/the-portas-review

‘Walkers are Welcome’ award sought by Town CouncilThis is a national scheme designed and run by people at

grass roots level. Alton Town Council (ATC) would likeAlton to join the list of 70 towns across the UK currentlyaccredited by the volunteers who run ‘Walkers areWelcome’. In order to qualify, ATC have to prove that theyhave community support. They have written to theChamber asking for our support as an organisation, plusthey are asking you, the readers, to sign a petition - eitherat the Town Hall or online (www.altonsociety.org.uk).

Traffic restriction changes in town centreFor those of you with businesses in the town centre, you

may have seen the few notices about this matter. I hadn’t,but it was pointed out to Sanya Ward by a non-member, aswell as member Cristo Cornaia of ‘Hair’. By chance, Ifound a letter had come to the Chamber and been buriedon my desk. It came with 2½ pages of descriptions of whatI took to be major changes to the waiting restrictions andparking spaces. I spent 5½ hours trying to digest it all andsent a long set of comments to Hampshire County Council(HCC) on the last day of the consultation. In reply, Ireceived a comprehensive set of comments from ourcounty councillor, Andrew Joy.

The upshot is that the HCC 2012 Traffic Order is addingto or replacing parts of the 1981, 1995, 2004 and 2009traffic orders that concern the town centre. The mainchanges are that a number of places where the restrictionis ‘No waiting Mon - Sat 9am - 6pm’ (single yellow lines),they will now be ‘No waiting at any time’ (double yellowlines). Although double yellow lines seem more restrictive,the daytime restrictions are the same. A few parking baysare being moved around to accommodate extra taxi spacesat either end of the High Street, but as far as I can tell, weare not losing any. I think I am right in saying that wherethere are 15 minute waiting bays, they will now be 30minute waiting, with a 30 minute no return period.

Whilst I now realise that some of what I said to HCC wasincorrect, my general point stands that if they want to getacross what a traffic order is aiming to do, then we needsome kind of crib sheet to sum-up the changes and reasonsthey are being made. We have asked to involved in theresearch stages of future matters of this nature so that weare better informed and have a forum to discuss issuesrather than simply reacting. Overall, we clearly need tobuild closer links with our district and county councils toincrease ‘partnership working’.

It is worth noting that from Monday 16th April, EHDC willprovide ‘Civil Enforcement Officers’ to monitor on-streetparking. People will be less able to abuse the parkingrestrictions, hopefully allowing a better traffic flow andhelping people who want to stop to load and unload. It willinteresting to see how well these new initiatives work, asI am sure they are being done for the best of reasons.

By Stephen Lewis


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LOADMASTERS Ltd is a market-leading, independentprovider of aerospace mass properties services throughoutthe UK and Europe. The company is based on Alton’s MillLane trading estate in the same building as Fine Framingpicture framers; both businesses are run by Steve Cook.

LOADMASTERS is Quality Assured by the UK Civil AviationAuthority and works within the framework laid down byEuropean and worldwide aviation law. As specialists in thefield of aircraft and vehicle weight and balance,LOADMASTERS expert technicians assess the needs of theclient based on knowledge of a wide range of techniquesand over 400 aircraft types. This ensures that the methodsused meet customer requirements as well as complyingwith manufacturer guidelines and aviation law.

When we are asked what we do it very often comes asa surprise to the interviewer to find out that our majortask is to weigh aircraft. The next question is ‘Why?’usually followed by something like ‘Surely once an aircraftis made it doesn’t change.’ The truth is that any vehicleoperating anywhere in the world will increase oroccasionally decrease in weight due to modifications andchanges to its structure during its lifetime.

The following story should give you an insight into oneaspect of our operation and the results we are asked toprovide for our customers.

Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer (pictured right)In 2006, LOADMASTERS was called at short notice, about

48 hours, to assist the engineers looking after the VirginAtlantic GlobalFlyer to determine the quantity of fuelremaining in the aircraft tanks after its world recordbreaking flight. The aircraft was positioned in FRAviation’s hangar at Bournemouth Airport following anemergency diversion near the end of its flight, which wasdue to finish at Manston Airport, Kent.

In order to calculate the fuel quantity and its effect onthe centre of gravity the aircraft had to be put into itslevel flying attitude and then weighed. The time taken forthe weighing was somewhat longer than usual due to thefact that the aircraft sits very nose down and, whenbrought level, the remaining fuel had to be allowed toflow into its final position. This is because the baffles inthe fuel tanks were designed to prevent sudden surges offuel affecting the centre of gravity during attitudechanges in flight. In fact, the aircraft had to sit on thescales for over 40 minutes instead of the usual 10 to 15allowed for a more conventional aircraft.

The timescale we were given to complete the task wasquite short as the aircraft had to fly back to the USA as

soon as practicable. Our response time was such that theGlobalFlyer engineers were able to carry on with theirtasks without adversely interfering with their schedule, afairly normal practice for us.

The LOADMASTER calculations showed that there wasapproximately 1100 lb of fuel, 137 gallons, remaining outof a total of over 18500 lb in its full state. We estimatethat, had the electrical system continued to functionnormally, the aircraft could have flown another 1800miles on from Bournemouth, where the pilot finallydecided he had to land.

In addition to a wide range of commercial and privateaircraft, we are able to ‘play’ with all sorts of historicmachines. We have weighed many static exhibits for theRAF, Science and Imperial War Museums, as well as a goodmany flying examples for customers such as the Battle ofBritain Memorial Flight (see cover picture). Many of theSpitfires, Hurricanes and other currently flying warbirdsyou may see have also had their weight and CG positioncalculated by our engineers.

The next time you look up to see an old or unusualaircraft on its way to an air display or show, the chancesare a LOADMASTERS engineer has signed a certificate thatallows the pilot to safely load and fly it.

Loadmasters Ltd.4 Weyside Park, Newman Lane, Alton, Hants. GU34 2PJTel: 01420 544073 Fax: 01420 544173www.aircraft-weighing.com

BUSINESSPROFILE


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LICENSED VICTUALLERS The ALVA recently held their AGM and the Chamber was

represented by three committee members. Those runningthe association were concerned by the recent drop in theirmembership numbers. After a round-table discussion, itwas clear that they did want to continue. In order toencourage members, giving it greater lobbying power,they have decided to make their membership fee a veryaffordable £10. The Chamber applauds this practicalsolution and wishes them well for their future.

Note that the Alton Beer Festival istaking place this weekend at AltonCollege (Fri 17th, Sat 18th). They raisemoney for charities, so it makes all thatdrinking so much more guilt-free! Theirwebsite tells me that there are stillsome tickets available; see:

www.altonbeerfestival.co.uk/festivals.html

ENERGY ALTON LAUNCHFree energy surveys to save you money

You may have read about the recent launch of ‘EnergyAlton’, currently running the ‘Energy Advice Centre’ at 51High Street (formerly ‘Vintage Violet’ shop) on the cornerof Turk Street. What you may not know is that whilst theirprimary focus for publicity has been for householders,they also want to involve businesses…

Firstly, to put it all into perspective, this is a projectrun by the ‘Greening Alton & Holybourne Campaign’. Theysuccessfully bid for some last-minute funding from thegovernment’s Dept of Energy & Climate Change and havereceived £80,000 to spend on promoting the idea ofinsulating homes and businesses, and other initiatives toincrease energy efficiency. The catch is that they’ve gotto spend it all by the end of March!

As part of the project, they are offering free on-siteenergy surveys of 10 commercial or public properties. Thisis a recommendation that you as the business owner arefree to use as you wish. The only thing they ask of you ispermission to use the survey as an example to show otherbusinesses in the future. They are not representing anycompanies, or passing on information; their role is to dowhat they can to encourage businesspeople to make theirpremises more energy-efficient. They are looking for thefollowing types of business: retail, small offices, healthcentre, school, pub, restaurant, industrial unit. Once thesurvey is done, you’ll be given a report recommendingenergy-saving measures, along with a thermal image ofyour property. Sound interesting? Further info:

www.energyalton.co.ukMobile: 07811 462 659Energy Advice Centre: 51 High Street

Top 2 photos show Damian Hinds opening Energy Advice centre

BUSINESS GROUP NEWSACCOMMODATION

No news to report. I’ll take the opportunity to remindyou you that we have a leaflet listing all the local B&Bswhich is available at many local public buildings. What youmay not know is that we also have a website:

www.AltonAccommodation.co.uk

RETAILThis week’s Alton Herald tells us that Waitrose starting

to build next week. Of the two supermarkets, Waitrose isnot required to give developers’ contributions towards thetown centre. This makes their coming something of abitter-sweet pill. However, they are known to be a lotmore community-minded than their competitors, so thishas to be our line of attack once we see things happeningon site. Meanwhile, whilst there have been rumours aboutTesco mothballing their plans, other voices are telling usthat they hope to open by next spring. If this is the case,we will have to step-up our efforts to counter their effectson footfall - watch this space!

Documents

Feb 2012 Alton Chamber News