Minutes of June Meeting

Meeting notes 28.6.07

First and foremost, it was very encouraging to see so many new faces at this meeting.

Suspension of membership fees until July 2008

It has been decided to suspend membership fees for the time being, and then review the situation again in July 2008.
Everyone is in charge of recruiting, please talk to your business neighbours and contacts in the area to get them to sign up

Working Groups

Creation of working groups for different business concerns within the town eg;

  • Retail Working group
  • Business Services Group
  • Manufacturing and Industrial

It was proposed that smaller working groups should be created to focus on different business concerns within the town. Such as a Retail working group, Business services group and a Manufacturing and industrial group.. Thame First wants to include all businesses in the town.

In order to do this volunteers are needed to set up these groups.

Retail concerns

There are some worries on the horizon for retailers in the small towns.
The building of Eden shopping centre in High Wycombe could take some trade from the small market towns in the surrounding area, as there is evidence that these big developments do have an effect on smaller towns..

In order to market ourselves more effectively, we need to focus on the positive aspects of shopping in Thame.

Thame has a good selection of locally produced items.
We have an interesting selection of shops, many of which are independent retailers, so there is a better variety than in larger towns, where there are similar shops as in other towns.
Thame has good places to eat and the parking is free.
It is also a place of historical interest, because of the mix of buildings.
The retailers are friendly and interested, and to a large degree involved in the town.
It is worth noting, that any retail property that becomes available does not stay empty for very long, and the type of shop that is attracted to Thame, shows the popularity of the town.
We also have the Midsommer Murders connection, which while annoying for some retailers, is something we could possibly capitalise on to promote Thame.

Creation of Volunteer services database

It would be useful there fore to set up a volunteers database, so there is a pool of people to pull on should the need arise. This would also enable the cross promotion of businesses, and help us to find better ways to market ourselves as a town.

Town Centre Manager

A Business Plan is being put together to support the case for a Town Centre Manager to be shared with Wallingford, funding needs to be sourced.

On-line discussion group

Google group used for communication, e-mail chair@thamefirst.org.uk to join.

Sonja Francis

Thanks were extended to Sonja for all her hard work to reform and administer the group over the last few years.

Date and times of next meeting

Wednesday 25 July 2007 at 6pm. We will be meeting upstairs at Ciao Baby in North Street, which has been re-furbished and is really lovely. Food is served for those who want to eat after a hard day’s work!

Future meeting dates

Thursday 13 September 2007
Wednesday 21 November 2007
Thursday 6 December 2007
Thursday 24 January 2008

The meetings will be from 6pm at a venue to be agreed; perhaps we could be regulars at Ciao baby?

The December meeting will be a Social event, time and venue to be agreed.

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