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News & updates 

Regular news and updates from the Chamber, our members, local Councils and other relevant business news will be posted regularly here. 

Don't forget, as a member one of your many benefits is being able to submit your press releases and news for inclusion here as well as on either the members or business news emails and social media. Please submit to lauren@worthingandadurchamber.co.uk 


  • 25 April 2018 3:35 PM | Lauren Martin-Grieveson (Administrator)


    Have your say on a plan for West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service. 

    A six week public consultation has started into the Integrated Risk Management Plan which outlines how it intends to use its resources to help protect the public in the future.

    The consultation runs until Monday 28 May.

    The plan explains the fire service’s activities in detail on:

    • ·        Prevention – educating the community on how to reduce risks through safe and well visits, school visits and other training.
    • ·        Protection – providing safer public spaces within the built environment, fire safety inspections and enforcement.
    • ·        Response – sending fire appliances and firefighters to emergency incidents. This can include fires, road traffic collisions, flooding etc.
    • ·        People – how we address the challenges we face in delivering a highly trained, diverse workforce.
    • ·        Value for money – ensuring everything we do is as cost efficient as possible.
    • ·        Partnership and collaboration – how we will work with other organisations to achieve our organisational aims.

    The public consultation asks people to comment on the priorities identified by the West Sussex Fire Authority, part of West Sussex County Council’s functions.

    To read the draft IRMP and to take part in the consultation please go to www.westsussex.gov.uk/IRMP2018

    If you would like the survey and/or other information in an alternative format (eg. a paper copy) please contact us:

    Email: yourfireservice@westsussex.gov.uk

    Telephone: 01243 777100

    In writing: IRMP public consultation, Communications Team, West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, County Hall, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1RG


  • 25 April 2018 9:17 AM | Lauren Martin-Grieveson (Administrator)

    Worthing Museum & Art Gallery partner with the British Museum to exhibit Japanese fashion during the Edo period

    This spring Worthing Museum and Art Gallery will be partnering with the British Museum for a special exhibition exploring Japanese men’s fashion.
     
    Dressed to Impress: netsuke and Japanese men’s fashion is a British Museum Partnership exhibition, which explores the intricate accessories worn by Japanese men during the Edo period (1615-1868). The exhibition will be on display at Worthing Museum’s Norwood Gallery from 28 April to 25 August.
     
    Netsuke are a form of Japanese miniature sculpture that were primarily functional, but evolved into an important art form in Japan. They were used by men as toggles to fasten tobacco and medicine pouches to the belts of their kimonos. Men of all classes of society used netsuke, but particularly merchants, who wanted to demonstrate their style and financial status through their fashion accessories.
     
    This exhibition features five netsuke, chosen from over 2,300 netsuke in the British Museum’s collection. The beauty of these objects is in their individuality, and is reflected in the variety of the netsuke on show, a Chinese couple playing a flute, a goldfish, a turtle, a sleeping rat, and a Chinese boy holding a lion mask. In addition to the group of netsuke, an inro (a case for holding small objects), a sword, and smoking accessories will also be on display.
     
    The exhibition places the netsuke and other objects in context with a bespoke male kimono to demonstrate how they were worn as a complete outfit in the 18th century.
     
    To accompany these objects on display from the British Museum, Worthing Museum will be also be exhibiting an assortment of items from their collection, including a Japanese sword, wood block prints by Toyo-Kuni, a kimono and a selection of netsukes.
     
    As part of the exhibition, there will also be various Japanese themed family friendly workshops taking place at the museum from 29 May to 10 August which include decorating a parasol, making lanterns, pocket sculptures and various traditional Japanese crafts.

    Emma Walder, Worthing Museum & Art Gallery Art Curator, says
    It’s great to be working in partnership with the British Museum and we feel honoured to be displaying their selected items here in Worthing. We rarely have the opportunity to display the limited selection of Japanese items we have in our collections, and I am looking forward to seeing the prints by Toyo-Kuni and the amazing netsukes that have been in our archives.”

    Maria Bojanowska, Dorset Foundation Head of National Programmes at the British Museum, says “The British Museum is delighted to be working with Worthing Museum & Art Gallery for the first time, as the final venue of this partnership touring exhibition. It is wonderful that the exhibition has provided Worthing Museum with the opportunity to display these beautiful objects that would otherwise be in storage.”

    For more information on the Dressed To Impress exhibition and the workshops, visit worthingmuseum.co.uk or call Worthing Museum on 01903 221 448.


  • 25 April 2018 9:07 AM | Lauren Martin-Grieveson (Administrator)


    How SMEs can cope with rising material costs

    Rising material prices are squeezing already thin profit margins at SMEs. How can small business owners manage the increasing costs? Alternative finance is part of the solution.

    A new survey from the Federation of Master Builders has shown that margins at over half of the country’s small building firms are being squeezed as a result of rising material prices. Almost the same amount have been forced to pass on some of the increase to customers, while just under a fifth of these companies are making losses on projects because of the rise in prices.

    Furthermore, major UK food processing company Flatfish has attributed an almost 50% reduction in its bottom-line profit to raw material price inflation, while prominent seafood distributor Lyon’s has also blamed increased costs for a significant drop in its profits.

    The depreciation of the pound and the impact of Brexit on market dynamics are widely considered to be the main factors behind the rise in material prices.

    Regardless of the cause, the increase in raw material prices comes at a bad time for SMEs, which are already shouldering the financial burden of various policy and non-policy costs. Business rates is one such cost whose impact has recently made the headlines.

    So, how can small business owners cope with yet more pressure on capital and cashflow? Alternative finance can help them manage the pressure.

    Access to finance is essential for maintaining momentum and developing and growing a business, and with traditional lenders still proving cautious with regard to small business funding, more and more SMEs are using accessible, affordable and flexible non-bank finance services, such as invoice finance, peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding.

    Tellingly, a new report, SMEs: Smallish Misunderstood Enterprises, claims that a significant amount of companies still feel underserved by traditional lenders. Almost two-thirds of the firms surveyed for the report said that banks made little effort to provide SME-specific services. As such, it’s not difficult to understand the upturn in the popularity of alternative finance services.

    This is how a Sussex-based firm used peer-to-peer lending, through a commercial finance broker that specialises in alternative finance, to raise the cash to buy new equipment.

    Small businesses face some serious headwinds in 2018 and managing rising material prices is another burden they have to bear. In the current environment, this is no easy feat. Alternative finance can help them achieve it.

    To find out more about A&T Business Associates services, contact Tony on 01903 602211 or tony@atbusinessassociates.co.uk.


  • 24 April 2018 11:36 AM | Lauren Martin-Grieveson (Administrator)

    Robin Evans Appointed Partner at MHA Carpenter Box

    Robin joined the firm back in 2002 as a Senior Manager and has progressed to Partner following a stint as a Departmental Director in the firm’s Assurance and Advisory Group which deals with all of the firm’s client audits, amongst other things. Initially qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1997 and a Chartered Tax Adviser in 2002, Robin previously worked for BDO in London before moving to a Brighton practice. Prior to joining MHA Carpenter Box he took the role of Internal Auditor for The Body Shop, and has gained a vast amount of experience in audit work both in practice and in industry over the years.  

    Within the Assurance and Advisory Group at MHA Carpenter Box, Robin works with a variety of limited companies on statutory audits, tax planning and strategic reviews, as well as providing general technical support to a portfolio of clients. He is also a specialist in dealing with academy schools, assisting them through the conversion process and providing them with ongoing support. He is Head of the Academies Sector at MHA Carpenter Box and is the Senior Statutory Auditor for a number of academy schools and commercial businesses.

    Robin also works closely with the Charity Sector at the firm and provides invaluable audit support to many charities and not-for-profit organisations.

    Robin is thrilled with his new appointment, commenting: “I’m delighted to have been appointed as a Partner at MHA Carpenter Box. It’s been a great place to work both in terms of the people within the firm and the wide variety of client issues and opportunities that we deal with on a daily basis. There are always new challenges to face and I relish the prospect of being part of the partnership team to give my input into the strategic direction of the firm.”

    Robin lives in Littlehampton, and is married with three children. Besides watching his sons play football and his daughter ride horses, he is a card-carrying Welshman, a keen fan of Brighton & Hove Albion and season ticket holder at the AMEX Stadium in Brighton.


  • 24 April 2018 10:15 AM | Lauren Martin-Grieveson (Administrator)


    Five signs your business needs a virtual FD By Kreston Reeves

    We are nearing the eye of the storm. Whether this be through changing attitudes of employees and consumers, innovation driven by artificial intelligence, political changes at home and in the US and, of course, Brexit, the macro environment is changing.

    With this uncertainty, there arises many fantastic opportunities for successful businesses to grow, thereby maximising the return on their business for its owners. It will be of no surprise that these owners will have strong financial analysis driving this success, critical to execute a mid- to long-range plan.

    This is where a strong finance director can be a great benefit. From acting as a sounding board for strategic ideas, to engaging and challenging management against pre-determined goals, the FD is a true deputy to the managing director.

    So why would your business need an FD, virtual or otherwise? There are of course many reasons, but I believe there are five main drivers.

    1. Great ambitions to grow, with no long-range plan in place.

    This is a common occurrence in SMEs and entrepreneurial businesses where a great idea or delivery method is present, but clear stated financial objectives are not. A plan can be developed which empowers senior managers to take ownership of objectives, with a clear view as to how they measure up against the overall goals on a regular basis. This is further underpinned by development of management accounts which actually give information that leaders can make decisions on, in a timely manner.

    2. Business is booming, but cashflow remains a constant worry.

    In any high growth organisation, working capital will be tight. A well developed and structured reporting tool will help identify crunch points ahead of time, and a good FD will have several suitable financing options to call upon to steer through these times. This may be through drawdown on invoice discounting facilities, or identifying the best time to order foreign currency to ensure exchange fluctuations are mitigated.

    3. Unknown impact of changing variables.

    Sensitivity analyses and a good stress test of your business is key to negotiating uncertainty. Will your imports become too expensive for your business model to work after a change in currency rates? What if inflation continues to rise, leading to an interest rate hike – how will you afford to keep debt payments on the funding obtained when your business was growing? Does your business rely on EU workers, and how will exit from the EU impact resourcing?

    4. Processes are time consuming and do not add value to customers.

    Lean process management is a crucial cost effective tool which can free up time for team members to work on delivering value to customers, and differentiating your business from the masses. Making processes efficient, from a clear vision of what “good” looks like, can really improve productivity whilst maintaining the control required to detect and prevent errors occurring.

    5. The business has excellent product/process ideas, but little idea of the costing and profitability of the venture.

    It is useful to have someone with a prudent approach to costing and profitability analysis. This not only helps to play devil’s advocate, but to ensure that the idea will ultimately achieve its desired financial and operational objectives. Business Case Analyses (BCAs) are powerful tools to ensure that the idea has every chance of succeeding, and can also be used when quoting for new opportunities.

    The virtual FD

    Whilst a good finance director is expensive, you may not need them in a full-time position. The day-to-day running of the finance team should be well run by process, ensuring an efficient streamlined function. In this case, having a good business advisor, acting as a virtual FD, could be your solution. The scope is flexible, and the business retains control and allows for focussed effort on what is important.

    Generally, a virtual FD is always on hand to answer any questions arising or to discuss ideas, and attends monthly or quarterly board meetings to discuss results and direction of the business. Outsourcing this position means that continuity of service is maintained, and the virtual FD can dip into a wide-ranging talent pool within the organisation.

    Although SMEs make up a large proportion of all businesses, many do not have this key position of strategic advisory servicing in place. Perhaps this is down to a seemingly unneeded cost or a lack of quality resource out there to trust. However, in the changing world today, there must be no misunderstanding as to how much value the virtual FD can bring to a business.

    For more information contact Jake Standing, Business Advisory Senior Manager, Kreston Reeves 01903 828728 jake.standing@krestonreeves.com.  


  • 24 April 2018 9:36 AM | Lauren Martin-Grieveson (Administrator)

    ETI helping the local community 

    Late last year we were grateful to hear that a local company ETI was going to donate a considerable sum to our disabled toilet building fund.

    This week saw the official presentation and you can imagine how lucky and fortunate we felt when we were informed that the sum donated had doubled to £1,000.

    So again grateful thanks to ETI for their generous help with our project.

    Pictured is David our treasurer being predented with the cheque by Miriam Webb of ETI surrounded by club members that come down on Wednesday mornings to eat cake, drink tea, cocoa and ovaltine and in between these breaks, carry out essential maintenance and building work.

    If you didn't know it, ETI are a very successful manufacturer of temperature measuring instruments and equally importantly are based in Worthing. Their website https://thermometer.co.uk is well worth a visit and can be reached via this link. Alternatively a search for ETI will soon get you there.

    For more pictures of this and an update on progress visit the disabled toilets sub page on the What's happening page.

    Link to Disabled Toilets


  • 24 April 2018 8:49 AM | Lauren Martin-Grieveson (Administrator)


    Electronic Temperature Instruments Ltd Wins Highly Prestigious Queen’s Award for Innovation

    It is with enormous pleasure and pride that Electronic Temperature Instruments Ltd is able to announce that Her Majesty the Queen has today granted a Queen’s Award for Enterprise within the category of Innovation, the fourth Queen’s Award for the company since gaining its first in 2012.

    The Queen's Awards for Enterprise are the UK's most prestigious awards for business performance which recognise and reward outstanding achievement by UK companies. The Awards are made each year by the Queen, on the advice of the Prime Minister who is assisted by an Advisory Committee that includes representatives of Government, Industry & Commerce, together with the Trade Unions.

    On receiving the news of the award, Peter Webb MBE, Managing Director of Electronic Temperature Instruments Ltd commented: "I feel immensely proud and honoured to have received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for a fourth time.  We have always prioritised investment in research, development and innovation and the Queen’s Award for Innovation recognises our continued commitment to providing our customers with pioneering temperature measuring solutions using the latest technology.  I am lucky to have such a dedicated and supportive workforce, who without their hard work and commitment this honour would not have been possible.  By keeping our manufacturing and Research & Development in the UK we have been able to support our local economy whilst successfully continuing to grow the business.”

    Trading for 35 years, since 1983, Electronic Temperature Instruments Ltd is the UK’s largest digital thermometer manufacturer and exporter of electronic thermometers and temperature probes.  Thermapen thermometers, manufacturer by ETI Ltd are used worldwide for many different applications and are the UK’s number one selling food thermometer.  Offering a combination of speed, accuracy and convenience of use, the SuperFast Thermapen 4 uses advanced technology and incorporates a number of innovative features including a patented 360° self-rotating display.  Various models complete the Thermapen range including the new Thermapen IR infrared and Thermapen Blue with Bluetooth technology.

    Electronic Temperature Instruments Ltd will be officially presented with its Queen's Award for Enterprise at a ceremony that will take place at the company's Worthing headquarters during the summer.


  • 19 April 2018 4:32 PM | Lauren Martin-Grieveson (Administrator)


    Greater Brighton: taking it to the next level

    Councillor Andy Smith, chairman of the Greater Brighton Economic Board and Leader of Lewes District Council, discusses the next steps for the City Region. It’s been nearly a year since I took on the role of chairman of the Greater Brighton Economic Board which means it is a good time to look back and reflect on what has been delivered in the last 12 months.

    When I took up the role on the rotating annual basis, I made clear that the time was right for the City Region to start talking about how we deliver for our near one million residents.

    Looking back, I am pleased to say that we are now meeting that ambition and, for that, I must thank the collaborative work of the six local authorities, business groups and academia representatives that make up the Greater Brighton board.

    At our meeting this week (April 17, 2018) we discussed the way the City Region moves forward.

    Since the board was established in 2014, we have been successful in bringing in more than £150 million worth of investment into the area which has helped kick-start regeneration and creating ten of thousands of homes and jobs in our local economies.

    But, as is ever the case with these things, changes in the direction of central government means that the goalposts are moving. But as a vibrant City Region whose economy has grown by 10 per cent in the last five years, Whitehall are well aware of our potential and keen to support our work.

    The key question is how we go about delivering this and take the project to the next level.

    In order to keep the success of the City Region going we have to think about the wider ambition of Greater Brighton - what do we want to achieve and how can we use the collective power to benefit residents and businesses in an area that stretches from Brighton north to Gatwick.

    I’m pleased to say that the last year has started to see all the board members think about ‘joining the dots’ - so rather than just focus on jobs and homes, we’re thinking about skills, about education, about infrastructure, about water and energy.

    Without these things, our communities would not be able to reach their potential which is bad news for residents and bad news for businesses. But we also must do this while ensuring that the unique and vibrant identities of places like Haywards Heath, Crawley, Newhaven and Worthing are not diluted in any way.

    We’re also taking steps to draw in more investment and trade into the area. Despite being home to 40,000 businesses and generating an output of around £21 billion every year, Greater Brighton is falling behind when it comes to attracting investors. The new trade and investment team, the first stages of which we agreed at our last meeting, will go some way to dealing with this.

    There is lots to be excited about though. The addition of Crawley Borough Council and Gatwick Airport as members of the board means that we are bigger, not only in terms of geography but also reputationally. also important that we focus beyond our coastal communities.

    We still have challenges, most notably in transport. But through working with the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership and the Transport for South East group, we are hopeful of bringing in much needed investment to improve our road and rail network. This will also support the ongoing activities of our two ports at Newhaven and Shoreham and our very successful international airport at Gatwick.

    As I pass over the baton to another chairman, there's still a lot to achieve. But I know we are capable of delivering for our residents.

    I look forward to working with fellow board members moving forward to keep on driving growth and taking this exciting collaboration to the next level.


  • 19 April 2018 11:19 AM | Lauren Martin-Grieveson (Administrator)


    Further expansion for Lucketts 

    Travel business Lucketts Group has bought North Hampshire-based Mortons Travel - its second acquisition in four months. 

    The purchase of Mortons Travel, which follows the acquisition of Solent Coaches, brings Lucketts' total number of vehicles to about 175 and widens its reach in the north of the county and beyond into Berkshire.

    The move brings Lucketts’ total number of vehicles to around 175 and widens its reach in the north of the county and beyond into Berkshire. As part of the acquisition all 60 staff of Mortons Travel will be retained by the company and managing director Tony Lawman said the plan is to grow the fellow family business.

    Further expansion for Lucketts

    "There were a lot of synergies between Lucketts and Mortons, not least the fact that it's a family owned company with our same core values of safety, reliability, quality and attention to detail," he said.

    Mortons Travel will retain its name, coaches and extensive client portfolio. Should, however, it need to call on extra resources it now has the operational backing of Lucketts Group – which incorporates Lucketts Travel, Coliseum Coaches, Solent Coaches and Worthing Coaches.

    The former shareholders of Mortons Travel, Adrian and Joanne Morton, now plan to spend more time with their young children.

    Adrian Morton said: "Having grown the company over a period of 14 years it felt like the right time to pass the business on to someone who could develop it long into the future. Lucketts has an enviable reputation in the business and we felt our loyal customers and staff would be in safe hands."

    Click here to read more

  • 19 April 2018 11:04 AM | Lauren Martin-Grieveson (Administrator)


    Ambitious investment and trade plans revealed by Greater Brighton

    Greater Brighton is stepping up the pace to bring jobs and prosperity to the City Region - by backing ambitious plans to sell the area to the world.

    With excellent connectivity, a diverse and growing economy and a world-class workforce, Greater Brighton has all the raw materials needed to thrive.

    But, with the City Region bringing in less than 1% of the UK’s total inward investment in 2016/17, economic experts say the area - which stretches from Brighton north to Gatwick - is underperforming, with productivity and growth rates lower than the wider south east.

    With economic uncertainty ahead and competition for investment set to intensify, the Greater Brighton Economic Board (GBEB) yesterday agreed to push ahead with plans to create a new dedicated Trade and Inward Investment Team.

    The aim is to sell the benefits of doing business in the area to a wider audience while supporting City Region firms to grow and trade internationally - ensuring Greater Brighton can realise its potential as one of the UK’s leading locations for investment and trade.

    Councillor Andy Smith, chairman of GBEB and Leader of Lewes District Council, said: “The Greater Brighton City Region has the potential to be one of the UK’s most compelling inward investment and growth locations.

    “Home to nearly one million people, the City Region is distinctive for excellent national and international connectivity, a diverse and growing economy, a talented labour pool and the quality of lifestyle for workers.

    “It’s now up to us to sell these benefits to the wider world with one single voice as investment will boost business, create jobs and encourage prosperity for all of our communities.”

    The decision comes after GBEB commissioned leading consultancy firm Regeneris to create an inward investment and export strategy for the whole Greater Brighton City Region.

    It showed that Greater Brighton is home to around 400,000 jobs and 40,000 businesses, generating an output of around £21 billion every year. The size of the economy has grown by around 10% over the past five years.

    But, the report also said that the City Region is way behind other areas, such as Manchester, Thames Valley and Bristol and Bath, when it comes to bringing in investment into the area.

    A report presented to the board at the meeting in Hove Town Hall yesterday (Tuesday April 17, 2018) said: “In an uncertain economic context, trade and inward investment has an integral role to play in working towards this vision, supporting business growth and innovation, and creating and sustaining employment opportunities in existing and emerging sectors.

    “There is evidence that the area is currently failing to maximise its investment and trade potential, and that, in economic terms, it is losing ground to other locations across the UK.”

    The new Trade and Inward Investment Team would be positioned as the lead body to sell the area and its specialised industries to the wider world.

    Board members suggested the team could operate from a central hub, with potential for the work to be supported at strategic sites across the City Region, such as Gatwick Airport. With the proposal now backed, Greater Brighton officers have been tasked with exploring the issue further.

    The plan would also feed in to the UK government’s Industrial Strategy which sets out an ambition to “create an economy that boosts productivity and earning power throughout the UK”.


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