May AGM at Hock Cellar, Fuller’s

Peter Hughes welcomed over 50 members and guests to a busy AGM and thanked Fuller’s for being our generous hosts once again.

Apologies were received from Allan Cooper, Tim Luckett, Janet McNamara, Belinda Simpson, Leslie Feore and guests Ruth Cadbury; Mel Collins and Neil London.

The Minutes of the 2010 AGM were approved with the correction that Jan Riley was not in fact a member (Peter Hughes proposed approval; Donald Kerr seconded)

There were no matters arising from the minutes.

President’s Report

The last year has seen much modernising of the Chamber.

This started in earnest at our Chamber Workshop meeting, which was held at the Holiday Inn, 30^th March 2010. The key purpose of the meeting was to identify what we should do to make the Chamber more useful to its members and thereby ensure a strong future for the Chamber itself. Key points were: identifying and communicating who we are and what we do and making our activities more effective.

Since then to make these ideals a reality we have:

1. created a mission statement. “Brentford Chamber of Commerce, it’s a great place for your business”.
2. rebranded the Chamber to reflect our ambitions.
3. created a brand new website which facilitates our plans. It has a short powerful description of what we are all about which appears on the home page. It is a stronger marketing tool for the Chamber and its members. It features a data capture centre, which will allow faster growth of the Chamber and improve networking opportunities for the members.
4. We have created a system of team leaders, who have a job description. Team leaders are formed from the executive; Each team leader is responsible for a cluster of the membership; The leader’s responsibility is to ensure that their members feel personally involved e.g. encouraging them to attend meetings and finding out what they need from the Chamber. At meetings the leaders should act as ice breakers to facilitate networking.

In order to achieve all of these modernisations, as well as the normal running of the Chamber it has taken a consistent effort by a large group of people. Those who I would particularly like to thank are:

• Kath Richardson who has been essential for making all the big ideas a reality.
• Andy and Richard Ward who have helped shaped the Chamber vision into words and visuals.
• Donald Kerr for quality control and contact with the Football Club and Trust.
• Julia Quilliam for organizing Christmas Lights Gala Dinner and St George’s Day party.
• Suzie Betlam for being self-motivated in promoting the Chamber.
• Suzie Betlam and Jan Riley for being the Gala Dinner production team.
• Brian Johnson as Treasurer and for giving regular practical advice at exec meetings.
• Tim Luckett, knowledge of Brentford workings and EBCC.
• Stephen Browne who has delivered a complicated website brief for a modest budget.
• Andrew Dakers, key player in the redevelopment of Brentford.
• St George, ISIS and Ballymore for sponsorship.
• Helen Martin for creating a music scene in Brentford.
• Garth Buckle, who is shortly retiring after many years of service for the borough. The Hounslow Education Business Partnership was founded in 1989. The HEBP works with Schools, Colleges and Businesses to prepare young people for adult and working life. Garth has been the business links coordinator and is tonight accompanied by his colleague Abigail. Bridging the gap between learning and employment.

What is planned for the forthcoming year?:

• Rolling out the website and getting the members to fill in their profiles.
• Launching a business support team. What would the members like from it. Introduce Steve Mathews. Our first project may be the Docking Station. Also Patricia Huertas (Brentford and Hounslow town centre manager).
• Completing my exit strategy. So that when I hand over as President the Chamber is vibrant and important going into the future, with a structure that allows for growth.

Treasurer’s Report

See the report (pdf) which is draft as hasn’t been finalised by the auditor which was proposed by Andy Ward and seconded by Brian Sawyer

Secretary’s Report

It’s been an eventful first year.

We have a new website which is almost ready. We are hoping to make it live next week. I’d like to thank Stephen Browne for the work he has and is putting into our website which does look quite spectacular. (see the attached screen shots) He has put in far more work than we could pay him for and I’d like to thank him.

Retirement of Executive Council

Nominations – Election to Executive Council

• President: Peter Hughes (proposed by Julia Quilliam, seconded by Brian Sawyer)
• Vice-President: Andy Ward (proposed by Donald Kerr, seconded by Peter Hughes)
• Vice-President: Suzie Betlam (proposed by Julia Quilliam, seconded by Bridget Widdecombe)
• Treasurer: Brian Johnson (proposed by Peter Hughes, seconded by Julia Quilliam)
• Council Member:Jennifer Corbin (proposed by Eileen Henderson, seconded by Brian Sawyer)
• Council Member: Tim Luckett (proposed by Donald Kerr, seconded by Brian Johnson)
• Council Member: Julia Quilliam (proposed by Andy Ward, seconded by Suzie Betlam)
• Council Member: Brian Sawyer (proposed by Eileen Henderson, seconded by Julia Quilliam)
• Council Member: Donald Kerr (proposed by Suzie Betlam, seconded by Julia Quilliam)
• Election of Auditor: Joe Bourke (proposed by Brian Johnson, seconded by Julia Quilliam)
• Election of Solicitors: Stephen Ingalls (proposed by Peter Hughes, seconded by Eileen Henderson)
• Motion on Charities was approved as 19 members voted for, none against

There was no Other Business

New Members: Audi Quattro; Coach and Horses; Pointsource.tv Ltd

Our guest speaker is Patricia Huertas who is Brentford and Hounslow’s newly appointed Town Centre Manager. Patricia started working for the London Borough of Hounslow last month and her position is a three year contract to cover the town centres of Brentford and Hounslow.

The post falls under the Economic Development Unit within the Environment Directorate of Hounslow council. This means that Patricia will work closely with the various departments responsible for traffic, transport, planning and environmental improvements. These teams are the key decision makers and are ultimately responsible for making the decision in subject matters that will affect both town centres.

She will work pro-actively, planning at a strategic level to move Brentford forward. She is currently performing an initial assessment of the situation, talking to stake holders, gathering ideas, issues and concerns, expectations. This initial assessment will be the basis for a structured work plan for the next three years. Brentford is very lucky to have High Street Steering Group and Chamber, as they already provide voices for the community and are actively running projects. Patricia will naturally link to the key projects in Brentford such as the South Side of the High Street.

It is still too early to give specifics for the next 3 years; Patricia is still assessing and planning and is keen to not make any premature decisions but to do it properly. She is also taking account of all the various policy documents such as the Brentford area action plan, High Street Vision, and borough-wide plans and economic assessments.

The main areas that she will be looking at are: developing a sense of place, maximising the assets we already have, considering local heritage, attractions and hotels, increasing tourism, developing inward investment by bringing in the investors that we need. Then there are the details around public realm such as parking and street signage, where she will pick up projects started by the Steering Group and co-ordinate with the various departments in the council to deliver them. Safety and security is another key concern and Patricia will work closely with the police and neighbourhood teams in that area.

Peter thanked Patricia and closed the formal part of the meeting so we could adjourn to more of Fuller’s excellent beer and buffet.