CCOC “Best for Business” now on Cirencester Radio

The Cirencester Chamber of Commerce is delighted to announce the launch of its monthly Radio show ‘Best for Business’ on Cirencester Radio.

The Chamber’s membership comprises of a cross section of businesses in the town including shops on the high street.

On our first show we have asked a selection of local businesses to let us know how they view the next twelve months as businesses get back on their feet post Covid. We interviewed a selection of local businesses specifically for Ciren Scene and different businesses for the actual radio show.

James Dory, Operations Director of Watermoor Point, the new flexible workspace and storage space located in Watermoor Road in the old Mitsubishi building, says that business is very good and that they are 90% let in the main building. They have not had to do any deals to gain tenants and are predicting a very positive outlook for serviced offices as businesses downsized and encourage people to work from home.

As for their Clients, most businesses are enjoying full order books which is really encouraging.

So, offices are looking forward to a good year, but the retail picture is different. Mark Mitchell of Crocodile Toys bought the toy shop in the Woolmarket several years ago, then downsized. He moved his positioning from competing with the big toy companies to offering traditional wooden toys with great play value. Lockdown was a struggle particularly with an inflexible new landlord, so at the end of their lease in September 2022, he moved his business entirely online!

Compare this with Chris Roche’s shop ‘Thirty Six’ which sells jeans and other clothing. It is a family concern trading in Ciren Market Place. His business was split 50:50 between online and the shop. The shop had a very good Christmas, helped by the postal strike and customers being nervous about online deliveries. However, although his target Customer is 18 to 35yr olds who are very internet and social media savvy, Chris can’t compete online with the big companies, so it doesn’t prove cost effective, and he is still paying out overheads for the actual shop. He now believes that the future of his business will be better served by concentrating on the shop and the personal service.

These interviews give an initial insight into what is happening in the town but please listen to the show on http://www.cirencesterradio.co.uk to find out more.

David Fowles, Chamber Committee

Watermoor Point welcomes Chamber members

Ian Woodward-Court (top) literally opened the doors of his building, Watermoor Point, the former Mitsubishi HQ, to us for the Chamber’s February Business Community Meeting, which was held in the atrium.

This is an amazing space, fresh, airy and modern, yet at the same time comfortable.

Lots of animated conversations took place amongst those attending, catching up on both business and personal news. Early arrivals grabbed prime seats on the colourful armchairs in the front row whilst others perched on bar stools behind as the meeting started, hosted by Chamber committee member Howard Burr. 

After his updates and round the room introductions, we had a presentation from Sarah Townend, bestselling author of two practical books for entrepreneurial people. The first book ‘Survival Skills for Freelancers’ gives tips for running businesses from home and a second one ‘The Little Book of Confusables’ helps to navigate the pitfalls of similar sounding words when copywriting for our businesses.

The talk was specifically about how to be human when dealing with your clients, focusing on being authentic to yourself in the way you write emails for example. Sarah advised that as people buy from people, you should email them in the same way that you would talk to them in person, and not be stiff and formal, which could be off-putting.

It was a great presentation and inspired a big debate and banter from the audience afterwards, with some not so keen as others to drop the formality. All very good humoured, though. The response generated proved what a success Sarah’s talk had been.

Sarah sold several copies of Confusables that evening and I’m proud to say I have already bought both of her excellent books before – and read them!

You can buy your own copy at https://www.sarahtownsendeditorial.co.uk/the-little-book-of-confusables/

Our meetings are very eclectic, and we welcome a whole range of businesspeople to join us, including non-members who want to try them out.

Jan Sparrow

Upcoming Meetings

Business Awards Launch Wed 15 March 6-8 pm at The Castle, Cecily Hill.

Breakfast meeting Thur 30 March venue TBC 7.30.

Lunch ‘n Learn Webinar Tues 28 March 1230-1330. 

Booking for all these events is via Eventbrite and the link can be found on the events page of the Chamber website http://www.cirencesterchamber.org.uk

If you have any queries, please contact the Chamber Secretary on 07842 081589 or email.

To keep up to date with what´s going on in town, feel free to join our Facebook group by clicking here