This was a popular and well supported event in February had over forty members and guests attending. Mike Hollins, the Museum’s Chairman of Trustees gave a short presentation on how the Museum presents the history of the town and ended with an introduction to the recently acquired McIndoe collection that the museum has been asked to house by the Queen Victoria Hospital Trust.

The museum makes a most attractive setting as a networking venue and members really enjoyed the evening browsing the exhibits, listening to Mike’s presentation and enjoying the nicely presented refreshments
 

Our next networking event takes place at the Jubilee Centre in Charlwoods Road; it offersA chance to meet colleagues, network, enjoy a drink or a coffee and a snack.
Plus you will also find out what’s new and happening in the area.  Both Meridian FM and the Community Centre itself are new and will be giving presentations.

Two powers to help promote your businesses, make new contacts and strengthen old ones. Plus snacks will be available and provided from Nizam.

Members and guests are welcome - the event is free of charge. And you willl also have a chance to have a peek at the great facilties offered by the Jubilee centre.
The event is organised and hosted by Hallmark Travel on behalf of the EGBA.
For more details please email Charmaine@hallmark.com 
www.hallmarktravel.com

Councillor Gary Wall, the new Leader of the District Council invited members of the Alliance of Mid Sussex Business Associations to a meeting with himself and John Jory, the Council’s Chief Executive. EGBA was instrumental in setting up the Alliance with the Business Associations of Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill. This meeting was an un-minuted meeting held on 11th February to exchange views on how the Council and representatives of business could build a better working relationship in the future.

It was clear that both parties felt the meeting to have been most constructive, and Councillor Wall proposed that it merited a further half-day joint working session as a follow-up, to properly structure a future basis for working together – for the benefit of the Council, the district’s businesses and the wider community.

A meeting was held on 22nd March at the request of the Alliance of Mid Sussex Business Associations with Mid Sussex Councillor Pru Moore, Cabinet Member responsible for parking and Council Parking Manager Sue Rees. The Alliance were able to make clear their concerns about recent management decisions on the car parks and that as representatives of businesses in the district they felt they were entitled in future to have properly informed consultations with the Council before any further changes are made in the running of the district’s car parks.

Councillor Moore acknowledged this, and advised that a consultant had been engaged by the Council to assist in preparing a new ten year parking strategy. She said that the aim was to develop a strategy in consultation with all stakeholders for presentation to the Council by November, and that the Council fully recognised the important role of business in this process.

Following circulation and return by the end of March of a questionnaire sent out to members of the community, it is intended that a draft strategy should be ready for community consultation in September. The Alliance stressed their need to make an informed contribution ahead of the formulating of this draft, and Councillor Moore agreed that they should have the opportunity to review the parking records and make informed recommendations as to the structuring of future car park tariffs in discussion with the consultant.

The Alliance stressed that whereas the Council understandably sought to maximise income from parking, businesses sought to maximise car park usage, and that these aims, properly managed, should be compatible.
 

Representatives of the Alliance were invited by the District Council to work with their Economic Development team in developing a five year Economic Development Strategy for the District. A draft strategy has been agreed and approved by the Council and an “action plan” is now under discussion for its implementation over the first year of its life in 2011.

The Alliance remains of the view that this strategy should only be considered as a first and best attempt based on limited data and on a limited appreciation of the district’s local economy. This situation, in the view of the Alliance, needs to be improved on for subsequent strategies by the coherent collection of the proper data and its appraisal by professional staff.

The EGBA working with the Town and District Councils has launched an initiative in the town centre to try to minimise the downside effect of empty shop windows, of which there are unfortunately too many. A trial run has been mounted in the first shop and we would appreciate any reactions from members and the public.

This involves getting agreement of the owner of the premises and coordinating with their agent the installation and ultimately removal of the posters once the shop is re-let. If there is general approval then we propose to repeat the exercise in other premises as they come empty, and would be open to any ideas as to how we could improve or vary the posters.
 

Issues discussed at this meeting included:-

a) How best to structure the Association’s next Events Programme.
b) Agreeing to assist the Farmers Market to find a way of parking their vans away from the market.
c) The outcome of the meeting arranged by Nicholas Soames on the new Network Rail station.
d) The Town Council’s proposal for a Local Champion’s Award.
e) Arranging meetings with the prospective parliamentary candidates.
f) Agreement that each of the Association’s three sections should return a completed “parking questionnaire” to MSDC reflecting the distinct views of the separate types of business that they represent.
 

The West Sussex Sustainable Business Partnership has secured £86,000 to help West Sussex organisations boost the energy efficiency of their premises. UTILISE Action Grants of between £1000 and £10,000 are available to help finance projects such as installing insulation or energy efficient lighting. Applications open 13th May 2010.
£30,000 is exclusively reserved for organisations that attend a free “UTILISE Utility Management Workshop”. These interactive one day courses explore energy, waste and water management…..identifying areas where cost savings can be achieved.

Places are currently available at:
Wakehurst Place, Ardingly - 13th May
Chichester – 29th June
Crawley - 21st July
Worthing - 13th September

For more information contact Rowan Wallis on 01243 777348 or sbp@westsussex.gov.uk    http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-wakehurstplace

The University of Brighton Internship Programme gives you a chance to employ a currently unemployed or under-employed recent graduate for a period of 6 weeks with minimal cost to you. A government grant will contribute £6 an hour to the salary and employment costs of your intern, leaving you to benefit from the new skills, knowledge and fresh perspective that a graduate will bring to your organisation.

Due to the funding requirements there are specific industries that can apply for this opportunity. All within the private sector and including;-

• Engineering
• Construction
• Environment
• Life Science and Pharmaceuticals
• Advanced Manufacturing
• Financial and Professional services
• Care/Aging Society

To express initial interest contact Katherine Hope on 01273 642855 or email Careers@brighton.ac.uk by March 31st.
 

The Education Business Partnership of West Sussex is organising for Imberhorne school a “Careers Speed Dating Challenge” for their Year 9 students on Friday 28th May from 12.20pm to 3.30pm. Thirty volunteers from local businesses are needed to face questioning by the students about their work, their job roles and their career paths for five minutes at a time. The volunteers will then have five minutes to tell the students about their job role and how they progressed into it. The aim is to help the young people to learn about careers and to break down their perceptions of certain job roles. It also allows a chance for the volunteers to promote their business to prospective local applicants.

All volunteers will receive 20 minutes briefing prior to the event either at their place of work or on the phone. To find out more and how to apply go to www.wsxebp.org.uk

Companies that employ less than 250 staff can receive a £1,500 grant for taking on an apprentice who is aged between 16 and 18 and currently not in education, employment or training. Central Sussex College can support companies in recruiting and training their apprentice, and can advertise vacancies through the National Apprenticeship Service’s vacancy matching service, giving access to a wider pool of potential candidates.

To take advantage of this offer, which is available only until October 2010 and on a first come first served basis, call Gill Timlett, Apprenticeship Team Manager at Central Sussex College on 0845 155 0043.
 

West Sussex County Council (WSCC) was successful in its bid for money from the Future Jobs Fund (FJF) and is leading a programme that will create up to 212 jobs across West Sussex during the period January 2010 to March 2011.

The FJF programme is targeted at helping young people, 18 - 24 years old, who have been claiming Job Seekers Allowance for at least 6 months. The jobs created will be new, quality, additional roles that will also have a community impact.

The jobs will provide at least 26 weeks employment on minimum wage with the intention that at the end of that period the young people will be able to secure a job. The jobs to be considered will come from a wide range of employers and sectors across a broad range of activities. During their employment, the young people will be provided with training, mentoring and support to make them employment-ready and able to progress to permanent jobs. The aim is that wherever possible, the employer will offer permanent employment after the initial 6 months.

The bid was developed jointly with a wide range of employers and organisations. WSCC is the lead body for the FJF programme working very closely with Job Centre Plus, who are matching the young people to jobs, and FE Sussex, who are providing the co-ordination of training and development.

For employers there is a simple series of actions, from creating the role, to invoicing WSCC for the young person's salary while at the same time providing evidence of suitability to support a young person in their workplace. This is important because the young person will be an employee of the business working under the normal conditions of employment. If you would like to know more or get involved please contact:
Sue Tivey, Project Manager - sue.tivey@westsussex.gov.uk or
Katherine De La Mora, Project Support Officer - Katherine.delamora@westsussex.gov.uk   Telephone: 01903 213424

9th July – Jewellry Workshop, High Street 6-9-pm
16th September, Omicron 6-9pm
24th November, Martells Premises, Queens Walk 6-9pm