An update on what your Chamber is doing

Axminster Chamber of Commerce

Newsletter - Spring 2023

If you haven’t yet signed up for Chamber membership please think about it. The annual cost of £50 is a very modest one given the work we are doing for the town in which we all trade. We pay no staff, so the the money we raise from subscriptions all goes towards projects designed to boost the local economy. This newsletter carries examples of just some of them. Let’s be clear, becoming a member does not necessitate attending lots of meetings using up time you simply don’t have. If you can contribute we will welcome you with open arms but it isn’t a requirement.

Please think about making your contribution to the cause using the link below. Email secretary@axminster.biz if you would rather pay by BACS against an invoice.

Join now

Plans hatched for Easter Trail

Move quickly if you would like to sign up to our Easter Trail, which will send children on a hunt for numbered eggs around the town centre. We are keen to repeat the success of last year’s event and have once again secured a giant Easter Egg from the Sweet Shop as our prize. The hunt runs for ten days from 4 April. Traders should contact Jane Rockett at Axminster Printing to join the growing list of participating traders - jane@axminsterprinting.co.uk - tel 01297 32266.

Building on the banners

Like the community picnic tables, our banners made a real difference to the Axminster street scene in the summer of 2022. Bringing them back and extending them to become a wider trail is a must for 2023 - but we need some help to fund it. With public money limited this year, we have been very fortunate that Axminster Town Council has kindly given us the free use of the old Court Room in Church Street as a workshop. However, we still need to cover fabric, paint and metal costs and we have ambitions to create a website through which the story behind each banner can be effectively told. We are, therefore, launching a crowd funding campaign very shortly and will much appreciate donations from businesses as well as from members of the community.

The plan for 2023 is to increase our initial collection of banners from 16 to 26, with the potential to increase that to 36 in 2024. We plan to have the first banners up in time for the Coronation on 6 May, including a special one to celebrate that event. In the weeks that follow, there will be more banners and we will extend from West Street and Trinity Square to fly them for the first time in Victoria Place, Chard Street, George Square, South Street and Silver Street. We are also adding some interesting new designs and involving local schools in the exercise.

Time to celebrate

The Chamber is keen to encourage members to develop their own window displays to boost the town’s celebration of the Coronation on 6th May. In addition to our Coronation street banner (see above) we are also supporting the Crafts @The Shed group by helping to fund their production of bunting (session at the Guildhall pictured) for the town centre. Meanwhile, there will be a Civic Service on Sunday 7th May, and the Rotary Club of Axminster has plans for a family friendly event on the Minster Green from 3pm. More details will be published in the near future.

Community picnic tables back soon

Our introduction over the past two years of community picnic tables on the Minster Green is widely acclaimed as having given the town centre a real boost. The good news is that we are aiming to bring the tables back in time for the coming Easter bank holiday weekend. The lovely team from Axminster Community Shed will in the meantime be visiting the winter quarters that have kindly been made available to us to apply a further coat of preservative. Big thanks are also due to the Parochial Church Council at the Minster Church.

Is your business in our directory?

Our online business directory is one of the potentially free benefits of Chamber membership and has over recent months attracted some 70 businesses. With our 2023 membership now in place, we will in the coming weeks need to ensure that only members enjoy the premium benefit of being able to load photos. In the interests of trying to ensure that the directory is as comprehensive as it can be, non-members will still be able to have lineage only entries. You can sign up to the directory - and edit your listing if you have one - using the link below.

Business directory

Crowd puller comes to Axminster

We are delighted to have given the Chamber’s backing to plans to bring a major food event to Axminster this autumn. Already well known for similar one-day events across the South West, eat:Festivals has been commissioned by East Devon District Council to develop the Axminster Gate to Plate on Saturday 7 October (10am to 4pm) to showcase regional food and drink producers via stalls around the Minster and on Silver Street and Church Street.

eat:Festivals are keen to include local Axminster businesses in an event that, on the basis of those elsewhere, will be marketed heavily and is expected to attract a big footfall. The Chamber is now thinking about how it can enhance the local impact via its own supporting events.

Please head over to www.eatfestivals.org/apply to read more about the ethics, process and applications form links. Any queries or questions will be welcomed via hello@eatfestivals.org.

Pushing back against plastic

The Chamber has become an official community ally for Plastic Free Axminster. Here are Chair Jane Rockett and Secretary Barrie Hedges with the Plastic Free Pledge, which commits us to spreading the word amongst our members. “Businesses have a significant role to play in setting an example for the wider community to follow,” says Jane. “We were happy to give the local team our full support.”

How to become a plastic free business champion

open to small to medium-sized enterprises

Step 1: Sign up to receive a Business Toolkit which will guide you through the process https://plasticfree.or.uk/get-involved/business, or ask us to do it for you: sasplasticfreeaxminster@gmail.com.

Step 2: Carry out a plastic audit of the business. If you have already implemented changes, these can be retrofitted ie backdated.

Step 3: Make a plan to replace three items of single-use plastic from your business, with a plan to make further changes in time. Apply!

Matt Smith, from the Community Waffle House said this: "Our experience was really positive. As a start-up business, the PFA team made us aware of some really simple, early changes that would make a big difference to our plastic footprint including the straws we were buying in and the cloths we were using to wipe down tables. The biggest impact though has been in how plastic-free decision making has become normative in the organisation.”

Watch this space

Business breakfast networking opportunities
Raising Axminster’s profile for tourists
Training sessions to help you with essential skills
Music and other events in the run to Christmas 2024.

Please keep the date

Our Annual General Meeting will be held
at the Bradshaw Room, Axminster Heritage Centre
on Monday 22nd May 2023 from 6.30pm.

It’s your opportunity to learn more about what we have been doing and what we are planning. Importantly, you can also pitch in with your own ideas. Quite apart from the usual business of an AGM, we are lining up some guest speaker sessions that we can promise you will find fascinating and we will also have refreshments. Watch this space for the detailed agenda.

If you would like to consider joining our management committee or would like to be considered for the roles of Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer or Secretary please let us know in advance via secretary@axminster.biz. But if you prefer to support the Chamber from the background there really is no need to commit to meetings.