Minutes 19th January 2010

Crystal Palace & Norwood Chamber of Commerce
MINUTES OF MEETING
19th January 2010: Patrick's Bar, Westow Hill

Those Present:
Ray Hall* (New Crystal Palace, Chair)
Andrew Parfitt* (Honorary Secretary)
Simon Bashford (LB Croydon)
Hannah Bougen* (Full Spectrum Integration)
Alistair Cameron (Joseph Paxton Society)
Kevin Carleton-Reeves (Transport Consultant)
Ray Coman (Coman & Co.)
George Filbey@ (G.F. Gauges Co. and Cllr, Upper Norwood)
Peter George (GO Contaminated Land Solutions)
John Greatrex@ (Great Exhibitions Ltd)
Jerry Green (The Journal)
Jenny Hall (guest)
Stephen Jopson (Synergy)
Frank Lissimore* (Amphlett Lissimore)
Barrie McKay (Crystal Palace Museum)
Rebecca Murray (GHK Consulting)
Sue Nagle* (Bambino)
Lin Neillands (Food Unlimited)
Tim Sharville (Gunpowder Studios)
Catherine Shaw (Allbone and Trimit)
Joan Vernette (Friends Hair & Beauty)
* Management Committee
@ Ambassador

Apologies:
Paul Bartholomew (Vien/Orispace)
Cllr Luke Clancy (Upper Norwood)
Sarah Dacre (Amphlett Lissimore)
Jason Hadden (PPC, Conservative Party, Croydon North)
Kevin Monk (Mango Swiss)
Stan Morris@ (Shinebright)
Stuart Packer (guest)
Andy Stem (Bambino)

1. Introduction
Ray Hall welcomed all to Patrick’s Bar. He thanked Sue for her organisation of a very successful Christmas party. A particular highlight was the Effras, including an impromptu performance by Tim Sharville.

2. Minutes of Last Meeting
The minutes of the 17th November meeting had been received by all members and were agreed as a fair record. Ray said that he is working closely with Chris and Alison Carey to help obtain a recycling site at Deptford. More generally, the discussion of sustainability is a good basis for going forward to make the Triangle even better.

3. Chamber Committee
Ray said that the Committee meets monthly and recent highlights include:
• Arranging a gathering of local interests in February to discuss a design guide for the Triangle.
• A formal proposal by the Croydon Economic Development Company (CEDC) to help fund an executive officer for the Chamber.
• Finalising a contract with the CEDC which sets out what this funding will deliver.
• Stephen Carr indicating that Bromley would help fund as well.
• Jerry and Hannah coordinating the production of the second edition of The Journal.

4. Information Items

4.1. Forward look
Ray outlined the next three meetings:
• 23rd February: Our Market Context - a discussion led by Sir Bob Scott (chair) and Peter Pledger (chief executive) of South London Business.
• 23rd March: International Evening – including a presentation by the 2012 Olympics Development Authority.
• 20th April: Debate with Parliamentary Candidates.

Ray said that in the autumn, he envisaged a special meeting with local ward councillors, reflecting any changes as a result of the May elections.

4.2. CEDC funding for the Chamber
George noted that Amber Rusk (CEDC) has now moved to Purley. Ray confirmed that he is not the new town centre manager. Instead as Frank pointed out, Croydon have decided to pass some of their funding to the local business community. The CEDC will retain a strong connection with the local area. It is intended to be a trial of a new approach to business funding which, if successful, could be adopted by other London boroughs.

Ray made clear that:
• The Chamber will be happy to represent the interest of the business community, regardless of whether or not they are a Chamber member.
• Businesses can still, should they wish, go directly to their local borough for advice and support.
• The contract with Croydon will set out how the Chamber will spend the money to promote local business interests.

Jerry said that he and Hannah had been discussing, in the context of recent comment on Virtual Norwood, whether the CEDC funding was there for the wider community and not just for local business. Sue said that local people were represented by their ward councillors. The CEDC funding is primarily for regenerating the local town centre. So the main focus of the funding is on business interests.

4.3. Virtual Norwood
Sue said that there had recently been a number of posts on Virtual Norwood which had expressed concern about what they saw as the sycophantic support of the Chamber for the New Crystal Palace. Sue encouraged Chamber members to make clear on Virtual Norwood that they understand the broader context: that they voted to support the New Crystal Palace proposals in principle, but will form independent views about any more detailed scheme which may emerge in due course.

4.4. Crystal Palace Local
Because of problems with the Wi-Fi connection, Tim Sharville’s presentation is deferred to February.

5. Rebecca Murray (GHK): Questionnaire on Impact of Sainsbury’s
Rebecca said that she was carrying out a study for Communities and Local Government (CLG) and Business in the Community (BitC) to promote retail-led regeneration. Eight case studies are looking at the impact of major retailers on local businesses. Crystal Palace was chosen because of its being unusual in that local businesses actively encouraged a large supermarket (eventually Sainsbury’s) to come into the area following the closure of Safeway/Morrison’s in 2005.

Rebecca will be speaking to local businesses to gauge their opinions. She also encouraged all to complete a short questionnaire about how their activities were affected during the nine-month period when there was no supermarket, in comparison to the present.
The study is due to report in the spring. Rebecca will liaise with Ray at the time of the final report. Any information will be gratefully received.

In response to questions, Rebecca clarified:
• That although the local business demographic may have changed following the original arrival of Safeways in 1985, going this far back into the past would not be feasible.
• The focus would be on the impact of Sainsbury’s, but traders may wish to mention other factors such as the One Way System.
• The evaluation forms part of the CLG Underserved Markets Programme, which covers areas which find it hard to attract business investment.
• The survey will cover impacts on transport and parking, for instance the deterioration to the indoor car-park when the supermarket closed.
• The study will evaluate the conditions which may lead to a large retailer successfully sitting alongside local traders.

Ray said that Crystal Palace should be a town centre in terms of planning because of its cross-borough transport access, and that the Triangle had suffered through being at the periphery of three boroughs. The goal of the Chamber is to regenerate Crystal Palace, which is the key to regenerating central South London and hence all five boroughs. The New Crystal Palace is able to be a very important part of the process, but only if it enhances the viability of the Triangle.

6. Barrie McKay (Crystal Palace Museum): The Crystal Palace Legacy
Barrie said that the Crystal Palace Museum is perhaps unique in keeping alive the name of a building which was destroyed nearly 80 years ago. The strong brand name is combined with a very vibrant community. However, there is still the need for a pinnacle of success.

The original Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition of 1851 in Hyde Park was a purely commercial undertaking, albeit with strong backing from Prince Albert. It attracted six million visitors and was a pioneer in the use of franchising, with Schweppes being awarded the catering contracts. The profits generated led to the foundation of the V&A, the Natural History Museum and the Royal College of Music.

Nine businessmen then arranged for the Crystal Palace to be re-erected in a much modified form in the grounds of Penge Place, where it opened in 1854. It was promoted as being in Sydenham, drawing on the legacy of the Sydenham Wells, which George III had visited. Joseph Paxton’s designs and landscaping, especially the fountains, cost £1.35 million compared to a budget of £800,000. As a result, the Crystal Palace was never in robust financial health: even in its heyday there was only a small surplus of annual income (£122,000) over annual expenditure (£100,000).

The business model of Crystal Palace relied on a permanent collection supplemented by numerous temporary exhibitions and events such as concerts, pantomimes and fireworks. All exhibitors were charged for space. The Crystal Palace was more of an exhibition and leisure centre than an arts centre.

The company recovered from liquidation in 1911, and in the inter-war years hosted a number of trade fairs and exhibitions, including dog shows and Ideal Homes exhibitions, with full-scale suburban dwellings erected inside the Palace. Even after the fire of 1936, temporary structures on the terraces were used for events into the 1950s.

Looking to the future, there is a need for local businesses to improve their internet marketing methodology. In-bound marketing is a powerful tool to generate customers, particularly if linked with an understanding of how to optimise one’s prominence on Google searches. Using Facebook and Twitter for business is also highly recommended. And there is a need to maintain one’s business website.

The Crystal Palace Museum, which attracts 7,000 to 8,000 visitors a year, is housed in the former School of Engineering. It is available for local use – for instance, the Crystal Palace Band use it as a rehearsal room. And the museum can be hired for seminar and workshops.

Contact details are
Barrie.mckay@gmig.co.uk
0800 321 3369
www.gmig.co.uk

Barrie concluded by noting how the royal connection had always been important to the Crystal Palace. Queen Victoria opened the 1851 and 1854 buildings. And the successor to the patron of Joseph Paxton, the 13th Duke of Devonshire, was the president of the museum.

7. Date of Next Meeting
The next main meeting will be held on Tuesday 23rd February. Sir Bob Scott (chair) and Peter Pledger (chief executive) of South London Business will lead a discussion of Our Market Context. And Tim Sharville will give a presentation of the Crystal Palace Local website.

Circulation: all members of the Crystal Palace & Norwood Chamber of Commerce