M E Howitt - The Leather Shop

You'll find that Howitts has something for everyone. We have a wide range of Briefcases, handbags, wallets and purses. Luggage and holdalls. ...read more

mehowitt.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

- Mon, 26 Jul 2010
Shoe Orchard Moves

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- Sat, 10 Jul 2010
Last Night of the Proms - A Hit Again!

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- Sat, 10 Jul 2010
Alton Food Festival well-attended

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More News...

Summer Barbecue
Thu, 22 Jul 2010
...see details...

Late Night Shopping and Town Events
Thu, 23 Sep 2010
...see details...

Chamber Annual General Meeting
Thu, 25 Nov 2010
...see details...

Chamber Christmas Meal
Thu, 16 Dec 2010
...see details...

More Events...
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About Your Chamber


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Test 005
Image by Martin Saban-Smith


Another test image for the new chamber site.
Another test
Photo by Martin Saban-Smith


What we do
Our primarily function is to represent the members' interests, be it lobbying or working in partnership. We also have a role in helping to improve and develop the local economy. Alton Chamber of Commerce and Industry was established in 1909 and over that time has concentrated on local issues and local initiatives. In order to achieve our goals, we have a number of activities:
Lobbying & Partnerships
A lot of our time is taken up with attending meetings with all relevant agencies and bodies. Where appropriate, we are keen to work with organisations where our goals are shared. This leads us to work with Alton Town Council (ATC), East Hampshire District Council (EHDC), Hampshire County Council (HCC) and other government agencies.  Our policy is to build good working relationships with these organisations so that we can work together to achieve common objectives. We are not afraid to raise issues where needed, underlining our motto saying that we are "The Voice of Alton Business".
Alton Chamber Events & Activities
In order to encourage members to network, socialise and build long-term business relations, we run monthly events for members on the 4th Thursday of the month. These are held at various venues, offering a range of interesting subjects including the chance to visit local businesses. You can read about our events on the Events page.
Town Centre Events
We have a trading and events company 'Alton Chamber Enterprises Ltd' (ACE) to run local events and to create products to generate revenue for events.  The purpose of running events is to bring people into town from the wider area to encourage them to spend on the day, and to return if they like what they see.  We are work closely with Alton Town Council and East Hampshire District Council so that we can continue to develop our now well-established calendar of events.  The events we run are currently Alton Spring Festival, Jane Austen Regency Week, Alton Food Festival and Alton Word Fest.  We also help with the ever-expanding Alton Yuletide Festival and a number of other town events.
Promotion
Alton Chamber Enterprises Ltd. produces the Jane Austen Trail leaflet that guides people from Chawton to Alton on foot, showing them buildings that are relevant to Jane Austen's life. The route of the trail will soon be marked-out with wall-mounted plaques to further enhance and promote the walk.  We also produce two separate Alton and Chawton Jane Austen postcards. To promote Alton we produce a 'Discover Alton' calendar each year and some Christmas cards. We have produced an Accommodation leaflet to promote our local B&Bs and Hotels. These ranges of goods and leaflets will continue to grow.
Communications
Aside from promoting Alton, we are here to keep local businesses informed. We do this through our PDF newsletter which is available on the Newsletter page of this website. This website, produced Working Image, is an important part of our communications, allowing us to address a wide range of people interested in Alton.
ShopWatch and PubWatch Radio
This was an initiative started in cooperation with the Police. This idea is for shops and pubs in Alton to be able to talk directly to the Police station and to each other, allowing for quick response times and for criminals to be tracked as they progress through the town. Alton Chamber Enterprises Ltd. is the licence-holder and we hope to promote the scheme more widely in the future.
Awards
In 2005 we started an annual awards ceremony to allow the committee to acknowledge the achievements of local businesses. We have three medals for Innovation, Excellence and Growth which are awarded at the President's Dinner the January after the year to which they apply. The recipients so far have been:

Year
Innovation
Excellence
Growth
2009
 
2008
Little Green Dragon
 
Ma Cuisine Pour Vous
Pyramid Environmental Services
 
Alton Craft Centre
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2007
Lifelock Ltd
Alton Community Centre
Image Print 2001 Ltd
2006
Interiors by Elizabeth Claire
Alton Grange Hotel
Loadmasters Ltd
2005
Alton Sewing Centre
Format Milton Architects Ltd
Triple FFF Brewery Ltd

How is the Chamber run?
We are run by the members for the members. We are a 'Constituted Association' that is run by a committee made up of four officers and a number of other 'ordinary' members, many of whom have assigned duties. We hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM) each autumn, allowing members to vote for the committee members. This is our current committee:
2010-11 Committee Members
Position            Name
OFFICERS
President             Pat Lerew
Vice President     -
Secretary             Stephen Lewis
Treasurer             Mike Baker

MEMBERS
Retail                   Andy Goodall
                           John Barber
                           Sanya Ward (co-opted)
                           Heather Andrews
Accommodation   Joan Mossop
                           David Levene
Newsletter            David Gay
Promotion            Dean-Paul Phillips
Webmaster          Martin Saban-Smith