🎃 Happy Halloween!... BOO to the Budget 👎
It's a thumbs down for small businesses in Rye over the lowering of the National Insurance threshold in the 2024 autumn Budget, while a sigh of relief over business rates for the majority of Rye retail hospitality and leisure businesses who remain unffected, for now.
One Chamber member Rye Fine Wines immediately took to Facebook with this unique take on the Chancellor's alcohol duty announcement, and what it means to his business:
On the subject of Wine, thanks to Talya Roberson for WineGB's perspective.... if you wonder why English Wine is so expensive, this is well worth a read. It will also be a particularly useful read if you are standing next to a farmer in the pub or supping wine at a vineyard this weekend. You'll get an insight to their perspective over the changes agricultural Inheritance Tax and minimum wage increases.
Summary of Budget
Just in case you missed it – here’s our summary of the key points for businesses.
National Minimum Wage: Increase to £12.21 for adults over 21 and to £10 for 18-20 year olds
Employers’ National Insurance: Increasing by 1.2% to 15% from April ‘25
Employment Allowance: Increase from £5K to £10,500 meaning that 865,000 employers won’t pay any National Insurance at all next year
Business Rates: the current 75% relief for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses will be replaced by a 40% relief for 24/25, up to a maximum discount of £110K. The small business tax multiplier will be frozen for the next year too. From 26/27 two new lower business rates will be introduce for these business sectors.
Capital Gains Tax: lower rate increases from 10-18% and the higher rate from 20-24% Inheritance Tax: Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief Reforms – from April ’26 the first £1m of combined business and agricultural assets won’t be subject to IHT. For assets over £1m there will be 50% relief at an effective rate of 20%
Business Asset Disposal Relief: remains at £1m
Fuel Duty: frozen next year and the 5p discount maintained
Alcohol Duty: duty cut on draft alcohol but duty on non-draught will rise in line with RPI from Feb ’25.
Corporate Tax Roadmap: Outline plans for corporation tax over coming years – including capping the headline rate at 25% for the duration of parliament Do you have a unique perspective you'd like us to highlight? Let us know info@ryechamber.org
Pontins
Following a piece that ran in The Express, ITV Meridian contacted us for comment on the impact on business of the closure of Pontins one year on. We spoke to Cllrs Paul Osbourne, Christine Bayliss and our MP Helena Dollimore prior to the interview to determine if there has been any progress in the negotiations with Britannia Hotels who continue to lease the site from RDC but the situation remains unchanged. Having solicited the views of our member businesses in Camber we endeavoured to give a fuller picture as to the challenges faced by businesses in the village because while undoubtedly some cafes, pubs and shops have been impacted by the closure, the main pressures on business are the seasonal downturn, the sharp rise in the cost of running a business, and the cost of living crisis impacting on visitor spend. However, disappointingly the reporter chose not to include any of those points in his coverage. We will continue to liaise with our MP and Councillors to keep you updated on the future of the site which urgently needs to be resolved.
Second Homes / Air BnBs in Rye
For some time Rother District Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee has been considering the need to undertake a review of second homes and Air BbBs in Rye and Camber. At the committee meeting earlier this month it was once again on the agenda and we lobbied Councillors McGurk, Osbourne, Bayliss and Timpe for their support on this matter. We are pleased to say that the committee agreed to progress with the forming of a Task and Finish group to undertake the work and we have requested that Rye Chamber be included in this. The terms of reference for the Task and Finish group will be ratified at the next O&S Committee meeting. You can watch the the live action from the Committee here. We will keep you updated as things progress.
BID Immersion!
Still don't understand what a BID can deliver for Rye? Watch this video.
As part of our work to gain greater understanding of how BIDs work and their potential we have spent a considerable amount of time learning about other BIDs around the country.
We spent half a day with Lisa Carlson who runs the Canterbury BID, she was exceptionally generous with her time and insight. Lisa is also chair of the Association of Towns and City Management and has put us in contact with several other BIDs to learn more about the specific experiences.
Rye BID Update
Our BID feasibility study is at last well and truly underway. If you have a retail, tourism, hospitality or accommodation business in or around Rye you will have received both a postcard in the mail and an email directly from us, both featuring a link to a survey we’d like you to complete. If you haven’t – please check your spam folders or let us know on info@ryechamber.org and we will resend. The deadline for completing the survey is 30th November.
Some of our members and other business in town have also kindly given their time to meet with our agency Mosaic for a one to one interview. We’re very grateful to those of you who have done this.
While the feasibility study won’t be complete by the time of the Chamber AGM on the 21st November we will have some data we can share with you and Sue will be joining us to share some of her insights and talk about next steps.
We will be giving a comprehensive update on the BID and the feasibility study at our AGM on November 21st. Please book your space NOW! It's guaranteed to sell out!
More BID discussion at Tourism South East Forum
With both her Chamber and Visit 1066 hats on Sarah attended the Destination South East Forum on the subject of Tourism Taxation and Levies held in Brighton on the 24th October. This event was timely given our BID journey.
The event was attended by DMOs, BID operators and hoteliers. The Tourism Alliance gave an overview on the future of tourism taxation in this country. The current view is that while there is no move to introduce a tourism tax by Central Government we can’t rule it out in the future, but that in the event of one being introduced it is likely the collection of any tax be devolved to the regions and that the money levied would not be ring fenced for investment in tourism, it would simply be swallowed back into the funding pot as a whole.
So it remains that currently the only way to introduce a tourism tax is via the BID process which we are currently exploring for Rye. The benefit being that any money raised via a BID can be directly invested in the area and spending decided on by those businesses paying into their BID.
It should be noted that many Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) are now so strapped for cash – given that tourism is not a statutory spend for councils – that many are considering BIDs to be the only means of being able to afford to continue marketing our tourism destinations and supporting tourism-led economies. A TBID (tourism BID) that is doing this very effectively is Isle of Wight BID which uses its entire pot of funding as the budget for their DMO: Visit Isle of Wight. We are in contact with WightBid to learn more. Bournemouth Coastal BID is a destination BID that funds not only its destination marketing, but also its events and festivals and many other town projects – again we are in contact. Manchester ABID is another BID that levies a per room per night tax that is passed on to guests rather than paid for by the businesses themselves and uses this effectively to fund events that bring more overnight visitors to the city – again we are in touch with them.
Want to know more about the Rye BID - then don’t miss our AGM on 21 November! This is a members-only event. Chamber members can book here.
Public toilets
The public loos were again on Town Council’s agenda when they convened on the 14th October. We were given the opportunity to update Councillors on the current situation with our levelling up funding. Following the advice of the Levelling Up Partnership, we are exploring an option that might mitigate the time pressure that we are under which would be to defray our funds to Rye Town Council for the purposes of carrying out the Station Approach toilets refurbishment on our behalf. We are led to believe that in doing so RTC would not be subject to the same time restriction for spending and completing the work that the Chamber is under. At the Town Council meeting Councillors confirmed that they would consider this option further should the need arise.
A whole TREE or a BRANDED BAUBLE - what will it be?
If you run out of time to bring and decorate a tree to help create a magical Christmas forest inside St Mary’s Church for the Christmas Tree Festival, the Chamber Tree will have a space for you! Just pop it on!
As a reminder, if you are going for the full tree, here are the rules!
Bring a real or artificial tree, or fashion your tree from scratch (6 ft max!)
Decorate your tree to represent your society or business in any way you wish – make it all about you!
Lights are welcome but they must be battery-operated
Setting up days are Friday, November 29th 2pm to 8pm and Saturday 30th, November 2pm to 5pm.
Taking down day is Friday December 20th 2pm-8pm
Grand Switching On will be at the Toy Service – Sunday 2nd December 10.30am with Father Christmas!
It’s free to take part but you MUST book your space if you are going for the full tree before Saturday 10th November. Email viviennepattison@gmail.com or hilarymorfitt@mac.com
Lord Warden’s Installation
We were enormously grateful to Rye Town Council for extending an invite to the Chamber to attend the installation of the new Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. Witnessing Admiral Sir George Zambellas GCB DSC ADC DL be installed in the role that has existed since 1268 and seeing the Mayors and representative of all fourteen members of the Confederation of the Cinque Ports assembled was an extraordinary moment of our past rich history reconciled with the present. With a fly past and the Band of the Royal Marines it really was a day to remember. But pomp and ceremony aside the clear message of the event was our civic responsibility to those in most need.
RYZ
We were delighted to attend a stakeholder event for RYZ: Rye Youth Zone at the Mermaid on the 19th October. Councillor Sophie Thorpe and Caroline Drummond have undertaken a huge amount of work to get the project on its feet with some start -up funding and support from Rye Boys Club where RYZ will have its home. It is intended that a pilot project will run from January to March with a view to thereafter seeking some serious funding to support the project for next next five years. Sophie and Caroline are very determined that RYZ is centred on the needs and wants of our young people who will use it, that they have a voice and a safe place in which to make friends, have fun and develop new skills. Young people, parents and members of the community are invited to give their views to help develop the project and the links to those surveys are below, please do provide them with feedback. Also below is a link if you would like to put your name forward as someone who might be able to help with RYZ as either a volunteer or as staff. Please note – you won’t be committing yourself to anything by putting your name on the list at this stage – it is simply an expression of interest so do sign up if you can.
Young People’s survey: https://bit.ly/3y8o8uD
Parents & Community survey: https://bit.ly/3ykLNbc
Volunteer sign up: https://bit.ly/3MV3aTH
Security Devices for 5 lucky Chamber Members!
Do you use an ipad as your POS device or have your laptop out in public?
Multplx is a local enterprise that sells innovative security devices that help businesses secure laptops, tablets, bags and other devices from theft. As busy people we can't always have our eye on our devices making them easy targets for petty theft. Multplx is offering a free Universal Laptop Security Lock or AlarmID for 5 Chamber Member in Rye. In return they would like to snap some photos of them being used for their website. A simple trade!
If anyone would like one please get in touch with Priya Shah on priya.shah@multplx.com! (Priya is part of the Space Coworking community based at Chamber HQ in The Old Cinema, Fishmarket Road. She'd be happy to demonstrate how the device works in you wanted to pop in and see her.)
Showcasing Rye
KT and Martin Bruce have launched a youtube channel to share the videos of Rye and its special events that they have made over recent years. Please take a look and subscribe!
Xmas Parking Concessions
Here's the dates for free parking over the festive season for Cinque Ports Street, The Strand, Bedford Place, Lucknow Place and Gibbet Marsh car parks.
RDC will advertise the concessions on their website, through My Alerts and our Communications Team. They will also place signage within the car parks and on/at the machines; and RingGo will be notified so they will suspend the parking charges on their app and telephone payment system.
More dates for your Diary
Rye Chamber AGM: Thursday 21st November
Join us in the ballroom at The George in Rye, Book NOW. FREE. Don't miss it.
Rye Late Night Shopping / Christmas Lights Switch-On: Saturday 23rd November
More details to follow from the Christmas in Rye Committee in due course.
Christmas Tree Festival Switch On - Sunday 2nd December at 10:30am.
St. Mary's - get involved!
Christmas in Rye: Saturday 7th December
More details to follow from the Christmas in Rye Committee in due course.
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See you next month!
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