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OLD TOWN STILL IN BUSINESS

The widely reported fire in the Old town has only destroyed property in the Cowgate and a small part of South Bridge. Our sympathy to those businesses which suffered. However, the huge range of exciting shops, bars and restaurants in the Royal Mile, Grassmarket, St Mary's Street, Jeffrey Street, Cockburn Street and Victoria Street are all open and awaiting your custom.

For the latest information on street closures, traffic disruption take a look at the newsflash, (top right hand corner ) on the Council's website, or try the  BBC's web site, or  The Scotsman, or the  Evening News.

BETTER BUSINESS IN THE OLD TOWN
September 2002
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGCHAIRMAN'S ADDRESS
FINANCEELECTION OF COMMITTEE
SUBSCRIPTIONSANY OTHER BUSINESS
A NEW BUSINESS ASSOCIATION?LIMITED CHRISTMAS CHEER
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENTWEBSITE UPDATE
TRON CENTRE
April 2002 newsletterSuccess for local Karate Club
PRESS RELEASES
EDINBURGH OLD TOWN BUSINESS ASSOCIATION
BETTER BUSINESS IN THE OLD TOWN
THE EDINBURGH OLD TOWN BUSINESS ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER
Issue 8 (revised) September 2002
 
1
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The Annual General meeting of the Association was held on Tuesday 18th July in the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Highlights of the meeting are as follows.
2
CHAIRMAN'S ADDRESS
John Richardson welcomed those attending the meeting.
The year had been difficult for businesses depending on tourism due to the impact of foot and mouth restrictions and the terrorist attacks on 11th September. The current year had been affected by poor weather although there were indications that trading was exceeding earlier expectations.
Key issues for the Association had been Christmas lights, the Tron Visitor Information Centre, the Festival High Street closure, the Website and Membership.
The Association had been pressing the Council to provide some Christmas lighting in the Old Town to balance with the extensive activities and decorations in Princes Street. A meeting with Donald Anderson had produced a sympathetic response but as yet no action. We would continue to press the Council.
At the same meeting the Council had expressed interest in pursuing our ideas for developing the Tron Visitor Information Centre; two weeks later they had let the Tron to Auld Reekie Tours without even advising the Association. In practice that arrangement did see the Tron continuing to operate at no cost to the Association. This lease has now been terminated and we await a decision on a future lease; we continue to press for a permanent solution to the Tron.
The Association was again involved in selecting traders for stalls during the festival closure of the High Street and is represented on Working Group which controls this event
During the year we have completed the first stages of redeveloping the Website to our specification. We are currently getting 25000 hits per month and are looking at ways to exploit the revenue earning potential of the Website.
The Association has continued to struggle to maintain its membership. Following comprehensive review its future, we concluded that, notwithstanding the difficulty in securing and maintaining support from local businesses, there was a continuing need for a body to represent their interest and promote the area. Accordingly we held a relaunch event in April which attracted a lot of interest and has already produced several new members. It is important that all Old Town businesses appreciate the importance of having a voice with the Council and other organisations which can have profound effects on our business environment.
John concluded by expressing his thanks to Josef Boni who had stepped down from the Chair in September when he left the Old Town, to the Committee and Secretary for their support during the year and to David Welch for his most generous hospitality for this meeting, the relaunch event and monthly committee meetings.
3
FINANCE
In presenting the Accounts, John Ellis reported that the Association had felt it important to press ahead with the development of the Website at a time when cash reserves were barely adequate for that project. In the event, membership renewals had been disappointing, resulting in a deficit of £2106 for the year and a negative balance of £103 in available funds. It was in the light of this situation that the relaunch exercise had been planned, and it was pleasing to report that early indications suggested that it had been successful. Never-the-less, the Association could only maintain its credibility and make an effective contribution if sufficient Old Town businesses were prepared to pay its modest subscription. So long as numbers remained around 50 the task of maintaining membership would continue to absorb a disproportionate amount of the available effort.
Copies of the Accounts are available to members on request.
4
ELECTION OF COMMITTEE
The Executive Committee for 2001/2002 was agreed as
Jos Bastiaensen Grassmarket
Bruce Brady North Bridge
Syd McAlpine Canongate
John Richardson South Bridge
Norrie Rowan
Gordon Scott High Street
Rosemary Wake St Mary's Street
David Welch High Street
John Ellis Secretary and Treasurer
5
SUBSCRIPTIONS
It was agreed that the annual subscription should remain at £50, with a first year discount of 10% (to £45) for any member agreeing to pay by standing order and a special rate of £5 per month for any member wishing to pay by monthly standing order.
6
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
No topics were raised under this item.
7
A NEW BUSINESS ASSOCIATION?
On 29th April about 30 members and potential members got together in the Crowne Plaza Hotel for a presentation on the future of the Association and join in an informal discussion on the future of the organisation.
Councillor Bill Cunningham welcomed those attending and reminded them of the importance of a strong voice for local businesses in influencing decisions on the future of the Old Town.
John Richardson then gave a presentation which outlined the reasons for having an Association, i.e.,
To have a strong proactive voice
To provide a framework for discussion and networking
To play a major part in making our unique location a success
To develop our own businesses
For the future, we wanted to offer
A stronger voice
Meetings with guest speakers on relevant topics
The opportunity to use the Website to promote your business
An ear for your problems and suggestions.
The meeting concluded with an opportunity for informal discussion with Committee members, and ended with a number of new members being signed up.
The event was hosted by David Welch of the Crowne Plaza and we are most grateful to him for his hospitality and for the work which he put in to the most professional presentation. We hope that many more local businesses will come to see the advantage of having an effective Association to represent their interests.
8
LIMITED CHRISTMAS CHEER
In May 2001 Josef Boni, our then Chairman, and John Ellis met with Donald Anderson, Leader of the Council, and a number of Officials to talk about the need to improve Christmas decorations in the Old Town. We were given an encouraging response at the time but as the Festive season approached it became obvious that little if anything was going to be done, and officials became impossible to contact.
We did not think that this was good enough, and we have continued to put pressure on the Council to do more this year. We have finally managed to arrange a meeting with the Council official concerned at the beginning of October and we hope to persuade him to provide some lighting in the Old Town. More encouraging, the City centre management Company will be sponsoring a Christmas Market in the Grassmarket and will be actively promoting the Old Town as part of its Christmas campaign.
9
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
We were disappointed to find that the much publicised consultation on the New Transport Initiative - congestion charging to those likely to suffer from it! - had failed to reach out as far as our Association. Following representations to the Executive Member responsible, Councillor Andrew Burns, he has offered to make a presentation to members. We propose to make this the subject of a members meeting in late October; more details when dates and times have been firmed up,
10
WEBSITE UPDATE
We have completed the first two phases of the redevelopment of the Website, and are pleased to report 20,000 "hits" per month. Less satisfactorily, the cost of this work means that our cash reserves are smaller than we would like, and we have yet to find a source of additional grant funding to take the project forward. We are, however, convinced that our investment will pay off.
During July and August we have been running a trial of members advertising on the Website to show if this is cost effective. We will publish the results in due course but in the meantime, any member can use the facility for a modest charge - contact Syd MacAlpine on [email protected]
11
TRON VISITOR INFORMATION CENTRE
You will have seen that the Tron has reopened, after a short interval, with a new tenant. While we are happy to support those who are willing to run the Centre as a commercial venture we are concerned that it is no longer possible for OTBA members to display their leaflets free of charge, while it is difficult to see how any short-lease tenant can be expected to make more than a token investment in keeping the Visitor Centre up to date.
We believe that the Tron is ideally suited to the role of a Visitor Information Centre, possible combined a performance venue or gallery. It should be able to support itself by commercial operations but needs to be seen as independent rather than linked to any single existing business. We understand that the Council is considering the long term future of the Tron, and we have written proposing a meeting of interested parties.
Success for local Karate Club
Shito-Ryu Shukokai Annual Championships
Students from a local karate club based in the Cowgate, took part in the inaugural event of the SSUS Championships in Clydebank on Sunday 6th October which was sponsored by Crown Direct (Glasgow) and A' The Best Fae Scotland (Edinburgh). The event was attended by all the members of the SSUS and the Takumi students took a total of 14 medals (7 Gold, 3 Silver and 4 Bronze).
All of the students performed well, and were a credit to their club and their instructor, Sensei Steve McKenzie. Some notable performances were from James Palmer who, despite being bothered by an old injury took 3 Golds (in kumite and kata) and a Silver (team kata). Also, youngster Martin Grant (white belt) achieved a Bronze medal for kumite (sparring) in his first ever competition at the age of 12 years old.
Some of the competitors will be attending the forthcoming Shito Ryu Union European Championships which are being held near Manchester on 23rd November 2002 and it is hoped that they will be able to repeat their success.
For information about the club please visit our website at www.takumidojo.org.uk

EDINBURGH OLD TOWN BUSINESS ASSOCIATION - EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Chairman - John Richardson

Vice Chairman - Syd McAlpine

Jos Bastiaensen, Bruce Brady, Norrie Rowan,
Gordon Scott, Rosemary Wake, David Welch

Secretary and Treasurer - John Ellis

Phone 0131 477 2910 or 01875 852395

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