Business Bites - Commerce, Community and Culture

I was fortunate enough to attend my first Chichester Chamber of Commerce event recently, which included an amazing back stage tour of Chichester Festival Theatre. We are incredibly fortunate in Chichester to have both a vibrant local business community and a world-class theatre. The theatre’s ambition and vision has allowed Chichester to see productions that then go on to be West End, like ‘Crazy for You’. This summer’s Oliver has already been earmarked by Cameron Mackintosh! I’ve got my tickets for opening night, and I can’t wait.

If you’re a local business owner who hasn’t had a chance to experience the Chamber yet, do go along to one of their events as a taster. They have an extensive line up and I was really impressed with the breadth of its membership. One of its newest members is Revelation Church, who if you aren’t familiar with it occupies the former Laura Ashley site on the Hornet. It also has some of the best meeting room facilities available to hire by the public that I have seen in Chichester.

Since the pandemic I’ve worked remotely but meet my team at least bi-monthly to foster those important personal relationships you just can’t replicate online. I’ve visited and used several local spaces and while I’ve yet to use the space at Revelation, I have done the tour. The rooms are new, high spec and beautiful. We look forward to using the space soon and have dates booked in for 2024 and 2025 already!

Since my last column I’ve been contacted about my thoughts on introducing 1-hour free parking in city centre car parks. It’s a cause people seem to want to see championed. Given the local council had a change of leadership last year and is now lead by the Liberal Democrats, I will be contacting their parliamentary candidate Jess Brown-Fuller who is running local resident surgeries. Jess is also a district councillor so seems like a good first person to reach out to on this. Watch this space.

Finally, next week is Dementia Action Week, where communities across the country take action to improve the lives of people living with dementia. Dementia Support will be hosting a range of awareness and fundraising events, including Light Up Chichester. On Monday you’ll be able to talk a walk around Chichester at 8.30pm and see buildings lit up in blue and purple including the Cross, the Assembly Rooms and others. A trail map can be found here.

If you are caring for someone with dementia, the charity’s ‘Holistic Approach to Dementia Carers Workshop’ will be running again this year on 21st June in the beautiful woodland setting of the Goodwood Education Trust. You can book your place here. Whilst the session is free to attend Dementia Support would be grateful for any contributions to put towards the fantastic work they do supporting local families on their dementia journeys.