WHO WE ARE
We are a group of local business owners who volunteer to support businesses in Shaftesbury and the surrounding area. We are predominantly made up of retail shop owners, but also accountants, a surveyor, lawyers, event organisers, designers ….we have a variety of skills and backgrounds!
As Shaftesbury’s Chamber of Commerce, which is a formal way of saying Shaftesbury’s Business Community, we are associated with Dorset Chamber of Commerce with all their services and networking opportunities.
WHAT WE DO
We support local business by:
- lobbying our county council and town council on matters that affect business in the town.
- we do joint initiatives with the Town Council to support the local economy
- we organise three seasonal Sunday markets a year
- we organise a Christmas Late Night Shopping event and the Christmas Market
- we give financial support to new events and festivals in town
- we advise and help people wanting to open a business in town
- we liaise with landlords to keep up to date with their plans
- we respond to calls of help from the business community
- we support each other!
TOWN CALENDAR
Sunday 26th November
Shaftesbury Artisan Market on Park Walk and High Street. High Street closed from The Commons to Angel Square. Market on from 10 – 3.
Monday 27th November
Late Night Shopping & Christmas Lights switch-on, High Street & The Commons. High Street closed from 4 – 8pm. Entertainment starts at 6pm next to the Town Hall – Belle Street singers, Shaftesbury Silver Band, choirs, theatre performers, charity stalls, a steam engine, the Gritchie Beer tent and Santa on his float!
Thursday 30th November
Coffee networking event at The Wincombe Centre, 11:00 – 13:00. All businesses welcome from our area and beyond.
Friday 1st December
Darkness Into Light, Advent Service, St Peter’s Church, 18:30. Candles, music and recitals from St Peter’s Choir
Saturday 2nd December
Small Business Saturday – supporting and celebrating small businesses. Use #SmallBizSatUK #SmallBusinessSaturday
There is FREE PARKING today!
https://smallbusinesssaturdayuk.com/about-us
Friday 8th December
Closing date to enter the Shaftesbury Business Awards
www.shaftesburybusinessawards.co.uk
Sunday 10th December
Christmas Market, High Street closed from The Commons to Angel Square. Market on from 10 – 3.
Friday 22nd December
FREE PARKING across all car parks for last week day before Christmas
MEMBERS’ AREA
You will be asked for your members password to access the following pages.
Latest news and info
Latest news and info
Minutes for last four meetings
Agenda for next meeting (when available)
Forthcoming networking events
Looking to start a business in Shaftesbury?
AGENTS:
Wooley & Wallis:
Myddelton & Major
Goadsby
Lawyers:
Farnfields
Rutters
Blanchards Bailey
Maclachlan
Trethowan
Accountants:
Hub Accountants
Ward Goodman
Andrews & Palmer
Town Information
- The Wincombe Centre will be hosting another two coffee mornings to support small businesses in the Centre and the wider Wincombe estate, in November and January. Keep an eye on their social media for more info.
- The Shaftesbury Business Awards has launched – you can be nominated or nominate yourself, it’s completely free to enter and we hope many of you join in! Entries close on the 8th of December and the awards themselves will be held at the end of January. Go to www.shaftesburybusinessawards.co.uk
- Free Parking Days – we’ve got two left, one for Small Business Saturday on 2nd December and the other on Friday 22nd December. Let your customers know!
Expert Tips
- How does your website fare in searches and how you can boost its chances of being seen.
- 1. Any words in your search query need to be on the front page for them to appear.
2. If your site hasn’t been updated in a while, think what you could refresh as Google favours sites that have recent updates.
3. Searching and scrolling through search results until you find your company and clicking on it regularly helps as Google favours sites that have been visited recently.
4. Go to more than one page on your site and don’t click on any competitors after your search or you will boost them instead.
5. Links from trusted sites to your company’s site are the best way to get to the top but obviously difficult to achieve.
6. So, taking a look at the wording on the front page is a quick win. Putting contact info on the front page also helps boost visibility.
Off The High Street
- If you have a business on one of our estates or at a nearby commercial centre in one of our surrounding villages and have info you’d like to share with your business community, let us know – we’ll put it up here and start a local network noticeboard.
We are an Associated Town Chamber of Dorset Chamber, accredited by the British Chambers of Commerce.