local businesses workshop

An entrepreneurial spirit

Thanet currently experiences 2 million day visitors per year. How do we get them to stay longer and spend more? Businesses could contribute positively to the development of Margate by helping to establish to a multi faceted offer to local people and visitors.

“Our businesses are our passion and we want to share that with the local community. We relay on local trade.”
Business workshop participant.

• Margate should not become and ‘elitist ghetto’ –that’s not what local people want.
• Businesses should work together and the chamber of commerce must back these initiatives

Big business vs. small businesses

• Big business will provide a service to the community through employment and offers choice. However as a big business grows they tend to leave developing areas in search for lower overheads.
• Small businesses need to be nurtured. Small businesses grow and can be a strong and active part of the community as they have strong family ties.~
  
  “I want my business to be a part of anything that makes Margate a worthwhile town to live in.” Business workshop participant.

Views of Margate from local business

Local businesses are currently not very integrated in the community. We asked cultural and creative businesses what attractive qualities currently exists in Margate and what they think Margate lacks?

Margate’s attractive qualities?

• Clean beaches


• Infrastructure- life guards, road cleaners


• Sense of community


• Police station


• Post Office


• Railway station


• Road links


• Supportive local govt


• Bank


• Old town centre


• Musical history


• Cheap accommodation

Things Margate lacks?

• Super fast broadband


• Assigned space and support for small businesses


• Faster rail link


• International appeal


• Sustainable investment


• Vibrant economy


• Better facilities- accommodation, buses, childcare


• Unified marketing approach


• More visitor attractions


• Injections of cash to develop the public spaces


• Better wages and jobs


• Better educational links


• Business tax relief/ tax free periods.

Meeting in the middle: What of the listed items can be achieved in Margate?

• Mixed use venues that allow for projects and ideas to be incubated and nurtured and allows people to come together in a way the currently does not exist.


• An ‘Umbrella’ marketing approach that take the multi faceted aspects of Margate into account and one that attracts national and international tourists.


• Better links with institutions.


• Good quality active communication channels.


• Digital meeting points and Notice boards- there needs to be points of interaction with a strong level of quality control through a trusted intermediary e.g. Hidden Arts.


• Enthusiasm and positive messages that can improve the perception of Margate.


• Investing in the role of culture and tourism as persuasive means to attract new people, new businesses and bring that energy and excitement back to Margate.


• Encourage existing businesses to engage with and contribute to what is going on.


• Hard to employ people from the area as they are hard to find or seem to lack the necessary skills.

Stepping forward- integration into the community

• Ÿ A Cultural Vision needs to link to and build on things that are already existing in Margate.
• There should be multiple entry points which allow people to engage in a way that suits them.
  
  “Businesses with expertise in specific fields can play powerful roles in establishing ‘pride of place’ by bringing something different to the table .”
  Business workshop participant.
  
• Engaging the disengaged- could be achieve through a less prescriptive offer of events and activities:
  Ÿ - The role of music - very common entry point. There is already a lot of excitement when Margate hosts live bands. It attracts outside interest and gives positive messages within an beyond a town.
  Ÿ - The role of sport - engagement here already exists and has a naturally strong place in Thanet’s culture and should be worked into an approach that includes, youth, families, communities and international links.
  
• Build on existing leisure and tourism programmes such as ‘The Greeters Programme‘ - where visitors to Margate are shown around through a personal tour by a local resident or the ‘Thanet Pride Awards’ - recognising people working as ambassadors for the town.
• New initiatives should be introduced such as taxi driver training- where Taxi drivers are coached on how to showcase Margate to new visitors.
• Pride of place- There needs to be a head on approach tackling how Margate is perceived by local residents. There needs to be a sense of pride in the people of Margate in order for any changes to be sustainable.

Margate Rocks 08

YOU ARE INVITED TO THE LAUNCH OF MARGATE ROCKS 08 FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY VISUAL ART

Friday 2 May 6pm

The Pie Factory, 5 – 9 Broad Street, Margate, Kent CT9 1EW

Featuring: Exhibition previews Animate Projects presents Salvage Miss Rosie Cooper presents Performance of A Mysterium Tropical Robots presents The Jigsaw Project

Animate Projects presents Salvage

7 – 8pm

Margate Media Centre, 11-13 King Street, Margate, Kent CT9 1DA
Animate Projects present a programme of artists’ films that explore – directly and indirectly – our relationship with, and intervention in, the natural world. Including multi-award winning animations, and two longer films by artists at the forefront of experimental documentary. Featuring work by Inger Lise Hansen, Sandra Lahire, John Parry, Semiconductor, Chris Shepherd & David Shrigley, Cordelia Swann, and Run Wrake.

Miss Rosie Cooper presents Performance of A Mysterium

8.30pm and 9.30pm (two sittings)

Walpole Bay Hotel & Living Museum, Fifth Avenue, Cliftonville, Kent CT9 2JJ

Free, first come first served

A half hour spectacular of lights, music and props within the ballroom of the quirky Walpole Bay Hotel & Living Museum.

Tropical Robots presents The Jigsaw Project

10.30pm

West Coast, King Street, Margate
Free, no booking required

Tropical Robots presents The Jigsaw Project and an evening of eclectic pop, sonic experiments and downright fun times!

Festival Dates

Saturday 3 May – Sunday 11 May

Opening Times 10am – 6pm weekends and Bank Holiday Monday 12 – 6pm weekdays

All events are FREE, unless specified

For more information about Margate Rocks 08 telephone (+44) 07530 207 439 or visit www.margaterocks.com

Artists and other creative professionals required to contribute to a Public Realm Strategy for Margate, Kent

Margate Renewal Partnership is looking for creative people with a good working knowledge of Margate and its communities to contribute to the development of Margate's public realm strategy.

Integral to the strategy process is establishing a Creative Advisory Group that will work alongside the appointed consultant. Margate is developing its creative narrative, most notably with an expanding Creative Quarter in the Old Town and the Turner Contemporary Art Gallery. A key strand of this work is placing innovation and creativity into the heart of the public realm (streets, roads and public spaces).

Your role will be to work alongside other members of the Creative Advisory Group during workshops and bring knowledge of Margate and a creative perspective to the public realm planning and consultation process.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: May 6th 08 - MIDDAY

Interviews in Margate during the week beginning May 12th 08 TBA

Provisional dates and times for workshops:

1st workshop:
May 23rd 08
10am – 4pm

2nd workshop:
May 30th 08
10am – 4pm

3rd workshop:
June 6th 08
10am – 4pm

Application packs are available from Rory McNally
Tel: 01622 666076
Email: rory.mcnally@jacobs.com

LEARNING & SKILLS WORKSHOP: Building Blocks

Resistance in creative learning is not from the institutions but from lack of awareness by locals.

• There is a social divide between the Thanet towns.



• Knowledge transfer means different things to different people but ultimately it is about sharing and exchanging beyond the divide.


• No one wants to feel like culture is being done un to them.
  
• We need to look at culture and decide how we are going to deliver it as a concept.


• If culture is going to be the focus there needs to be an agreement of what it is or ought to be and the role of institutions to help make it happen.


• If Margate feels abandoned then there is little hope for change- young people are a crucial means of turning this perception around.


• Culture needs to be a tool of raising aspirations.


• Margate as a place has low expectations.

Demographics:

• High unemployment


• Out of reach community groups


• High levels of deprivation
  



• There are a lot of negative connotations associated with Margate which is disseminated through the media, through its residents and so perpetuates.



• Negativity is only good to get funding but is ultimately bad for the town as it doesn't attract visitors.

A gateway to communities and families

We need to encourage local people to engage in the cultural aspects of Margate- to enjoy it and feel a sense of place.

• Many of Margate’s residents are unlikely to go to university so there needs to be a way of using informal education if learning and skills is to play a role in the cultural vision.


• The role of formal and informal learning can bring both parents and family’s into cultural/creative activities


• .If their children are doing it then they will want to take part.


• We must ensure that parents are encouraged to so participate in their child’s cultural activities and not make them exclusively for the children.


• There should be an outdoor performance space in Margate.


• One-off spectacles are always successful here but there should also be a consistent programme of activity and institutions can play a positive role here.


• Activities in colleges, institution and/or organisations should compliment each other.


• There needs to be a portal where our projects/ information can be shared.


• If we are going to use culture as a means of building Margate and the aspirations of it’s residence then we need to establish a niche.