Rural Retailer

Rural Shops Alliance Update

February 2009 (By Richard Lee)

RSA Head Office Move
After several years based at The Little Keep in Dorchester, the RSA has recently moved its head office into less historic but more practical premises in Weymouth. Our new address is Egdon Hall, Lynch Lane, Weymouth, Dorset, DT4 9DN. The new telephone number is 01305 752044, and the fax number is 01305 772949.

Northumberland CountyCouncil Joins RSA
The RSA is delighted to report that Northumberland County Council has recently joined the RSA as an Associate Member, ensuring that independent rural shops in a large area across the Northeast will continue to be able to benefit from the support, advice and representation offered by the Rural Shops Alliance. Northumberland as a county has been extremely proactive in the past in supporting its shops, particularly through national and local grant schemes, and the RSA looks forward to a successful future partnership.

Ken Parsons elected IRC Chairman
The RSA’s Chief Executive, Ken Parsons, has recently been elected to the position of Chairman of the Independent Retailers Confederation (IRC). This is an alliance of various trade associations and represents the interests of over 100,000 independent retailers. Its main aim is to help create a level playing field upon which specialist shops can compete fairly with the multiples. This is extremely good news for the RSA, helping to ensure that our priority lobbying issues are also at the top of IRC’s agenda.

Sustainable Communities Act

The RSA is a member of the Local Works Coalition, an organisation dedicated to making the Act work in practice. They are currently holding public meetings in various parts of the country to publicise it – one held recently in Dorchester in Dorset attracted over 400 people in a packed hall – an extraordinary level of interest. People are grasping that this is a big opportunity for local authorities to promote the sustainability of local communities in their areas and receive central government funding to help do it. (see Rural Retailer summer 2008 for details of the Act). Please let us have feedback on how your local council intends to use the Act – are they going to ‘opt in’ to this initiative, what proposals are being put forward and what sort of issues are being prioritised?

Guidance on “Rural Retailer” Articles

Following the last edition of “RSA Update” in which we sought articles to feature in “Rural Retailer”, we have been asked to provide a framework within which shopkeepers can write about their own businesses. We know that there are a lot of interesting stories out there, but we also know that putting pen to paper can be quite daunting. The RSA has now produced some simple guidance notes to help budding journalists. Please contact Head Office on 01305 752044 for a copy.

For more information and updates visit www.rural-shops-alliance.co.uk .