Rushden Chamber of Trade - Rules Adopted and Officers Appointed – The First Business

The large number of Rushden tradesmen who have been concerned in recent efforts to form an organisation for mutual interests have decided to call themselves “The Rushden Chamber of Trade”. The rules as drafted by a special committee, with a few minor alterations, were adopted at a meeting on Monday in the B.W.T.A. Hall, Mr W P Orrell presiding, supported by Mr G Haigh, the secretary.

Mr Orrell said the small committee appointed at the previous meeting had carefully drawn up rules and suggested that they be considered separately.

The Secretary read the rules, and the objects stated that the organisation would support the National chamber of trade, foster friendship among tradesmen of the town, and endeavour to advance the business of the district. The rules fixed the number of officers, the dates of meetings, subscriptions, etc.

Officers were appointed as follow: President, Mr W P Orrell; vice-president, Mr J Roe; secretary, Mr G Haigh; treasurer, Mr S Phillips; committee members for two years, Messrs S Knight, A Gramshaw, E Warren, and H Cartwright, and for one year only Messrs F Webb, Billingham, W Tomlinson, and E Chettle.

A suggestion by Mr Gramshaw, that it would be a good thing for trade if an effort were made every quarter by combined advertising and window display to appeal to out-of-town shoppers, was recommended to the committee.

On the motion of Mr C E Cook, it was resolved that the committee should consider the question of pressing for the reduction in the cost of electric lighting.

It was decided to have a paper read at the next meeting on the preparation of accounts and income tax returns.

Mr Roe referred to a balance of several pounds at the last meeting of the Shopping Week Committee, which was to be handed over to the Chamber.

Traders Seek More Members

Tradesmen Prefer 2-Way Street - Demand for Car Park Notices

Rushden's newly-formed Chamber of Trade have offered their advice to the Urban Council regarding the proposed plan for a one-way High Street.

It was suggested at their meeting that additional parking places and improved sign-boarding would be a better solution to the traffic problem.

Here are the comments of a selection of High Street traders—members and non-members of the Chamber of Trade —made to an "Echo and Argus" representative.

Hotel Manager (Mr. H. G. Wiggins): "We certainly get here quite a number of people who are passing through the town and stop for meals, particularly commercial travellers. If vehicles are going around Wellingborough Road, it absolutely cuts the cafes out. If the parking system was better, and people knew where to park their cars, there would probably be no traffic problem. Parking signs should be in the High Street. There are car parks to a certain extent, but signs are necessary."

Draper (Mr. J. Blunt): "The one-way street cannot be a good thing from the shopkeepers' point of view, but if you want my own view, it will be a good idea for the town. The signs will be a very good thing. I know there are a good many people who do not know there is a car park at the back here. Of course, we are in the worst part of the street."

Tobacconist (Mr. L. R. Neville): "There is only one solution, and that is to stop cars parking in the High Street. There are parking places and we should make people use them. It would stop people shopping in cars; if they only stop for ten minutes it makes a block. The placing of notices, as in Northampton and other towns, would help this problem.''

Wireless Dealer (Mr. H. Wills): "I believe I am the only one in favour of a one-way street, and I am in favour on the grounds of the safety of the public for a start. In my opinion it will be definitely beneficial to the traders and not the reverse, as they say. If there is a definite one-way, it will allow anyone who wishes to go shopping and park their cars without interference from a steady stream of traffic going through."

Outfitter's Manager (Mr. S. P. Downing): "All I can say is that I agree with the Chamber of Trade. It is pretty obvious that there ought to be more parking places in these narrow streets. I have seen this sort of thing happen before, with a loss to trade."

Newsagent (Mr. C. Robinson junr.): "There are arguments for and against. Definitely it will make a difference to the trade. It will make a great difference to our deliveries, particularly with the petrol shortage. There are a lot of traffic jams, and the one-way street will cure those. We know where the parking places are, but other people who come to the town do not."

Car parking: Traders Oppose Council

Rushden and District Chamber of Trade members decided at their annual meeting on Tuesday evening to oppose any further restrictions on parking in the town.

The decision followed a discussion during which it was stated that there seemed no policy whatever in the Urban Council’s restrictions, which were having an adverse effect on trade.

There was also considerable discussion on Easter closing, with Good Friday as the bone of contention. The fear was expressed that, like many other religious festivals to-day, Good Friday might go “down the drain,” though the new president (Mr. E. J. Roe) said there was no doubt that Good Friday shop opening was expedient.

It was decided that notices be printed to the effect that shops would be closed on Good Friday, Easter Monday and Tuesday. The decision as to which day shall be crossed out is to be left to the individual trader.

When Mr. Eric Roe, former Conservative councillor for Rushden East Ward, became president of the Chamber, he completed a coronation year “hat trick.”

He also holds presidential office with Rushden Royal Air Forces Association and Rushden District Query Motor Club.

Mr. Roe, who is also a Rotarian, succeeded Mr. A. W. Freestone as Chamber of Trade president, and during the change-over Mr. Freestone remarked that Mr. Roe’s father had also held the position. He hoped that Mr. Roe’s son would hold the office in the Queen’s Golden Jubilee year.

Other appointments at the annual meeting were: Vice-president, Mr. G. R. Johnson; treasurer, Mr. E. V. H. Preedy; secretary, Mr. R. A. Evans; auditor, Mr. L. G. Roberts; new committee members, Miss C. Jeeves, Mrs. G. R. Johnson, Mr. E. Cutmore, Mr. G. Saxby, Mr. A. C. Wright, Mr. A. W. Freestone and Mr. A. S. Knight.

Spending Rushden’s Money

Mr. W. D. White, Rushden Urban Council’s treasurer, explained how the council was going to spend its money during the next 12 months when he spoke to the Chamber of Trade on Monday.

Mr. White said the estimated expenditure was £316,000. Of that figure £64,000 would meet precepts, and local expenditure would comprise £132,000 from revenue with £120,000 on the council’s capital programme.

Income would include £120,000 from loans, £105,000 from rates, £39,000 from house rents, £35,000 from Government grants and subsidies and £17,000 from miscellaneous sources.

The treasurer also outlined the manner in which the council had spent money during 1951-52. Housing capital schemes had taken 34 per cent, precepts 17 per cent, wages and salaries 12 per cent and loan charges 11 per cent. Income, which had amounted to £294,000, was from loans (36 per cent), rates (28 per cent), house rents (8½ per cent), and Government grants (5½ per cent).

Mr. White spoke of the merits and demerits of the rating system, and compared local government accounts with those of the private trader.

Thanks were expressed by Mr. A. S. Knight, Mr. Eric Roe was in the chair.

Three alternatives - Five-Day Week for Local Shops

Rushden’s traders supported three views on working a five-day week in the town at a meeting of Rushden, Higham Ferrers and District Chamber of Trade last Thursday.

Closing all day on Thursdays or on Saturdays was two of them. The other was that a system of giving assistants a certain number of Saturdays off in a year could be worked.

On this latter suggestion, which was made by Mr. John Coleman, the newsagent, Mr. Arthur Abington pointed out: “We have so many shops which would find it extremely difficult to work a rota because of small staff.”

Mr. Abington owns a men’s outfitters shop in Rushden High Street.

Mr. Coleman had said: “I feel we are going about this in such a heavy-handed way. The problem, surely, is Saturday afternoons. People require Saturday afternoons off.

“The answer is to attribute a number of Saturday afternoons off a year to assistants.”

Mrs. G. Knight, who runs a High Street china shop, started discussion moving when she said: “The sooner we take courage into our hands and say when we are going to do something, the better.”

Thursday

She thought Thursday should be closing day if Rushden was to work a five-day week. It would be a frightful “let down” for the public if shops closed on Saturday afternoons.

Mr. Coleman emphasised that he was not advocating closing shops on Saturdays, as some members had suggested.

The president of the chamber, Mrs. A. M. Draper, was in favour of closing on Thursdays if the town had to have a five-day week.

Late-Night

She thought it would be worth agreeing on a late night opening period and suggested Friday evenings.

Before the discussion a talk on the working of a five-day week and its problems was given by Mr. A. H. Bosworth, area secretary of the East Midlands Chamber of Trade.

He was thanked by Mr. G. Knight and the meeting was held at the Queen Victoria Hotel, Rushden.

Will We Ever Get Five-Day Shopping?

Five-day opening for shops and a five-day working week for shop assistants would be a natural progression of the national trend for shorter working hours, but will this ever be accepted at Rushden?

Already, the Co-operative Society has introduced a satisfactory five-day week.

There are signs that others may follow this lead, although there are many people, perhaps the majority who believe the public are there to be served and have the right to expect service on six days.

The Chamber of Trade has had long discussions on the possibilities of working a five-day week over the past three months: So far it has come to no decision.

Satisfactory

Discussion in the Chamber of trade came to a head in February, when three main views were supported: Closing all day Thursday or Saturday, and a rota system for giving shop assistants a certain number of Saturdays off in the year.

The “Echo” asked Mr. R. R. Griffiths, the managing secretary of Co-operative Society, how his five-day week scheme was progressing.

It was entirely satisfactory, he said, and there was every possibility of the system of closing all day on Thursdays being continued after the trial six-month period ends in April.

Before the five day week assistants had worked a rota system of having off one Thursday in every three. This was not practical, as sickness and holidays interfered.

The Co-op had introduced late night Friday opening five or six years ago, “and we did no business at all,” said Mr. Griffiths. “I am not sold on the idea that Friday night after tea is an important shopping time.”

Rushden shops are free to close when they like, providing they close for a half-day on Thursday or Saturday. This excludes certain shops selling perishable goods.

Important

Said Mr. Griffiths: “I think if there was freedom under the Shops Act it would be important to see that all shops closed on the same day, having regard to a five-day week. I would think Monday would be the best day to close.”

Every other trader and shop assistant we spoke to agree with Mr. Griffiths’ view. They felt that if a five-day week had to be worked, then Monday should be the day off.

Three female shop assistants in the Co-op Drapery Department in High Street all had one thing they did not like about working a five-day week at the moment. Their working day had been lengthened by half-an-hour on Saturday evening, when they work until six o’clock, which leaves them little time to get home and change before they can go out.

Monday Best

Said 18-year-old Miss Margaret Garley, “It would be better if they could change it to Monday from Thursday, I would not mind having a half-day on Thursday if we had the odd Saturday off.”

Miss Christine Whitney (20), who has worked with the Co-op for just over twelve months, thought there were disadvantages as well as advantages to the scheme.

“Most of the other shops, especially in Bedford, have Thursday off as well, so you cannot do any shopping,” she said. She did not mind coming in a quarter of an hour earlier each day now the Co-op was working a five-day week.

Married View

The married woman’s view was, understandably, different.

Mrs. Lesley Lawman, a twenty-year-old housewife, finds that she now has far more time for enjoyment in the evenings. “There is less work to do in the evening now when I get home,” she said.

She looked forward to the day off on Thursday, but would prefer Monday off, to give a long weekend.

Mr. Brian Jones, manager of H. York and Sons’ electrical shop, thought the sooner a five-day week came generally the better.

It would not be possible for his shop to close for a full day, as it had to provide a service. “This could only be done if all electrical shops agreed to do the same,” he said.

Disagrees

He did not agree with Saturday-off rota system: “It could only be done with an increase in the staff.”

High Street tobacconist Mr. Ross Neville was emphatic: “I am not working a five-day week and I do not intend to, basically this is because I would lose trade, and I also think we are here for the benefit of the public.”

Mr. Neville tried opening late on Friday night and got no trade at all. “It wasn’t worth burning electricity,” he said.

He would choose Monday closing if he had to choose, “although it is nice to have a break in the middle of the week.”

Throughout her year as president of the Rushden, Higham Ferrers and District Chamber of Trade, Mrs. A. M. Draper, who has a furniture shop near Rushden High Street, has been campaigning for a five-day week with closing on Thursdays and late night opening on Fridays.

Publicity

At a meeting on Monday she will circulate a questionnaire to the traders to get their views.

“I am going to suggest that everyone put a certain amount of money into a pool, so that the traders can publicise any decision they may make in the local Press,” said Mrs. Draper.

She is trying hard to get a decision one way or the other before her term of office ends in about three weeks’ time.

Chamber of trade plans a ‘super’ exhibition

It is claimed that Rushden has more shops per head of population than any other town in the country, yet there are villages that could, and probably have, put on better trade exhibitions.

The “Echo” does not wish to lay the blame for this on any individual or organisation. Rushden and Higham Ferrers Chamber of Trade has been responsible for organising the trade exhibition in the past, and it has always received more than enough support to fill the limited space available for staging an exhibition.

But in June next year this can be completely changed, and Rushden and Higham can have an exhibition they can be proud of.

For the last couple of months the Chamber’s committee, headed by president Mr. Barry Thomas, has been laying the foundations for a trades exhibition the like of which the town has never seen before.

Mr. Thomas hopes that by January they will have many of the details finalised and that they will be able to announce when and where the exhibition will be held. He hopes it will be under canvas at Spencer Park.

Last year the town had no exhibition at all, after only two years of “revival.” The exhibition, which used to be held in conjunction with Rushden Carnival, was eventually abandoned but two years ago it was started again.

The first and second of the “revival” exhibitions were held in the Queen Street Schoolrooms. The schoolrooms are ideal for many activities, but not for a trade exhibition.

They could cope with 17 stands, and with all the organisation and best will in the world how can an exhibition be centred on 17 stands?

Mr. Thomas said that was why they were going all out for a major show this year.

Invitations

“I want a minimum of 40 stands and everybody in the town will be invited to take part. There are traders in Rushden who could put on top rate exhibition stands given the facilities. We aim to give them the facilities” he said.

“We will also invite national firms from outside the town including the armed forces and industrial firms.”

He added that he would like to see various firms demonstrating and even a special exhibition tent for displays, perhaps even a fashion show.

“Kettering put on a first class exhibition this year and I don’t see why we can’t put one on to match it,” he said.

In addition to the limited space available, another disadvantage in previous years has been that traders could not sell from their stands.

Mr. Thomas said selling was not the be all and end all of the exhibition, but if traders could sell it would encourage more to take part. He said it would also encourage the public to visit the stands.

In the past attendance has been around the 1,500 mark, but with a really worthwhile effort Mr. Thomas thinks they could attract well over 10,000 from Rushden and Higham Ferrers alone.

Four-Day Plan

Although final details will be announced later, Mr. Thomas said it was hoped to stage the exhibition over a four-day period including the Saturday of Rushden Carnival day.

“We are also planning on running window display contests and special competitions throughout the four days in conjunction with the exhibition,” he said.

“The idea is to show that we have the shops to attract the public.”

There was a good deal of controversy over the Christmas light scheme – or rather the lack of it. Some people claimed that the traders were not asked; others said the traders were not interested.

This time it is planned to circulate all the shops in the chamber’s area – which includes Rushden, Higham Ferrers and Raunds – and if people give their support this could be an exhibition worthy of the title.

Chamber wants debts black list

Rushden garage owners already operate a debtors black list; now the retail shops in Rushden may be asked to carry out a similar scheme.

The Rushden, Higham Ferrers Chamber of Trade committee is looking into ways and means of formulating such a plan. In the monthly bulletin it has made it clear that it feels the most effective answer to the bad payer is a black list and it believes it is time there was one in the town.

Encouragement to the debtor has been given by one of the biggest developments in retail trading over the last ten years, hire purchase, and all that it entails.

In the Chamber’s monthly bulletin it mentions, of the newer innovations to trading, credit cards which it feels do not help the situation.

“The ideas themselves are good but they tend to encourage the wrong attitude that so many people have about paying for goods,” says a section of the report.

Safeguards

The traders want to increase their safeguards against the large number of bad payers or non-payers who are “on the loose,” and the report states quite bluntly the fact that Rushden and Higham Ferrers are not good towns for paying their debts.

Many traders are already running such schemes as the chamber envisages, and one is operating quite successfully among the garage owners in the town.

Mr. David Hamblin, Rushden’s Hamblin garage, said that they had been having quite some success with it although the fact that there has been a credit squeeze has also helped matters.

Menace

Even these schemes do not solve the problem completely, and the chamber feels that the only effective answer to the problem overall is to have a list covering all traders in the town.

Among its ideas to help run a scheme – which would naturally face legal teething troubles – is the levying of a small subscription to cover its cost.

The article ends by asking traders to give the whole question of bad debts some thought so that when the time comes they are all ready to support any method that may be adopted by the committee, “to wipe out this menace.”