June Newsletter 2025
- Jane Brook
- Jun 29
- 9 min read
Updated: Jun 30
Welcome New Members!
Chamber Summer Social
We had a wonderful evening at the Rye Lawn Tennis Club on Wednesday, 18th June. Over 80 local businesses joined us for drinks on the terrace outside the clubhouse, some incredible food from Tatner’s Street Kitchen and music from Logan Wilson. We had an update on the BID process, a talk from ESCC Growth Hub (the main news being that there’s no longer funding available ☹️), along with an appeal from our hosts the Tennis Club for people to come along to their open day and learn more about the facilities. Rye News urged everyone to keep them in the loop on their latest business news so they can include those stories in the paper, and encouraged more people to channel their inner-journalist and write about whatever interests them as the paper is volunteer run and needs a strong bank of writers to ensure the paper continues its success. The Rye Pirates and Smugglers also updated us on their plans for the inaugural Pirate Day on Saturday 9th August. They are working hard to make this a good first event in the hope that locals and businesses want to support it as an annual occurrence. Rye’s history of pirates and smugglers deserves to be celebrated!
Retail Crime & Anti-Social Behaviour
In our May newsletter, we reported that a claim had been made to us that the process of signing up to the DISC campaign had inexplicably come to a halt at RDC. Having escalated the issue with District Cllr McGurk, we received a response from Richard Parker-Harding, Head of Service, Environmental Service, Licensing and Community Safety.
In it he stated; “the PCSO signed up over 100 members in Rye, but 25% of those have not responded to the welcome e-mail and registered, despite a reminder e-mail sent on 15/05/25. Could you please help by publicising this website with your members: Disc - Rother Business Crime Partnership For GDPR reasons we cannot tell you who are the members in Rye. We have asked Inspector Hart if a PCSO can distribute signs to Members of DISC-which they can display in their shop window to show they are members.”
This is a frustrating response at best. If you have expressed interest in DISC but do not recall receiving a welcome and email and / or further details about registration to the scheme please can you let us know on info@ryechamber.org and we will follow this up. As has been made clear to us time and again, the success of DISC hinges on volume of businesses using it.
Jempson's 90th Anniversary Festival
The last month has seen Jempson's celebrate its 90th anniversary with a series of events and promotions across its stores.
What better opportunity to profile the town’s most talked about business…
Sarah Broadbent went along to interview him for a very special spotlight feature.
Stephen Jempson is one of the most self-effacing people you might hope to meet. There is no false modesty, his sense of service to the community is something that drives him.
Update on Levelling Up Revenue Project - BID consultation
The engagement period continues! Over the next two weeks there are a series of workshops organised for businesses in the proposed BID area to discuss ideas for the town. It’s not too late to sign up for one of the sessions:
BID Workshop - Tuesday 1st July - 6pm St Mary’s Centre
BID Workshop - Wednesday 2nd July 10am, St Mary’s Centre
BID Workshop - ONLINE - Monday 7th July - 10am - ZOOM
BID Workshop - ONLINE - Monday 7th July - 6pm - ZOOM
Please register for these events via this link (note: there is no survey attached, it is just a date/time registration form)
Rye BID Spotlight feature
We appreciate that the whole concept of a BID and the process of engagement that we’re currently going through is complex. Our members will have been following the process in detail since we began talking about this in October 2023 but for those who want a refresh we’ve created a stand alone spotlight - click here for the stripped-back guide to answer any of the questions you have.
Levelling Up - AI Tourism Project Update
We are happy to report that the AI tourism guide is in its testing phase and coming along really well. The supporting elements in this project are all firmly underway:
New heritage information panels for installation at Station Approach
New car park maps for the nine car park sites around town
A tourism video and website to promote Rye
Launch is expected by the end of the month.
DEVOLUTION NEWS
The latest round of consultation on devolution has now closed. We hope that you took the opportunity to submit your views. We have contributed an overview as the Rye Chamber expressing our concern that as we sit on the eastern-most boundary of the proposed geography of the unitary, the potential for Rye and surrounds to get overlooked and neglected is even greater than is currently already the case under the existing structure of local government.
THE VISITOR ECONOMY
Rother Accommodation Consultation
Rother District Council and Hastings Borough Council have appointed consultants “Tomorrow’s Tourism Ltd” to undertake a review of visitor accommodation in the area.
As part of this review, a questionnaire was issued to hotels, guesthouses, Airbnbs, holiday cottages, camping and caravan sites and other accommodation. If you were contacted we hope you had an opportunity to submit your views, if not - then Sarah is meeting with the consultants in her role as Vice Chair of the Chamber, and Chair of 1066 Country to provide them with further context - so if you are an accommodation provider and you have views on the quantity and type of accommodation available in our area and how they are performing in the current climate then please do let us know and she will incorporate the data into her feedback - info@ryechamber.org
This survey follows the completion of the work by the Task & Finish group looking into AirBnBs and Second Homes in Rye and Camber, the recommendations of which were presented to the O&S committee at RDC earlier this month. You can read their report here: https://rother.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s12878/Recommendations%20of%20the%20Airbnb%20Task%20and%20Finish%20Group.pdf
East Sussex, Brighton & Hove and West Sussex Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP)
At the same time as we are going through local government reorganisation, so too is the structure for the tourism industry in this country. LVEPs are part of a national VisitEngland programme to establish a structure and maximise the potential of the local visitor economy. Working collaboratively with local visitor destinations, District & Boroughs, and businesses and embracing a pan-Sussex approach, East Sussex, Brighton & Hove and West Sussex LVEP has been set up to shape and deliver national strategy along with activities to promote sustainable growth and raise the profile of Sussex as a national and international visitor destination. It is an unfunded organisation with a voluntary advisory board of tourism professionals and Sarah is part of the line up. They met for the first time in mid June. The ten-year strategy for Sussex hopes to deliver £2.5bn of growth to the visitor economy, but without funding that is going to be a challenge, and it is very clear - given Sarah is the only representative on the board representing East Sussex - that the focus is very much on the West of the county. It is her goal to make sure we don’t lose a share of voice for East Sussex, and that our valuable tourism businesses each have an opportunity to be part of that growth strategy.
You can read more about the LVEP here: https://eastsussexbrightonhovewestsussexlvep.com/
LVEP Business Tourism Survey
Data & Research is an area that the VisitEngland team is focusing on with all the LVEPs across England. One of the current strands of work is trying to streamline data collection from businesses, and they have developed a standard survey for LVEPs to share with their businesses to complete. This is hosted and branded as a VisitEngland survey, but is just for businesses within our LVEP. VisitEngland will hold all response data, which they will share with the LVEP and the goal is to distribute this survey on a quarterly basis. Ultimately, the data will help build a clearer picture of the visitor economy in our region and allow us to benchmark our performance against other areas across the country. If you have a business within the visitor economy; accommodation, hospitality, retail, attraction - please do complete the survey:
Business Survey - East Sussex, Brighton & Hove, and West Sussex. The data being collected in this survey is for the period March/April/May 2025.
The Rother Wine Triangle / Sussex Winelands
One of the pillars of the tourism strategy for Sussex is the potential for growth in wine tourism and our area is best placed to take advantage of that.
To that end, Rother District Council has used Rural England Prosperity Funding to enable the creation of the Sussex Winelands brand, and the development of the first wine tourism trail to sit under that banner. The Rother Wine Triangle was launched on the 25th June as part of English Wine week. It features seven vineyards in Rother and has delivered signage and wayfinding. Two of our Chamber members are part of this pilot trail; Tillingham and Charles Palmer. Four further vineyards are also members of the 1066 partnership. Sarah attended the launch event and was struck by the diversity of winemaking we have in the region. Forging better links between the vineyards and the hoteliers, restaurants and bars in Rye is going to be vital going forward to ensure that we are all working together on promoting the wine from our region.
Baroness Twycross visits Rye Heritage Centre
Rye Chamber / 1066 were pleased to facilitate another visit from our MP Helena Dollimore on the 26th June, she was accompanied by Baroness Twycross, Minister for Heritage and visited the Rye Heritage Centre to enjoy the town model sound and light show. Baroness Twycross commended the volunteers who keep this going. We made the point that, ultimately, volunteers are not a sustainable means of ensuring we have tourist attractions in a town that relies on the visitor economy. We will be following up with both Helena and Baroness Twycross on these points.
Brown Tourism Signs
Rye Chamber has lobbied ESCC on behalf of two member businesses - Tillingham and Rye Heritage Centre over the need for brown tourism signs. Tillingham urgently need one on the A268 to signpost their rural location and help maximise the opportunity that the new Rother Wine Triangle presents, and Rye Heritage Centre has pointed out that there are two contradictory signs currently at the Kettle’o’Fish roundabout both pointing in different directions to a tourism information point that no longer exists. We will keep you informed on ESCC’s response.
Marshline Action Group - AGM
At the AGM on 6th June and the Chamber provided comment and feedback from member businesses on the impact of delays and cancellations of Marshlink services. Several businesses responded to our call for data and information. It's very clear that those who offer appointment based services have to deal with the financial consequences of both staff and clients being delayed by poor train services. Accommodation providers also report that guests arriving by train are often impacted by delays, with onward journeys from Rye being compromised as they inevitably miss bus connections, or the taxis they have pre-booked cannot wait indefinitely for them to arrive. Some guests resort to taking taxis from Ashford to complete their journeys to Rye and surrounding areas, adding a considerable and unanticipated cost to their holiday.
Marshlink Steering Group Meeting
At a steering group meeting on 19th June we heard from GTR School, Safety and Security Engagement Manager Ross Evans who has been liasing with Rye College about the unacceptable levels of anitsocial behaviour at Rye Station. We told the group about the recent anti-social behaviour event at Tilling Green, orgainised by Cllr. Simon McGurk and that CCTV was a hot topic (See last month's newsletter) enquired as to if the DISC scheme could feed into the transport police's system and they went off the make enquires.
Rye Taxis Association
We are continuing to mediate on behalf of the Rye Taxis Association who want to see RDC raise their tariffs in line with those charged by Ashford taxis and Hastings taxis. To date RDC has refused. The Chamber has now raised the issue directly with our MP and with Cllr McGurk.
Mighty Hike results
On the morning of 21 June, the longest day of the year, two teams of Rye Chamber Members set off on the Macmillan Mighty Hike along the beautiful Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. Jane Brook, Elise Garner, and Annie Brown undertook the half marathon and raised £1020 while Joanna Lush and her sister Sarah, took on the whole marathon and raising a whopping £1705. We were all very sore but extremely pleased with ourselves! A heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported us.
Sponsorship Opportunity
Rye Bay United Under 11s - looking for a sponsor for their training kit, they have 13 players. This opportunity is priced at £520.00. Any sponsor will be tagged and promoted in any social media posts and photos. Contact leighbroughton@icloud.com for more information or visit https://www.ryebayfootball.co.uk/
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:
BID Workshop - Tuesday 1st July - 6pm St Mary’s Centre
BID Workshop - Wednesday 2nd July 10am, St Mary’s Centre
Rye Bonfire Society - Auction of Promises 2nd July, The Mermaid
Littlegate College Quiz Night - 4th July, Bexhill
BID Workshop - ONLINE - Monday 7th July - 10am - ZOOM
BID Workshop - ONLINE - Monday 7th July - 6pm - ZOOM
Rye Pirates and Smugglers Day - Saturday 9th August, Rye
NOT A MEMBER?
Join over 140 businesses that benefit from the work of the Rye Chamber. It costs just £50 a year - regardless of the size of your business. Visit our website to learn more.
See you next month!
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