Destination Staffordshire Board Meeting Held at Staffordshire County Council, Council Building on 21 January 2015 at 1.00 p.m. Present: Mark Kerrigan (Chair) Alton Towers Resort mark.kerrigan@alton-towers.com Mr. Glenn Watson Cannock Chase District Council glennwatson@cannockchasedc.gov.uk Bob Keys Drayton Manor Theme Park bkeys@robertkeys.com Cllr Val Richards Lichfield District Council val.richards@lichfielddc.gov.uk Simon Evans National Forest Company sevans@nationalforest.org Tracy Williams National Trust Tracy.Clement@nationaltrust.org.uk Cllr Bob McCardle South Staffordshire District Council r.mccardle@sstaffs.gov.uk Niki Taylor South Staffordshire District Council N.taylor@sstaffs.gov.uk Cllr Mike Smith Stafford Borough Council mick@batchacre.fsnet.co.uk Anita Guest (minutes) Staffordshire County Council anita.guest@staffordshire.gov.uk Richard Swancott (observer) Destination Staffordshire Richard.swancott@Staffordshire.gov.uk Graeme Whitehead Staffordshire County Council graeme.whitehead@staffordshire.gov.uk Cllr Andrew Hart Staffordshire Moorlands District Council Andrew.hart@staffsmoorlands.gov.uk Julie Arnold Staffordshire Waterways Group julie@waterwayimages.com Helen Dale Staffordshire Wildlife Trust h.dale@staffs-wildlife.org.uk Heather Sheldon Stoke-on-Trent College heather.sheldon@stokecoll.ac.uk James Roberts Tamworth Borough Council James-roberts@tamworth.gov.uk C.C: Sue Prince Beechenhill Farm beechenhill@btinternet.com Kate Baker English Heritage Kate.Baker@english-heritage.org.uk Cllr Gordon Alcott Cannock Chase District Council gordonalcott@cannockchasedc.gov.uk Cllr Ian Pritchard Lichfield District Council Ian.pritchard@lichfielddc.gov.uk Claire Furnell - King Moat House, Stoke-on-Trent gm.stoke@qmh-hotels.com Sarah Montgomery National Memorial Arboretum smontgomery@thenma.org.uk Cllr Terry Turner Newcastle Borough Council terry.turner@newcastle-staffs.gov.uk Cllr Mark Winnington Staffordshire County Council mark.winnington@staffordshire.gov.uk Sam Hall Stoke City Council samanthahall@stoke.gov.uk Doug Wardle Stoke City Centre Partnership dougwardle@btinternet.com Chris Lewis The Lewis Partnership chrislewis@thelewispartnership.co.uk Mr Michael Walker Trentham Leisure Ltd mwalker@trentham.co.uk Frances Beatty Peak District National Park Authority Frances.Beatty@peakdistrict.gov.uk Agenda Item 1. Introductions and Apologies Following introductions, the following apologies were received: Sue Prince, Claire Furnell-King, Cllr Gordon Alcott, Cllr Terry Turner, Frances Beatty, Cllr Mark Winnington, Samantha Hall, Michael Walker, Ian Pritchard.
2 Previous Meetings Minutes Agreed as a true record 3 Matters Arising From the circulated summary, highlighted the following points: 2c. Chamber of Commerce / MK presenting to April workshop for CoC members. 2e. KPI s Not presented for 3 rd. quarter of 2014/15. Full year summary proposed for next Board to incorporate further refinement. 4. Current Activity Report tabled the Activity Report and highlighted the following points 1.1. Packages reported that the packages via the mini website were nearly ready for launch and the team were working towards late February for a soft launch with hard launch at Conference and in poster campaign. to update the board at the next meeting. Issues with Alton Towers were subsequently resolved and AT will be highlighted as a key attraction in 1 of the 4 planned packages. 1.5. Research tabled the latest 2013 Economic Impact Assessment figures for 2013 and contrasted these to those for 2008. The figures show that Staffordshire is out growing the rate of increase of overnight stays for both West Midlands and England. It was requested that the team look at benchmarking against other comparable counties. was requested to circulate the Visit England trend information. 1. Skills and Training HS reported that pulling together a task and finish group in this area had proven difficult to date. Stoke College have done several hundred training needs analyses, a number of which can be used to form an assessment of the tourism sector s specific need which, in turn, may form the foundation for a collaborative ESF funding application with the Staffordshire colleges represented by Stoke College. MK reported that the LEP are also having meetings with the private sector to investigate their training and skills requirements. He suggested communication with the LEP to coordinate action where feasible and desirable. MK to forward contact s details to ` 5. ERDF Update reported that a bid for an additional 327,000 has been made under the current project umbrella through DCLG s Project Change Request procedure. No decision expected before the funding group meeting in late February. MK/
5 Budget 2015 /6 tabled the draft budget. Key factors were the loss of 20k from SCC s contribution in 20151/16 and the phasing on the ERDF grant in the last year to December 2015. Almost all lines have been trimmed particularly Taste of Staffordshire and PR. The Good Food Awards and Young Chef activities in the former area have been scaled back and in terms of the latter, the secretariat is looking at closer collaboration with RH whilst integrating Connect PR, the successor to Seal, into the DMP s work. Budget should be clearer in March following latest ERDF request and PR decision. 6 LEP / EU funding reported that the task and finish Funding group managed by SCC external funding team on behalf of DMP were working to develop an application(s) round the pipeline projects previously outlined and covering leisure tourism, business tourism and the skills and training requirements of the sector. The next meeting of the Group is on the 9 th February. MK requested to be updated in order that he could keep pressure on at the LEP Board meetings. One area of the EU funding landscape which is more definite is the LEADER programme element of EAFRD coordinated by DEFRA. No public announcement can yet be made but an allocation of c. 2.4 million for rural Staffordshire (not including Staffordshire Moorlands which is under the Peak LEADER programme) has been provisionally awarded for small scale community projects to be approved by the Local Action Group on which tourism is represented through. 7 DMP Strategy The DMP has commissioned Katie Foster Associates to review and update the current strategy. Following on from a number of 121 consultations with partners, a final workshop has been booked for 23 February 2015 at the Stone House Hotel. The new strategy should be ready for the beginning of April for formal launch at Conference. 8. 2015 Tourism Conference The conference has been booked for the 21 st April 2015 at Uttoxeter Racecourse. The working title is Get Involved and will feature Ironman and workshops to highlight cluster working, canvass ideas for inclusion within the EU funding application, and take forward the new DMP strategy. 9. Information Exchange Stafford The Gatehouse is pleased to announce a successful pantomime with increased audiences. The Shakespeare festival will be on 25 June 11 July 2015 and feature Much Ado about Nothing. The Stafford half marathon which takes place on 22 March 2015 has attracted 3,000 participants for this year and entries had to be closed early upon reaching the limit set.
Destination Staffordshire Social Media Richard Swancott reported that the partnership s social media activity has increased by 1,000 followers on Twitter and by 600 likes on Facebook. He has also launched a LinkedIn group for members which number 46 so far and acts as a forum for trade members to voice opinions and share ideas. More work needs to be done to quantify impact of this work on website visitors. National Forest The new development plan for the forest will be ready for 15 April. The consultants drafting this have already spoken to and will speak to Katie Foster Associates to ensure the maximum degree of commonality of vision as possible. The website has been updated and the 2015 visitor guide will be available soon. There is a new post for a part time Sports Development Officer to encourage use of the forest for sports. Stoke College HS reported that the college will have assisted 120 SMEs before the current funding deadline. Lichfield Council Lichfield Cathedral has released a report on the impact of visitors to the Cathedral on the local economy. AG/ to source and distribute. Cllr. Richards reported the formation of a new tourism organisation in Lichfield and agreed to provide further details. Canal and Waterways Canal businesses have reported good levels of bookings for summer 2015. At present JA is working on a strategy for canals in the county. The Canal and River Trust s recent reorganisation is showing promising signs of enhanced levels of engagement within the sector. As a consequence a national scheme for volunteers is now being worked up. JA is also working with Winning Moves to develop a cluster around the waterways. AG/ VR JA/ WM Drayton Manor Park DMP is enlarging Thomas land for the new season. This is coincides with the 70 th Anniversary of Thomas the Tank Engine stories and the 65 th year of Drayton Manor Park. There are events being organised to celebrate these milestones. Drayton has been working with the Highways department on the enlargement of the entry to Drayton Manor Park to allow for continued development. Staffordshire Moorlands Council Cllr Hart reported that Visit Peak District has been reorganised and Jo Dilley is now CEO of the DMO. They are looking at rebuilding membership. The Premier Inn in Leek has been very successful. Cannock Chase Council The planning application for the Mill Green Shopping centre is about to be submitted for approval. They are ensuring that all eventualities are covered to minimise risk of being called in. Accordingly, the Multi-screen cinema has been taken out of the plans Likely to be delayed by the election this year.
Tamworth Council Tamworth is at the design stage for its Gateways and Linkage project to link the town centre more organically with the out of town centres. The council is also looking actively at developing a Business Investment District bid. National Trust All properties have had a good year. This year there will be a contemporary art exhibition at Biddulph Grange. The trust is now prioritising 3 areas:- Landscape, nature and outdoor spaces Improved Visitor experience Systems simplification and refreshment of websites and other digital media. Staffordshire Wildlife Trust HD reported that Guy Corbett-Marshall left the trust at the end of 2014. The Trust is in the process of recruiting a new CEO. The trust has funding to upgrade the car park at Wolseley Centre. Doxey Marshes has new facilities which will open w/c 26 January 2015 by MP Jeremy Lefroy. South Staffs The updated tourism strategy has been adopted which includes the South Staffordshire Tourism Association and links membership and the websites to those of Enjoy Staffordshire. The council will take over the management of SSTA and have mounted a drive for members. Alton Towers Resort 2014 was a great year for the park. Opened CBeebies and overnight accommodation occupancy was up. 2015 will see the opening of the Enchanted Forest lodges/ attraction which will include a high rope course and a new smaller attraction for younger children in CBeebies. MK requested that all the good stories from 2014 be included in the Conference. AG/ MK 1 Any Other Business No other business was discussed. 1 Next Meetings date and venue AG to confirm dates with MK for rest of year. Next date post- Conference. Venue to be confirmed.