Chamber reflects on success

The Chamber is gearing up for a busy winter programme but recently members took time to look back on a number of well-received schemes.

Ballycastle In Bloom was another resounding success in 2011 – in fact the baskets and window boxes managed to look even better than 2010’s fantastic efforts.

Over a summer when the weather didn’t live up to expectations, the Chamber could rely on all the flowers throughout the town to brighten things up for locals and visitors.

Thanks and congratulations goes to both Ann McIlroy and her team at Greenlight Gateway and Michael Magee and all at the Garden Company.

Ballycastle Seafront has seen a major re-development over the past few months and Chamber members have had hugely positive feedback on the project from locals and visitors.

One Chamber member said: “The work carried out has really enhanced the Seafront, made it a much more user-friendly space for families and has allowed everyone to enjoy the great views and fresh air when the weather allows.”

The Chamber would like to congratulate Moyle District Council on all the hard work that delivered such a successful result.

The Chamber produced 10,000 Ballycastle Visitor’s Maps, which were distributed free of charge in shops, bars, restaurants and other businesses throughout the town all summer.

A Chamber spokesperson said: “There was a great response from Chamber members to support the project with advertising, and the feedback from businesses and visitors was very positive.”

If there are any local businesses who would like to get some maps for distribution, please contact Paul Cochrane at the Chamber.

Hallow’een sees lots of Chamber members busy preparing their shops windows for the Hallow’een Window Competition – and while the bar has been set very high from previous years, all those who get involved really enjoy taking part.

The feedback from shoppers is always positive – and who could blame them, with such creative thinking on display.

With autumn drawing in, the committee of the Ballycastle Chamber of Commerce are busy putting the final touches to a schedule of open nights and meetings for members.

Topics will include a presentation on banking; an update on proposals on rates relief for small businesses and a presentation on customer service.

Speakers and dates are being finalised but if any member has a topic that they would like to see covered, please contact Paul Cochrane.

The Chamber continues to work hard to get meetings with our local MLAs and government departments on any matters that affect Ballycastle directly and has been lending its support to all those involved in trying to find new investment solutions for the Marine Hotel.

All Chamber members are hoping for a busy Christmas period and with that in mind, the planning for the Christmas Lights switch-on has already started with Moyle District Council.

The new lights proved to be a great success in 2010, so the Chamber hopes that 2011 will see the town centre looking very festive for visitors and shoppers.

The Christmas brochure proved to be a very popular initiative that will be repeated again in 2011.

If there are any local charities that would like to be featured in this year’s brochure, or any organisations that have events they would like to be included in the calendar, please get in touch with Paul Cochrane.