Lisa Northover

Vote Bike

Dear Lisa Northover,

Thank you for supporting CTC’s Vote Bike Manifesto.

Cycling is an exceptionally good value solution to so many of the challenges that we face today. We will be looking to the new government to set out a strong and well-funded action plan to deliver these benefits, and to help make cycling mainstream.

I stand for children

I’m supporting the NSPCC’s new campaign to ensure protecting children is a political priority: I Stand for Children.

Question on community pubs and real ale

The Landlord of the Cricketers Arms in Springbourne told me about his pub: “We are the oldest pub in Bournemouth offering a very traditional community to our customers and serving traditional real ales from small and often local breweries. What will you do to help Pubs like us to compete?”

I am a big fan of both traditional local pubs and real ale! They are a real asset to communities and should be protected and helped. Pubs have been hit hard by supermarkets selling alcohol as ‘loss leaders’ and there must be action on this, I would support the minimum price for alcohol as this would only affect the irresponsible promotions whilst not affecting local pubs.

Well run community pubs are important in promoting responsible drinking and preventing antisocial behaviour. they have more at stake when promoting these objectives as they rely on repeat cusomers from the local community. The benefits of community pubs should be recognised and should be reflected in the rates that they are required to pay.
This article appeared in the March 2010 edition of BH Business, the magazine of Bournemouth’s Chamber of Commerce.

Question on Regeneration

Andrew from Koh Thai Tapas Restaurant told me about how he has invested in a difficult part of Boscombe. He asked me what can be done to recognise and help such businesses that are willing to invest their money in ways which will be of benefit to a local area?

I am heartened by the number of new businesses in Boscombe which have become very successful whilst maintaining a high quality which bucks the trend for an area like which has previously known for problems. We must be positive about Boscombe and promote the fantastic assets and success stories in the area. I run a website called Boscalicious, which aims to do this by advertising news, events and local business, attracting thousands of visitors each month.

When people are willing to invest their In the longer term this should be recognised. We will fundamentally reform business rates to a fairer system where rates are based on site values rather than rental values, encouraging businesses to invest in their premises rather than penalising them. We will also change the system so that business rates are retained locally so that businesses that invest in an area see investment from councils in return.
This article appeared in the March 2010 edition of BH Business, the magazine of Bournemouth’s Chamber of Commerce.

Question on Finance for small business

Simon Bell of ‘Sales call expert’ asked me about how difficult it can be to get finance even for well estblished busineses with a good credit rating. How can funding be made available to help successful Bournemouth Businesses to finance growth?

The relationship between a business and their bank manager has deteriorated so much that bank managers no longer ‘know their customer’ at all. This didn’t matter as much when credit was flowing easily, but now that times are tougher even thriving businesses are finding that access to funds are refused by faceless banks. Our first priority is to get the banks lending again, particularly the semi- nationalised banks which should be working for the benefit of Britain as a whole.

Two new ways that the Lib dems would help business to access funding would be through 'Local Enterprise Funds' these would be tax efficient investment vehicles to provide seed capital to start-up/early stage businesses as they commercialise their ideas. And secondly 'Regional Stock Exchanges' - regional platforms matching local investors with growing SMEs. They will provide SMEs with cost effective access to equity through a simple operating model that meets the needs of smaller companies.

This article appeared in the March 2010 edition of BH Business, the magazine of Bournemouth’s Chamber of Commerce.

Question on business rates

Joel Lovett of Boscanova Cafe told me that business rates are a major overhead and can be a barrier to starting up or expansion to new premesis. How would you ensure that local businesses get more in return for the rates they pay?

I think it is wrong that as a proportion of their turnover, small businesses pay around 4 times more in business rates than large businesses and we would immediately reform the system to make it fairer. We would immediately increase business rates for very large businesses to fund automatic Small Business Rate Relief giving small businesses a chance to compete in better locations and more directly with the big national chains which dominate at the moment.
This article appeared in the March 2010 edition of BH Business, the magazine of Bournemouth’s Chamber of Commerce.

About Me - and small business

I have lived in Bournemouth all my life. As a child I lived in Wick and attended St Katharine’s School and then went on to St Peter’s followed by the Arts Institute. Whilst at St Peter’s I started my own Green group and we used to campaign on issues such as not damaging Peat bogs by using alternatives to peat based compost. I have 4 children and throughout my life I have continued to campaign and represent my area by being a member and Chair of Neighbourhood Management, Non executive director of the PCT and most recently Lib Dem councillor for Boscombe.

I come from a family of small business people. My grandfather was a serial entrepreneur with businesses as diverse as Nursing Homes, Dry Cleaners and even a scrap yard. I grew up in the family funeral business of Brian Wilton Funeral Directors which my brother now works in, I saw from an early age how hard it is to run a business and how many hours need to be put in to succeed. My mum started her own business (Staff 2000) and has been very successful over 12 years. My late stepfather Ercole had a hugely successful Italian restaurant and I saw how when he retired along with his magic touch that business failed, this shows how delicate a business can be and how much it can rely on the personality and expertise of just one or two people. My sister and brother in law are freelance musicians and this is a wonderful but tough way of life. In fact almost every member of my family is self employed or has a business. Being in business is not easy and there is no one to turn to or blame if things go wrong, even so I believe that being in business is the best way to be. Flexibility and control over your own destiny is important, as well as the ability to earn very good money when you are successful.

I am a firm believer in diversity, and freedom for people with good ideas. Creativity needs to be encouraged, not just locally but nationally so that this country can stay ahead in an ever changing world. Additionally our town needs diverse and interesting businesses so that it shines as a wonderful tourist destination rather than a ‘clone town’ with the same high old street names as it’s competitors. The key to this is to encourage small business in the way of shops and workshops where people have the opportunity to flourish. I want to see ways of helping young people to start small enterprises, not by giving handouts but by being fair to those with potential. At the moment creative industries are the only growth sector in this country and we should give this lots of attention. In Bournemouth we have a large number of creative people from the Arts Institute. We must find ways of keeping them here. Bournemouth should be a hub of artistry and creativity.