Linlithgow's Very Own Children's Soft Play Centre
Festive Opening Dates/Times
Christmas Eve - 9am - 4pm
Christmas Day - Closed
Boxing Day - Closed
New Years Eve - 9am - 4pm
New Years Day - Closed
2nd January 2009 - 9am - 6pm as per standard opening hours
Santa Visits Play Bugs!!
All of the staff at Play Bugs are very excited to announce that Santa will be visiting Play Bugs on 22nd and 23rd December between 12md and 4pm. He will have his very own Santa's Grotto where all the boys and girls can come along and speak to him about their Christmas wishes. Santa will ensure that each of his little visitors receives a gift wrapped present (age suitable) and a sweet. A small fee of £2.00 per child applies.
The Team would like to wish all of our guests a fun and enjoyable lead up to Christmas and a fantastic Christmas Day!
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT US AT www.playbugs.co.uk or call 0845 230 1987.
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Is your business successful enough to team up with a mentor?
Following the success of last year's mentoring programme for West Lothian businesses, West Lothian Chamber of Commerce is adding group mentoring to the next phase. The first Mentoring Monday session was held in the Enterprise Centre, Livingston and was attended by three LBA members. David Brice of Truly Scrumptious Cakes found the event " .... very worthwhile. It was good to be able to discuss common issues with fellow business people. No-one had an axe to grind and everyone was free with advice and supportive ideas"
For those who have not considered mentoring as a means of complementing in-house skills and bridging acknowledged gaps in expertise this free service is well worth investigating.
The programme is promoted by Business Mentoring Scotland, a partnership between Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Chambers of Commerce. As affiliate members of West Lothian Chamber, all LBA members have access to this invaluable resource.
As a growing business you may be very comfortable with your basic product or service but be aware that there are areas of your business where you could benefit from the expertise of someone who's been there before. Mentors and Mentees are carefully matched by assessing each business's particular needs and aspirations and introducing a mentor with appropriate experience and skills to help you achieve your goals.
The next group session, which is open to all LBA members, will be held in Linlithgow (venue to be confirmed) on 12th January 2009, 5.30 -7.30 pm.
For further details log on to: www.wlchamber.com
If you'd like to attend or want more information, contact
Brenda Cumming on 01506 777938
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Next LBA Meeting
We are currently considering holding general meetings quarterly and would welcome any comments and views from members.
Next Office Bearers Meeting
12th Dec
Business Gateway Workshops Wed 7 Jan: Making Your Business More Profitable
Wed 4 Feb: Trading Electronically
Wed 4 Mar: Time Management
(Linzi.Winton@westlothian.gov.uk)
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Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Russian, Mandarin, Greek.......
Our dedicated staff of professional teachers offer language classes for business or leisure in all of today's modern languages. We also have a range of children's classes (3-13 years old) in French, Spanish, Italian and Mandarin. Exam revision classes are also available.
Struggling for Christmas presents? Why not get a voucher for a language class. Buy one before the end of December and you will receive a free guide for the capital city of the country!
Events
The Language Room hosts a variety of events offered to our students and the public.
French Café: last Friday of each month 7.15-7.45pm (all levels)
Italian Film: 6th Jan
Chinese New Year: 23rd Jan (7.15-8.45pm)
You are never too young or too old to learn a language - just come along!
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Seasons greetings to all our members and friends!
At this time, and in particular this year in the midst of unprecedented trading conditions, it is vital that we all use every opportunity to "shop local". As pointed out in Cross Views below, there are some fine shops in town well worth exploring for Christmas presents and seasonal supplies. And looking beyond Christmas, why not look to local service providers for all your needs before placing business out of town - on the home front as well as in business. Economists reckon that 70% of cash spent in local businesses stays in the local economy as opposed to 30% in the case of out of town multiples - another powerful motive for shopping local.
Stop Press! Stop Press!
Tuesday 9th December 2008 - the Local Area Committee of WLC today approved funding for the next phase of development of the ideas set out at the Stakeholder event at Sun Microsystems earlier this year. Further details early next year.
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QUESTION TIME - "BEST EVENT YET" | |
Long-term LBA member and current vice-chairman Jon Newey declared himself very impressed with the "Question Time" event held at Taste Deli on Monday 24th November 2008. After the meeting Jon reckoned "This is by some way the best LBA event I have attended to date" so setting down a challenge for the future.
An excellent panel of guests comprising Joanna Goddard of Big Town Plan, Phil Murray, Chair of Linlithgow Cittaslow, Provost Tom Kerr and Jack Shennan, Editor of the Gazette were expertly chaired by LBA member Simon Walton of Utility Warehouse. Simon's judicious handling of questioners and questioned ensured a fine mingling of serious issues with humour so that everyone's questions were addressed and all who wanted to make a contribution were given the opportunity.
Around 30 questions had been submitted prior to the event and we hope everyone had at least some of their concerns addressed and in particular those of our guests from Linlithgow Civic Trust and Linlithgow Climate Challenge. Judging by the universally favourable comments during the evening this will be an event to be repeated.
Following formal proceedings, panel members, guests and members enjoyed some excellent refreshments and an opportunity to get to know each other. In particular it was good to see new members, Lynn and Diane, of Playbugs, and David and Lorraine of DS Hardwood Flooring Scotland enjoying the evening and making new contacts.
Many thanks to everyone who took part and in particular to Steven and his staff at Taste Deli for their friendly and accommodating service!
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VITAL & VIBRANT TOWN CENTRES |
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Representatives of Linlithgow Business Association joined around 200 delegates at the highly successful Vital & Vibrant Town Centres Conference held at Stirling Management Centre on 19th November.
The topic for the day was "the challenge for our town centres and high streets" and five speakers attempted to define the context and the issues facing town centres with some fine examples of how communities are responding to the challenges both here in Scotland and in Ireland.
The keynote speaker was John Swinney MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance & Sustainable Growth. While announcing an increase in BIDS funding to £20,000 he went on to confirm the current Government's commitment to delivery of solutions: "The effects of the global downturn are being felt on high streets across Scotland. But these town and city centres are the heartbeat of our economy which can keep it moving in difficult times.
"That is why the Scottish Government is determined to do everything we can within our limited powers and fixed budget to support the small businesses which are at the centre not just of local economies, but of local communities too."
Contributions from Barrhead in Glasgow and Sligo in Ireland were particularly inspiring and showed just what can be achieved by adopting a clear, long term plan. Add in a fair helping of determination and, in some cases, a liberal interpretation of the rules and you have the basics of a formula for making real change. Full details of speakers' presentations, along with much else, can be found on the recently launched website for all those committed to Town Centre development at: www.scotlandstowns.org
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NEW MEMBER ARTICLE: EPULUM |
EPULUM - A Feast For Body And Soul - Opening Dec '08
Epulum is an exciting restaurant/deli concept. We endeavour to provide a creative selection of fine teas and coffee, great food and excellent quality service - all set in a modern and relaxed environment. We also seek to create a wonderful dining experience, whether it is for a quick coffee, snack or a leisurely meeting with a group of friends over lunch.
Epulum is unique in our aim to educate and impassion our customers not simply about the benefits of quality food and beverages but also about the possibility that healthy food can be as delicious as it is nutritious. Accordingly, Epulum aims to cater to everyone, including those with food sensitivities associated with the modern lifestyle, such as dairy and wheat intolerances.
In recent years, there has been a boom in commercial coffee, where the emphasis is on take away coffee, cakes and sandwiches -- all wrapped in sterile packaging. In contrast, our priority is on quality and freshness. Thus, while Epulum looks at utilising 21st century coffee technology with fully trained baristas, it also provides proven old-fashioned food preparation by an on-premise chef. This attention to detail complements our desire to source good quality fresh produce that is produced and sourced ethically.
The result, in short, is the creation of simple, yet divine, meals. The food, though casual, is all about freshness and big bursts of flavour. We are opening our doors in December and are looking forward to sharing our unique approach to food and drink and extend a warm welcome to you all!
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County Buildings
Obviously the good news on the High Street this month is that the County Buildings are not going to close. Hurrah! The LBA has been nipping at the Council's heels on this subject for such a long time that it should feel like we've won a great victory, but somehow it feels a bit of an anti-climax, almost as if there was never anything to worry about in the first place!
WLC Planning Committee On a different subject, the meeting of the WLC Planning Committee on the 10th December should be a good one. Amongst other things the committee will be deciding the future of the old post office and the future of the former coal sidings. We'll report back in due course - watch this space. Late Night Linlithgow
Don't bother going to Livingston, Falkirk or Edinburgh for your Christmas shopping! You can do most of it right here on a Thursday evening! The LBA's 'Late Night Linlithgow' campaign has kicked off, with the hope that some of the town's commuters will take the opportunity to wander the High Street for a spot of Christmas shopping on their way home in the evenings. The campaign has been organised at breakneck speed so we hope the idea gathers sufficient momentum to make it worthwhile! There's been a lot of support for the idea. If we can get just one more person to shop on the High Street it will be a net gain, but obviously we hope it will do a lot better than that! I'll leave you with a question: Who does it benefit to have 30 minutes restricted parking throughout the town? 30 minutes doesn't even give anyone enough time to slurp a quick cup of coffee never mind visiting all the shops for a bit of extended retail therapy! Thankfully the restrictions don't apply in the evenings - another bonus for the 'Late Night' campaign! Together we are stronger! To read this article in full, please click here.
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In November, West Lothian Council was represented at the international finals of the UN Environment Programme Liveable Communities Awards, held in the city of Dongguan in the Pearl River Delta, approximately 100 miles north of Hong Kong.
WLC submitted a bid on behalf of Linlithgow; their bid document, submitted in July, made much of the work of a range of community initiatives ongoing in Linlithgow, including Cittaslow Linlithgow, whose own bid for recognition depended on the assessment of a wide range of criteria, many of which are common to the criteria used in the Liveable Communities Awards. On this basis, as Chair of Cittaslow Linlithgow I was asked by WLC to take part in the presentation in Dongguan.
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Did you know?
75000 vehicles travel the M8 corridor every day
32000 vehicles travel the M9 corridor every day
- that's 40 million trips a year - yes, lots of the same people as well
- that's a really efficient Linlithgow bypass
- that's also a huge audience to market to
Linlithgow is not signposted from the M8 & signposting from the M9 needs to be improved
- motorway signposts are expensive but last for many years
- that's still really cheap marketing to such a huge audience
- more businesses, neighbouring towns, commuters, visitors and tourists might just come to see what's on offer
Is Linlithgow 'OPEN' for business?
The LBA is working with the support of the Town Management Group and with WL Council to ensure that the 3million Scots within one hour's drive of Linlithgow know the answer.
Making Linlithgow a better place to do business and live.
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AND FINALLY .............. |
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We hope you've found the newsletter interesting and informative. If you would like to make a contribution to the next newsletter we would very much like to hear from you on any issues affecting your business particularly in the current difficult trading circumstances.
There are three ways to make a contribution to the newsletter:
1. By way of an article (e.g. Epulum article above);
2. Special discount offer to LBA members
3. A short article (around 100 words) on any issue affecting your business.
Any business wanting to host a future LBA meeting should contact Elodie at the Language Room (e:enquiry@thelanguageroom.com; tel: 670009).
We are aware of a problem with image labels and have contacted our newsletter provider for further advice - apologies for any confusion this may cause.
Merry Christmas from the team at Linlithgow Business Association newsletter! |
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