One today is worth two tomorrows: In the second half of the history of Kingston Chamber of Commerce, which celebrates its centenary this week, June Sampson reveals its trials and triumphs post 1945. (From Surrey Comet)

One today is worth two tomorrows: In the second half of the history of Kingston Chamber of Commerce, which celebrates its centenary this week, June Sampson reveals its trials and triumphs post 1945.

2:58pm Friday 14th May 2004

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T he pioneers who gave birth to Kingston Chamber of Commerce in 1904 could have no inkling of the traumas ahead.

These included the First World War, the general strike of 1926, the devastating Depression of the early 1930s and the Second World War and its aftermath.

The last of these threatened to bring local trade to its knees. Food was rationed, clothing coupons were in force, manpower had been siphoned off for military service and general goods were in such short supply that shops began closing at 6pm, instead of the customary 8pm.

The chamber's committee did much to keep businesses afloat. It established a vehicle pool to enable firms to deliver to customers within a one mile radius.

Thus one van did the work of several, saving precious petrol, tyres and manpower. It also devised schemes to ease shopping for munitions workers and did stirling work in helping people to return to business life after years away on active service.

Another boost for firms came in 1945 when, for the first time in its history, the chamber sponsored non-political candidates in the municipal elections, so further strengthening ties with the Guildhall.

"The chamber isn't a political organisation but it must take an active part in municipal government, so long as it is necessary to keep control of the affairs of the borough out of the hands of any one political party," it declared.

By 1948, 10 chamber candidates had become councillors.

The chamber seems not to have celebrated its first half-century in 1954, or the fact the devoted efforts of a voluntary few had brought it through these troubled years.

The next 50 years were to be challenging too, the greatest issue being the unveiling of the Kingston Town Centre Development Plan in 1963.

Surrey County Council and Kingston Council privately formulated the plan for more than two years. But when it was finally unveiled only a few weeks were allowed for public comments.

The result was a furious outcry, and the chamber's decision to embark on its biggest and costliest project: fighting the plan at a public inquiry with legal representation by Sir Sydney Littlewood and commissioning an alternative scheme.

The council plan involved mass demolition of shops, offices, cinemas, pubs and houses, with powers of compulsory acquisition if owners objected.

Twenty-one areas would be subject to compulsory purchase, including 10 acres of the town centre, bounded by Wood Street and Cromwell Road in the north, Fairfield Road and London Road in the south, and parts of Fife Road and Clarence Street.

Also earmarked were six acres between the river and Wood Street, plus more than three acres bounded by London Road, Coombe Road and the railway needed for the junction of a massive east-west throughway. This was to be taken on a raised flyover, soaring above a major roundabout near Kingston station before leading traffic on to a second Thames bridge to be built north of the present one.

There would also be a north-south throughway, plus a ring-road running along the river bank south of Kingston Bridge.

Several historic buildings would have to go, including Kingston Baptist Church, Kingston Museum and the central library. The £30million scheme would take 20 years and make the town centre a motorway-enclosed island.

The chamber fought the plan with all its might, taking days to present its case.

It paid a heavy price. The cost of legal and professional fees, plus conflicting with the council head-on for the first time, put it deep in debt, and marred relations with the Guildhall for years to come.

But it earned universal respect for taking a stand, and winning some concessions.

As it happened, the controversial road scheme never materialised. Repudiated by the Greater London Council (GLC), which took responsibility for metropolitan roads after 1965, it was scrapped in 1974.

It was victory of a sort. But Kingston businesses then had to contend with planning blight while the council and the GLC formed a new proposal.

Thus, the Horsefair remained a derelict waste and Thames Street, once noted as "the Bond Street of Surrey", withered under the threat of compulsory purchase orders. So did Eden Street.

Meanwhile, the river frontage degenerated into decayed sites and past industries, including the former Eagle Brewery, Palmer's seacoal wharves and the burnt-out remains of Kingston Tannery.

It was increasingly hard for the chamber to laud crumbling, traffic-choked Kingston as a destination town, until a new road scheme was approved in 1981 and completed at last in 1989 helped along by the £20million which the council, with spirited chamber backing, managed to win from the GLC before its demise.

The town centre was not the only entity to be changed radically in the late 20th century. So did the chamber, which reconstructed itself as a business rather than a voluntary group, thanks to financial backing from Aztec, a Government-sponsored training and enterprise council set up to encourage enterprise in Kingston, Merton and Wandsworth. By 1997 it had helped to create l,400 companies and 2,600 jobs.

Since its inception, the chamber's only paid staff had been a secretary, responsible to the committee for routine administration. By 1995, more complex business skills were required and the post of secretary was replaced by a salaried chief executive, responsible to an annually elected honorary president and board of directors.

The 1990s were eventful years for the chamber. A few of its many achievements, in conjunction with the council, were the decision to widen Kingston Bridge, the introduction of Sunday trading and the appointment after years of lobbying of a town centre manager.

Another key development was the installation of a £1million CCTV system the 19 cameras said to make Kingston's shopping centre one of the safest in Britain. This was achieved between the chamber, the police and the council.

Meanwhile, the chamber began providing networking events and a range of programmes offering guidance and specialist help in all aspects of business.

The end of Aztec in 2001 was a financial blow to the chamber, forcing it to move from its well-appointed base in Eden Street to a modest home in Fife Road. Now it has regained strength and transferred to new premises in Chapel Mill Road.

Kingston's core members have always believed the old adage that unity is strength, and have worked hard for the linking of all the London chambers.

It hasn't yet succeeded. But it played an important role in persuading seven south London chambers, from Richmond to Bromley, to form a federation. And last month this federation merged with the South London Economic Development Alliance (Sleda) to form the new group, South London Business.

More could be done if those firms happy to benefit from the chamber's activities, would at least become members.

Since Lisa Gagliani became chief executive in 2001, the Kingston chamber has become the second largest and the most rapidly growing chamber in London.

Nevertheless, though membership is approaching 500, there are around 7,000 businesses in the Royal borough. Of these, 87 per cent employ fewer than 10 people and are the ones who could profit most from independent third-party help.

When the Kingston chamber was born in 1904, the annual subscription was 7s 6d (37.5p). Now it's from £95. However, as then, members get value for money.

Call the chamber on 020 8481 0450.

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