There has been a real buzz about the area this summer and particularly in Folkestone since the launch of the Triennial arts festival just over a month ago. Businesses are reporting more customers and sales up over 10% based on the same period last year. The Creative Foundation has calculated that over 30,000 visitors came […]
FIFA has banned its former Executive Committee member and Presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam, from football for life over bribery claims relating to his election campaign to take over from Sepp Blatter. This is a day of shame for football’s governing body. These are such serious charges from the FIFA ethics committee that there should […]
A year ago in the middle of the general election campaign, the last thing on my mind would have been joining forces with my Labour opponent. But that’s what happen last week when Donald Worsley supported me in Folkestone unveiling a new poster in the ‘No to AV’ campaign. We both believe that it would […]
The National Health Service is one of the greatest achievement’s of our country and is something of we are all rightly proud of. But as the NHS advances through its seventh decade the demands we make of it get ever greater. The benefit of good healthcare means that people live longer and the sophistication of […]
Last Monday saw the launch of ‘Start Up Britain’ a new campaign launched by some of Britain’s leading entrepreneurs and with the support of the Government, to give free advice to everyone who is interested in launching or growing their own business. You can find out more about this online at www.startupbritain.org and the website […]
The earthquake in Japan and the popular uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East have grabbed the attention and sympathy of the world over the last few weeks. The earthquake is the third greatest ever recorded and the uprisings remind us of the great wave of people power that brought down the communist dictatorships […]
This week is British Tourism Week and a new report published by Visit Kent shows just how important this industry is to our local economy, and why it should have a bright future. The report shows that in 2009 tourism contributed £3.2 billion to the Kent economy, a 10% increase over the previous three years. […]
The creative industries are an increasingly important part of our local economy; and this is not just the work of artists but film makers, web designers, restaurateurs, marketeers and many others. The Creative Quarter in Folkestone employs 280 people across all of the businesses based there, which taken together makes it one of the District’s […]
‘The King’s Speech’, the film depicting George VI’s inspirational battle overcoming his speech impediment to broadcast to the nation during World War Two, has swept the board and this year’s Oscars, marking another triumph for the British industry. My congratulations go to the Director Tom Hooper, writer David Seidler and of course to the film’s […]
The fatal stabbing in Folkestone last month of Osman Shazad, an Afghan teenager in the asylum system, has raised many questions from the community. That people were shocked at the news of this crime, confirms that it is rare for a town like Folkestone, but we still want to understand more about how and why […]