History
Mystery surrounds the date the Broadstairs & St. Peter's Chamber of Commerce was originally formed. Old year books indicate it was sometime in 1900. However according to the Broadstairs & St. Peter's Mail, it came into being on 4th December 1903.
Pierremont Park
Chambers of Commerce are the direct descendants of the merchant guilds of mediaeval times and earlier from the forum associations of Roman cities.
The movement has spread throughout the world as an effective medium of communication between business people and the government, and for the assurance of integrity in local and international business transactions.
Our previous Secretary has delved into the Minute books from 1932 onwards and has written a potted history of notable events in the Chamber until the outbreak of war. This interesting look into the past in Broadstairs & St. Peter's will be available to all members within the next few weeks.
Pierremont Park
At one time the Chamber produced an annual Year Book, which was given to all members. This listed the Officers, Committee a complete membership list, and adverts for local businesses - presumably the cost of printing was covered by these ads.
The 1963-1964 Year Book shows a committee of 21, as well as 6 Officers, and a membership list totalling 263! An advertisement for the China Shop, in the High Street (long since gone) encourages us to buy a Poole Twintone Dinner set for us £11.6s.6d!
Although many of the 263 members no longer trade in the town, there are a handful of names that still feature today.
The Chamber of Commerce has moved with the times and today the organisation is much smaller, run by a small management team, communicates with its members via modern technology, but it still the voice of the business community in the town.
