Business leaders in Port St Mary have joined forces to show that the village is a great place to work and to encourage business-friendly developments. 

The Port St Mary Business Association held its inaugural meeting on Friday 13th November.

Stormy weather didn’t deter almost twenty people turning out to help establish a committee and elect key personnel. 

The new chair, Michelle Haywood was pleased with the turnout: "On a really poor night, it was great to see so many people and to have such a positive meeting. 

"It was strange that in such a small village there were business people that didn’t know each other at the start of the evening. 

"I’ve been bombarded with emails and calls from people who wanted to join but couldn’t make it on the night."

Ask most people what they think of Port St Mary and they will tell you that it is a small village with a very pretty harbour, but that genteel and quaint facade hides a bustling business community. 

There are nearly 80 businesses within the village, ranging from the B&Bs to legal services, catteries through to shipping management. 

The original meeting for a business association was called by Port St Mary Commissioners as they looked at ways to regenerate the village, and in a little over two months the Port St Mary Business Association was born. 

"We asked the members at the first meeting what issues they felt needed our attention, not surprisingly the continued closure of the town hall and parking were high on the agenda, so those are our first priorities," explained Michelle. 

However, with a remit that includes supporting every aspect of the business community in Port St Mary, it’s certain that these won’t be the only problems to make it onto the agenda. 

One of the exciting projects for the new committee will be to direct the development of an online Port St Mary business directory. 

It is hoped that this will allow businesses to make their presence known and allow customers to easily find and contact the businesses.  The website project will also encompass community pages and be a valuable resource.

One of the key goals of the Association is to provide networking opportunities for members, allowing them to build up contacts.  A Christmas Social will be held on the evening of 3rd December, please contact Michelle Haywood (300090) for further details. 

If you represent a Port St Mary business that hasn’t yet joined, please contact Michelle for information.