We've moved – and have a temporary new phone number:
South Cambridgeshire Conservative Association
Broadway House
149-151 St Neots Road
Hardwick
CB23 7QJ
TEMPORARY phone 01954 211 999 (it should revert to 01954 211 444 by 1st July 2015).
Our new Hardwick address is all of 50 yards from our old one at 153 St Neots Road – which remains the constituency office of Heidi Allen, our MP, and Vicky Ford and David Campbell Bannerman, our MEPs. (Click here for their full contact details.)
Why we've moved
When 153 St Neots Road was built for us about ten years ago, the costs were shared by a federation of three Associations – Cambridge City, South East Cambridgeshire and ourselves, South Cambridgeshire Conservative Association (SCCA). After the City decided to make their home elsewhere, the building's running costs and ownership were shared between ourselves and South East, albeit with rent contributions from Andrew Lansley, our MP until May this year, and three MEPs.
Three years ago, South East decided it no longer wanted to be based in Hardwick (it now has an office in Ely), which left us having to pay them 50% of the value of the building, either through raising the money by issuing bonds or selling it.
We opted to try the bond route, but after a huge amount of hard work and time by Donald Douglas (our chairman at the time) and other colleagues, we just fell short of raising the capital. The Association's management team, by this time (late 2013) under the leadership of a new chairman, Bill Potter, felt there was no alternative but to sell the building – which we finally succeeded in doing in May 2015.
Alongside all this was the perennial question: should we stay at 153 St Neots Road (with rental income), buy a smaller building elsewhere in the constituency or rent?
As it's turned out, selling the building reduced our options, with the amount of space available to rent at 153 being too small for our needs and buying anew too complex in the short term... which left us finding a new home to rent.
Well, it so happened our next door neighbour had just finished refurbishing what was our old before-we-moved-into-153-offices and was looking for a new tenant. What luck!
So, here we are in 151 St Neots Road! And, thanks to much hard work by Colin Barker, Denise Smith and Stephen Frost (before he left the Association) sorting and packing, things went pretty smoothly on 12 June when (assisted by a removal company) everything – furniture, computers and files etc – was shifted from 153 to 151. All we need now is the return of our old phone number!
Oh, what fun – Denise's report on the move
"Move quite hectic from a packing and unpacking point of view. The movers did a wonderful job as did Colin, bless him. Although Stephen and I had gone through some of his office and thrown a lot away, there was still a lot to pack. Colin did that while I did my room. He is also going through it all virtually page by page to see what can be got rid of.
"The new office is lovely and spacious, I have room for volunteers to come and sit – i.e. Colin!!!! But also on Wednesday, I had Colin, Bill and Joshua Vanneck (treasurer) here and there was room for everyone to sit.
"I am sorting items to go on the shelves for elections and putting it all tidily... hopefully it will remain like that... Bill hopes to see a tidy office when he comes to visit.
"I have gone through a lot of my paperwork and also some from the storage cupboard upstairs in the old building and put it into separate trays to go through with Colin. There is a lot of old information, although 'old hat' might be worth holding on to.
"Still a few boxes to go through, but we are getting there."