CHAMBER of commerce members will be able to combine business advice with retail therapy following the chamber's move to Bluewater shopping centre. Kent Thames-side and Medway Chamber Group is gearing up for a growing future by opening a new regional headquarters in the centre.

Kent Thames-side chamber and its three staff have moved from The Manor Gatehouse, a haunted building owned by Dartford council in Priory Road, Dartford, to offices off the Rose Gallery in Bluewater. Chamber chiefs worked closely with centre bosses to clinch a deal they insist will not mean higher membership fees.

Medway Chamber is keeping its offices in Sunderland Quay, Medway City Estate, giving the chamber group a base in two important centres with huge growth potential over the next few years.

Michael Pead, chief executive of Kent Thames-side Chamber, said the move could not have taken place without the help of the Medway colleagues. "The group is really pulling together as a partnership," he said. He said the move was a "hard-nosed" business decision. "Dartford town centre was fine when we were Dartford and District Chamber of Commerce. But the presence of the chamber movement has to be far more prominent and what more prominent than an establishment like Bluewater? It immediately gives us a presence of regional proportions."

He said: "This is a centre of retail, a centre of learning and a centre of business. We've got a good deal and there will be no increase in subscriptions because we've moved to Bluewater." Mr Pead claimed it was the first chamber in Europe to be situated in a prime out of town shopping centre. "It is highly appropriate that we are here in the heart of Kent Thames-side," he said. "What better than to have two major regional offices, one based in Medway and one based in Kent Thames-side?"

Kent Thames-side and Medway would see phenomenal development over the next 20 years, he said, and it was important for the chamber to be at the heart of both. Bluewater spokeswoman Rachael Nolan said: "This is fantastic. We have a great partnership with the chamber and to have them located here is great news."