Julie Hall
A1 Virtual Assistant
Virtual Assistance and the Value of Support
In this conversation, I explore the practical value a virtual assistant can bring to small and medium-sized businesses. I have my own frustration coming from the hours lost to invoicing, bookkeeping, and email management late in the evening – tasks that I didn’t realise I’d have to do when I started my own business, taking time that should be spent on the work I care about or simply resting. Hearing someone speak with a genuine interest in administrative structure was a reminder that these tasks aren’t burdens; they’re simply better suited to people who take satisfaction in them. When matched well, this division of labour strengthens a business and restores space for the work that requires my attention and judgement.
Reflections on Ashford and Its Changing Centre
We also spent time reflecting on how Ashford has changed. The town centre Julie remembers – busy, sociable, and full of independent activity – has changed, as online shopping has taken hold and footfall has declined. We discussed the need for new approaches if the town is to feel vibrant again. Community-centred initiatives, events that bring people together, and spaces that feel welcoming and purposeful can all contribute to drawing people back into the heart of the town.
Community, Connection, and Local Business Growth
What emerged strongly from the discussion was the importance of community engagement in supporting local economic life. Activities such as paddle sports illustrate how well-designed experiences can bring people into an area and encourage them to stay, talk, and spend. The same principle applies to small businesses: offering something that makes people want to participate –whether that’s an event, a service, or a conversation – helps cultivate the connections that sustain growth. Networking came up as well, not as a transactional activity but as a practice of showing up, listening, and contributing to the local ecosystem.
Closing Thoughts
The conversation ended with a shared sense that Ashford’s future depends on combining an understanding of contemporary habits – especially online shopping – with a renewed commitment to community life. If people are to return to the town centre, there must be reasons to be there: opportunities to meet others, discover something new, or simply spend time in a place that feels considered. For those of us running businesses in Ashford, the task is to adapt and create experiences that speak to these needs while strengthening the bonds that make a local economy resilient.
Hi Julie! Tell me a little bit about what you do?
So I'm a virtual assistant, which means that anything to do with running your business, I can help you with. I've got the admin side of things.
So, Chris, you've set up as a photographer, you enjoy taking photographs, but what you might not want to do is be bogged down with invoicing, or admin, or purchasing, anything to do with that. That can take over, and you end up doing it in the evening, when you should be spending time with your family. and it can get quite irritating.
So, I've set up a business where you can employ me for, for example, a minimum of five hours a month. During that month, I can do your diary management. I can do your bookkeeping. I can do your invoicing for you. I can look after your emails, so that you're not bogged down with having to do that, and that frees you up to do the things that either make you money, or make you happy.
That sounds like a job where you do all the worst bits about running a business! Why did you start a business doing that?
I think what I like about it is I want to be able to give people time to do whatever they want to do. Whatever it is that makes them happy. Whether that be doing more of what you set the business up to do; or spending time with your children; or being able to go and watch them at school; or spending time with your other half, and not having to worry about doing the general admin thing.
Yeah, I know, originally when I started my previous business up, I'd be up at two in the morning sometimes doing invoicing and it gets to be a little bit ‘what have we started all this for? Why am I doing this?’
But I actually enjoy doing them, and I like admin. I like doing bookkeeping. I enjoy, and I'm good at it. And I enjoy doing it, and it's something that works for me, because I can do it whenever suits me. I thought long and hard about actually, and I wanted to do something that made me happy. So I do the things that make me happy, so like bookkeeping, that sort of thing.
I love a spreadsheet! So you have a shop in Ashford from a previous job?
I did.
How have you found it in Ashford? What is it like to be a business owner in Ashford?
It's difficult.
Yeah, I always try and use local businesses or companies for whatever we've done over the years, not with my new business venture, but with our previous business. I always try and do, because we hope people do the same for us. I think when we had the shop in Ashford, that was particularly difficult, only because people don't really come into the town centre so much anymore.
I just think it's a different world that we live in now, especially with shops; people buy stuff online all the time, and you've got to have a lot of footfall to be able to pay your rent and your business rates, so that's why it didn't ultimately really work.
So, you've seen Ashford change then, since you've been here?
Well, I came to Ashford in 1999, and we used to have a great night out in Ashford! There was lots of different shops; you could come in on a Saturday and there were always lots of people. I remember not being able to park in the car parks because they were all full, and now it's just so different. I do still come in to go to the hairdressers, but I don't necessarily come in to do any shopping anymore.
Into The Ashford Cinema?
Yeah, I like The Ashford Cinema! I prefer it to the other cinema. it's just a little bit more personal in there, and my son goes there quite often with his girlfriend.
So, if you could see one thing change in Ashford what would it be? I mean, we know that Virgin are looking to bring the train over to France back, which would be great.
Yeah, it'd be great – sooner than 2030 would be even better!
If you could change one other thing in Ashford to make it better for you, both as a resident or as an entrepreneur, what would it be?
That's a good question. I think you have to give people more reason to come in, into the town, and it might not be the reasons historically that they’ve always been. I'm not saying I know the answer to what it might be. Of course it's not going to be with main shops, is it? For example, recently I've started playing paddle – absolutely love it! It's always jam packed in there; you can't get into the car park. So, if we had something in the town centre that actually brought those people, they're more likely to then spend more time here if there was a reason for them to go and have a coffee.
And there was talk at one time of bringing the football club back into Ashford, because at the minute, again, it's on the outskirts of the town.
I suppose it's looking at the reasons people get together now. It's, you know, it isn't to go shopping anymore, or to, I think we have to accept it is a different world now. For example, my husband works in the food and beverage industry and it's likely the same problem; it's not like it used to be. They go out early, but everyone’s dead by 20:30.
He’s talking about opening – him and a couple of his colleagues – a cocktail bar somewhere, because that's what they do, and that's what they are good at. but you wouldn't dream of opening it in Ashford, even if it's in Tenterden, maybe. So there is a cocktail bar in Ashford, which is where the first conversation started, because he was like, we were going to the Everest Inn, and he said, should we go for a drink first?
So we went to Valerie's, and he was like ‘I think it's a really good idea’.
-
“I want to be able to give people time to do whatever they want to do.”
Julie Hall
I remember taking a taxi journey several years ago, and the taxi driver was telling me about the changes in the town. When HS1 started coming here, and people could get to and from London very easily. And I think this relates to what you were talking about, bringing people into the town, because all of a sudden, people would come out into Ashford, or they'd come and live in Ashford, because it's cheaper than London. But because it was so much cheaper than London, they'd then go and spend all their time in London.
Exactly, yeah, so there would be no money in Ashford! Nothing was being contributed. It was being sucked out. So I think that encouraging people to come in would be great.
Going back to discussion being an entrepreneur in Ashford, it seems that that the cost of living crisis – which doesn't get talked about anymore – is still there. Nothing's recovered. But it’s also segmented markets possibly more than they already were. And it seems to me that it's difficult for businesses to find general purpose services – and you have to sort of pick and choose your market.
So Valerie's, for example, does very well because it's a small bar, and it can't fit in a huge number of people. It's very good that there's a relatively small number, that there is a relatively small number of people who enjoy cocktails. And the Low Key Tap Room, in which we are at the moment, does very well because there's a larger, albeit still relatively small number of people in Ashford who appreciate independent beer.
And if you go to, there's a place in Headcorn, a tiny little taproom in Headcorn. it's a bit, it's even smaller than Valerie’s. If we're going to get a takeaway, and we're going to get a Chinese, we always go to Headcorn. We live in Smardon, so we go to Headcorn. we always go in there for a drink. You literally can't get seated. it's always, whatever night you go, it's busy.
But the same sort of thing, it's got lots of little independent beers. it's a bit different, and it just feels a bit, everyone's really friendly when you go in. people say hello, you can say who you are, and it's really nice. It's called Tap 17 – a microbar. It's tiny!
Let me just sort of finish off by asking for one recommendation in and around Ashford for somewhere that you really like going to. It might be a restaurant, it might be something completely different, one thing that you really like in Ashford.
Okay. There are a couple places! I've recently started playing padel at Square One. I absolutely love going there. It is the most sociable thing that I've done in a long, long time. There’s a really good community spirit in there.
But in the town centre, I think if I was coming in, the Everest Inn – I would really recommend that. Again, really, they're very much part of the community. We've been working with them in the past as well, on a mutual basis.
And Valeries! I love going to Valeries – it's a really nice little intimate bar that's really nice when you're out and about.
Speaking to Julie, I was reminded of some of the literature I read whilst preparing classes in political philosophy during my previous career as an academic. One of the most dramatic effects of the neoliberal push towards freedom of capital is capital flight: the exodus of capital in the face of challenges to its accrual. Ashford is a prime example of capital flight, as it left for London when HS1 was installed; online when the market was closed; and offshore as many of its businesses have been bought up.
One result of capital flight is the kind of ‘hollowing out’ Julie and I describe: a town that struggles to keep itself going, without the circulation of money to support and motivate new businesses. However, it’s inspiring to meet people like Julie, who have taken the decision to genuinely help other business-people do the things they really don’t like doing, leaving them to focus on what actually motivates them. As any mindset coach will tell you, the psychological (and consequently economic) benefits of being able to focus on what one loves are enormous, and so it was a pleasure to meet someone who will – consciously or not! – be fighting the good fight against capital flight, and the downturn of the town that Julie clearly loves so much.
Do you know someone who’d like to be featured as a #kentrepreneur, or would you yourself like to be featured? Get in touch – I’d love to hear from you!