news Archive 09/2009

VOTES are being invited to choose a favourite Hackney landmark that is to feature on a badge to commemorate the 2012 London Olympics.

The Hackney Empire and St Augustine’s Tower in Mare Street, Hackney Central, Sutton House in Homerton High Street, Homerton and Hackney Marshes are the four candidates to have been chosen to represent the borough on the celebratory set of badges.

The ‘Landmark London’ vote is being run by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) in partnership with the capital’s 33 local authorities, who have compiled the nomination shortlist.

Borough residents have until midnight on Sunday, October, 18 to cast their vote at www.london2012.com.

This FREE one day conference, run by Social Enterprise London, on 13 October at Sadler’s Wells will focus on enterprising ways to access finance for the Cultural and Creative Industries. Aimed at organisations which care about their social and environmental impact, this event will: introduce you to the social enterprise business model, demystify a diverse range of routes to finance and enable you to meet and network with representatives from likeminded organisations operating in the cultural and creative industries.
Find out more here.

London’s flagship variety theatre, the Hackney Empire, is to close for several months while it looks at its financial situation.
It will shut its doors when the Christmas pantomime ends in January.
A theatre spokesman said: “We hope it will be a momentary pause in a long and glorious history.”

Hackney Council said: “The Hackney Empire is a much loved icon and is at the heart of our borough’s cultural life.

“Hackney Council will continue to support the empire as we always have.”

The closure was not forced on us and we are confident it will not be permanent

“Hackney Council and the arts council are working together to provide a package of support to ensure the Hackney Empire is able to recover from these difficulties and return to a full programme as soon as practically possible.”

“We are very encouraged by the plans the board has to resolve the situation.”
The theatre spokesman said: “The closure was not forced on us and we are confident it will not be permanent - just a chance to reflect.
“Theatres are expensive places to run. Our balance isn’t quite right.
“It is important that we take stock and look to fix any long-term problems.”

In celebration of London Design Week, ten shops and galleries in the Shoreditch Triangle have joined forces to bring you an evening of special design events.

Starting from 6pm on Tuesday 22nd of September each location will be holding late night openings to launch individual exhibitions and present exciting new work.

1. SCP - Kiosk New York meets SCP London

2. Rocket Gallery - Book a Table opening

3. YCN - Made in YCN

4. Lifestylebazaar - Customised Louis Ghost chairs

5. Caravan - In Miniature

6. Mathmos - launch of ‘Fireflow’

7. SDC Gallery - Tea Potty?

8. Studio Ilse at Leila’s Shop - Seating for Eating

9. De La Espada - PRODUCT Preview

10. Jasper Morrison Ltd. Shop - Jugs, Jars & Pitchers

Sign up now!

Hackney Peace Walk, the borough’s annual contribution to the London Week of Peace is taking place on Saturday 19 September 2009.

Led by the Mayor and Speaker of Hackney it will unite residents, visitors and community and faith groups in a celebration of peace, unity and friendship in our borough.

For further information and how to get involved please click here.

City and Hackney Mind are offering local businesses the opportunity to access information and advice to ensure they are promoting positive mental health in their workplace.  They are the leading voluntary mental health service provider in the area; offering vital mental health services to people living and working in Hackney and the City of London.  They have been supporting people with mental health needs into employment for over 25 years and can help you ensure your work place is a supportive environment for your employees - so that you can see the benefit for your business.

City and Hackney Mind can offer you:

- Information on how you can support your employees
- Advice and ideas for boosting the morale of your work force
- Free training with work placements
To find out more about how City and Hackney Mind can help your business, please contact Rachel Salter on 020 8525 2340 or at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

There are over 150 opportunities that have been placed on CompeteFor in the last week. 
These include Basketball Arena concrete foundations for Morrisons, distribution boards for Skanska, swivel castors required by Alto Systems, Olympic Park fence maintenance and graffiti removal for Volker Highways and bathroom supplies for The Heights Hotel in Dorset.  O’Connell Plant & Groundworks is seeking a provider of onsite security, ASM Engineering is looking for suppliers of volume control dampers and Carillion requires businesses who can supply and install roller shutter doors.  So there are lots of great opportunities for Hackney businesses who will hopefully be able to take advantage of them.

Click the link below to see a selection of these opportunities: 

2012 Opportunities 15-09-09

A Dalston business woman has raced her way into the final of the prestigious O2 X Awards 2009 with her line of women’s cycle-wear and accessories.

Down to the final seven in the Young Entrepreneur category, 23-year old Amy Fleuriot’s has gained recognition for her business Cyclodelic’s fashionable approach to women’s sportswear.

Amy, who lives and works on Graham Road, said: “It’s fantastic to be nominated as I have worked so hard and continue to do so. I hope this spreads the word about the business and about cycling.”
For more information on Amy’s products see www.cyclodelic.co.uk
The London College of Fashion graduate and cyclist started Cyclodelic three years ago when she began to cycle to and from her university lectures and felt frustrated with the lack of products for female cyclists.

The O2 X Awards ceremony takes place on September 29 when the O2 X Female and Male Entrepreneur of the Year will also be announced and the winner from each category will receive £5,000, PR support and mentoring from a business expert.

Launched in 2003 and organised by mobile phone giant, O2, the awards celebrate entrepreneurial talent across the UK.

First published in The Hackney Gazette September 2009

Invest in Hackney is a finalist in the category “Award for boosting a local economy” at this years Regeneration and Renewal Magazine Awards.

The ceremony will be held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel on September 23rd.
Renaisi, the regenaration consultancy that manages the Invest in Hackney project are in the running for two other awards on the night, including “Regeneration Consultancy of the Year”.
Renaisi are also finalists for the “Award for tackling worklessness” category for their Ways into Work programme.

The Speaker of the London Borough of Hackney, Councillor Muttalip Ünlüer will officially open Hackney’s newest creative space The Gallery which is situated in Mare Street Studios in the heart of Hackney’s Mare Street.  The launch will also unveil LYST’s recently refurbished business units, and will take place on Thursday 24th September from 13:00 – 16:00.  Guests from the creative industries, third/public sector and business world will come together to celebrate with LYST and Cllr Ünlüer.

The Gallery
Having remained derelict for almost five years, the space covering 3000 sq ft has recently been refurbished to bring it to a fresh and modern standard.  The Gallery has retained its original features whilst still fitting in with the character or the local area.  It will provide the perfect space for filming, photo shoots, exhibitions, networking events, training, receptions and seminars.  An array of events have already been planned in the space with many more to come as a result of Hackney’s position as a host borough for London 2012.

Refurbished business units
An influx of new creative businesses has moved into Hackney’s Mare Street Studios to occupy the recently refurbished business units.  They range from fashion designers, photography and event management.  Centre Manager Clifford Dobbs explains that “this is great for the local area in terms of employment is opportunities, and businesses can also benefit from opportunities provided by London 2010 and Hackney’s position as a partnership borough”.
Guests at the launch will get a chance to meet businesses and tour the new units.

Environmental charity Global Action Plan is now delivering EMS Easy training in the UK enabling
companies of all sizes to achieve internationally recognised standards - ISO14001 or EMAS.
The idea behind EMS Easy is that it simplifies the process of certification by replacing a paper-based
approach to managing environmental performance, with something more visual and intuitive, which
takes as its starting-point ‘what is happening on the ground’.
The toolkit is showing that the entire management system documentation can be a tenth of that of any
other system and implementation using EMS Easy typically takes four to nine months, compared with
the usual 15 to 18 months.
Four of Global Action Plan’s clients have achieved ISO14001 using the toolkit in the past year – none
of them employing more than 50 staff – dispelling the myth that environmental management standards
are the sole preserve of large organizations. Thomas Store, Senior Sustainable Business consultant
at Global Action Plan said:
“It is actually easier for small businesses to achieve ISO14001. At the end of the day, their operations
are simpler, there is less bureaucracy, less management levels, less hierarchy, less employees to get
on board.”
No business is too small to achieve ISO14001, Global Action Plan currently have one client who runs
a website-based company from her bedroom.
Previously businesses needed substantial spare staff capacity and/or to buy in consultancy time.
EMS Easy reduces staff and consultancy time needed and subsequently reduces the cost of
implementation. EMS Easy is also proving to be much easier for businesses to understand and,
importantly, engages staff more effectively, increasing the chances of successful accreditation.
Another option for businesses was to use the phased implementation approach according to the
British standard BS8555 where by companies could split up implementation of ISO14001 and get
recognition on the way. EMS Easy takes a company directly to ISO14001, potentially in less time than
needed normally and without the additional certification costs BS8555 can entail.
EMS Easy is all about making permanent and lasting change in the workplace and this involves
changing attitudes and behaviour. Implementing such change in the workplace has many direct
benefits as already discussed but it also has other “softer” benefits. Staff feel more valued and
included in business decisions and by changing their behaviour they also start to make changes at
home.
The EMS Easy toolkit was developed by Heinz Werner Engel as part of an EU funded programme to
enable companies, of all sizes, to achieve environmental certification to ISO14001 and the European
standard EMAS in a straightforward and simple way.
Global Action Plan is a training organisation for EMS Easy and worked with 35 clients so far, more
than any other EMS Easy registered UK organisation.
For more information contact:
Emma Bangar
Marketing Manager
Global Action Plan
t - 020 7025 3821 | e - (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  | w - http://www.globalactionplan.org.uk

The recession appears to be the mother of invention according to leading intellectual property (IP) legal specialist, Gill Jennings & Every LLP.  The law firm reports that it has seen the number of patent application enquiries from private individuals and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) rise significantly over the past 12 months, resulting in the firm filing nearly twice as many applications to the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in the first six months of 2009 compared to in the first six months of 2008.

By contrast, Gill Jennings says that many big corporations have significantly reduced the number of patents they are filing when compared to a year ago. It has also noticed a drop in the volume of new patent filings from overseas companies. This is reflected by the fact that the overall number of patent applications filed with the IPO fell by approximately five per cent in the first six months of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008.
The recession isn’t a bad time to start up
Peter Finnie, partner at Gill Jennings specialising in assisting UK start-up companies, comments: ‘Gill Jennings has seen a tremendous increase in business from non-corporates over the past few months. This is counterintuitive in some ways as the recession has obviously made funding for small businesses harder to come by. Yet, it seems reasonable to presume that much of this is down to budding entrepreneurs and SMEs deciding that while the employment market is so poor it is time for them to branch out and try to develop their own businesses.
‘It also reflects a growing recognition that securing a good patent can be invaluable in terms of making money in the long-term from an invention. Securing the appropriate patent is crucial for any business that revolves around a particular concept. The hidden risks of IP can also have an enormous commercial impact for both investors and companies alike. Developing an explicit IP strategy that deals with these risks in a cost-effective and responsible manner will repay itself in the longer term.’
Examples of patent enquiries that Gill Jennings says it has seen in recent months include a new cricket bat design, LED eco-lighting systems, ultra-sonic treatment patches, software for monitoring offshore drilling operations, a social network based search engine, a biodegradable irrigation system, and a system for meta-tagging video content for the media industry.
Getting the right backing
In particular Gill Jennings has been advising Michael Pritchard, inventor of the ANYWAY® Spray who successfully secured funding on the BBC 2 programme Dragons’ Den for his invention. The deal centres on a joint investment by the two Dragons, Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis, of £125,000 for a10% equity stake each in an IP holding company owned with Michael Pritchard that will license the IP behind the new spray system to manufacturers of spray products around the world.
Peter Finnie comments: ‘It is very unusual to see an investment on Dragons’ Den based entirely on an IP licensing opportunity, especially as the funds are only going to be spent on the costs of building and maintaining the IP that protects the ANYWAY® concept. If the Dragons can successfully broker some IP licences with the major manufacturers of spray products, the royalty incomes are potentially enormous given the size of the global market. This deal is all about the IP.’
Famous companies that have started up during or just post-recessions in the past, include Microsoft Corporation, Hewlett Packard, General Electric and Revlon Cosmetics.
This article was supplied by Gill Jennings & Every LLP. Photo credit: BL1961