news Archive 12/2009

Are you a business based in one of the City fringe boroughs - Camden, Hackney, Islington, Lambeth, Southwark, Tower Hamlets or the City of Westminster?

Are you looking to supply your products to corporate buyers in the City?

Not sure where to start? Or do you know the areas in which you need to develop?

Many potential suppliers are practically ready, but lack the right policies to be competitive when putting in a tender. To help entrepreneurs like you to find new business, GLE are holding a number of workshops which will help you to become ready to supply.

If your business is based in a City fringe borough and you want to increase your competitiveness by having such a policy or if you have any other questions please contact Liz Doogan at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) / 020 7089 2304.

The next workshop will be on the 18th January, 09.30-12.30 - A Pitching and Presentation Skills workshop at the GLE offices near London Bridge.
For more details see the document below

Going green is the order of the day! If you want to get into the supply chain of large companies, such as corporate buyers in the City you have to prove that you are aware of environmental issues.

It is essential for every business that wants to grow - or just survive the current economic crisis - to have an environmental policy in place.

GLE oneLondon are running a FREE workshop on environmental policy and efficient resource use, during which you will:

  * write an environmental policy for your business
  * learn how to implement that policy
  * learn how you can use your policy as a competitive advantage
  * learn about effective resource use
  * gain essential tips that will be useful for your business

Come along to our FREE workshop and hear from experts how to put together an environmental policy. Most importantly, there will be a Meet the Buyer event in March 2010 that you will be eligible to apply for, and we can help you to prepare for the potential business opportunities that could arise from this future event.
When ...

Friday 08th January, 09.00-13.00
Where ...

New City Court, 20 St Thomas Street, London SE1 9RS
Cost ...

Free
This event will benefit ...

  * This workshop is designed exclusively for businesses based in one of the City fringe boroughs - Camden, Hackney, Islington, Lambeth, Southwark, Tower Hamlets or the City of Westminster.

For more information and to register…

Telephone 020 7089 2304 or email (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

From the Evening Standard 23-12-09
For anyone in need of cheer this Christmas, I prescribe the Hackney Empire’s pantomime, Aladdin. It is a celebration of the civilised values, a defence of diversity and multiculturalism that makes you proud to be a Londoner.

The main character, Aladdin, is half-Arabian and half-Chinese, yet somehow white. He and his possibly gay brother, Wishy-Washy, grew up in a single-parent family — that single parent being a black transvestite called Widow Twankey. All are the subjects of a possibly mentally ill African queen who is also a cockney and engaged in a sort of ménage à trois with two northern policemen. It’s not that no one bats an eyelid at these set-ups — they make an un-PC joke and move on. “It skipped a generation,” quips Clive Rowe’s magnificent Twankey, referring to the whiteness of his two sons.

Despite the yearly exhortations of the Evening Standard’s pantomime critic, I had never before seen this highly praised local entertainment, mainly because I am not nine years old.
This year, however, I had a nine-year-old to take. In May, I applied to become a volunteer with Chance UK (http://www.chanceuk.com), a charity that provides mentors for primary school-aged children with behavioural difficulties in Islington, Hackney and Lambeth. Its credentials were impressive: its programme produces a 98 per cent improvement rate in children’s behaviour after a year’s mentoring.

After attending a recruitment session I completed training over three Saturdays in May and in August and was paired with a very bright and sweet boy who was having trouble dealing with an absent father and had been threatened with exclusion from school.

It was the best decision I have made this year. My Saturday mornings were previously spent in a grumpy stupor. Now I kick footballs around, visit museums, go ice-skating and play armies in the undergrowth. It doesn’t feel like any sacrifice at all — I always come away in an excellent mood — but in a small way, it makes a difference. You can tell, week by week.

I had for a long time wanted to do something of this kind, but this was the year I finally did. Why? A long list of wishy-washy liberal clichés I’m afraid —reading Barack Obama’s book, watching The Wire, finding my priorities shifting towards an idea of public service, as many have found in the recession. But I think most pressing was a growing sensation that you can live in as socially and economically diverse a borough as Hackney and operate solely within a very small and comfortable bracket of it.

Watching Aladdin with a nine-year-old, who no one could have mistaken for a relation of mine, among a raucous audience was to experience all of those parallel worlds coalescing.

And do you know, for all his behavioural difficulties, my lad did not once call out “It’s f***ing behind you” — as 26-year-old Amy Winehouse did when she saw Cinderella this weekend.

London must boost the skills of its workforce to remain a competitive world city and fight its way out of recession. That is the key finding in the Mayor of London’s updated skills and employment strategy ’ From Recession to Recovery ‘, published today.

The plan sets out how the Mayor and the London Skills and Employment Board (LSEB) will continue to help Londoners and the capital’s businesses to tackle the impact of the recession and prepare for recovery in the capital.

It highlights how, to prepare for recovery and address the long term challenges London faces, the LSEB and its delivery partners must increase the supply of skills required to improve London’s competitiveness as a global city. It outlines the importance of tackling the high levels of worklessness and the significant number of people with no qualifications, or low skill levels in the capital.

You can read more about the Mayor’s new strategy here

Business Junction have today announced the results of their latest business survey.
London-based businesses across all sectors have responded to the autumn edition of the bi-annual London Business Survey and the results reveal that whilst most are confident they will see growth return in the first quarter of 2010, very few have plans to actively recruit new staff.
Present Government policies on tendering and business support are also criticised as being ineffective and in certain cases actually damaging to recipient businesses.
The survey, carried out by Business Junction and Clarity this November, invited companies across London to submit their views on how the recession and credit crunch has affected them directly and their outlook for 2010.
The survey has found that business confidence is returning among the respondents, with 83% of businesses expecting turnover to increase or stay constant into Q1 of 2010 in comparison to 75% in Spring 2009.

Click on the link below for a summary of all the survey findings, or for a more detailed analysis go to www.clarityuk.net

..and this could mean opportunities for Hackney’s businesses.

The London 2012 Organising Committee is pledging to serve ‘the best of British’ food during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Food Vision published today, 7th December 2009, outlines plans to offer a wide range of food for all customers. A total of 14 million meals will be served during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, across 40 locations.
Included in the vision are the commitment that all dairy products, beef, lamb and poultry must be British. In addition, bananas, tea, coffee and sugar will be Fairtrade and traditional British cheese such as cheddar must be British.
Free drinking water will be available at all venues.

The process to find catering suppliers is now underway, with opportunities listed through the London 2012 Business Network and on Compete For. The chosen caterers will join London 2012 commercial partners Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Cadbury, who will also be supplying food and drink and will provide the only branded products on sale.
The Food vision aims to set new standards for catering at UK events, leaving a positive legacy for the future.

Find out more about the catering opportunities available or download a copy of the at the Food Vision at the London 2012 website: www.london2012.com

The Draft Hackney Wick Masterplan has been launched for public consultation.

Between 1 December 2009 and 9 February 2010 Hackney Council will be consulting on the draft Hackney Wick Area Action Plan (AAP). The draft AAP will guide development and investment in Hackney Wick to create a sustainable place where people want to live and work.

The Council want as many groups as possible to have their say on the future direction for Hackney Wick and are contacting representatives of various community and specialist groups, including those that have an interest in the Hackney Wick area.

They will be holding a series of consultation events in the new year. Have your questions answered, pick up some information and complete a feedback form at Hackney Wick Community Centre, Old Baths, 80 Eastway, Hackney Wick E9 5JH on:

Thursday 14 January 2010: 6.00pm – 8.00pm
Tuesday 19 January 2010: 10.00am – 12.00 noon
Thursday 21 January 2010: 6.00pm – 8.00pm

You can find full details of the proposals and information on how you can contribute to the consultation at: www.hackney.gov.uk

Download the document below for a summary of the latest opportunities for businesses posted on Compete For.

You will need to register on Compete For to access these opportunities. Click here to find out more.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to improve dramatically the borrowing terms for its 1.2 million small business customers, after criticism over the difficulties that small businesses have had in obtaining credit.
the bank, which is 70 per cent-owned by the taxpayer, plans to cap overdraft charges at 1.5 per cent for any business with a turnover of up to £25 million. RBS will cap loan arrangement fees for small business customers at 1.5 per cent and renew lending on the same or improved terms for at least 12 months.

The bank will also offer free banking for all business start-ups. Previously only companies banking with NatWest were offered free banking.

RBS is funding new companies at the rate of 2,000 a week, it said, arguing that it was leading the way among high street banks in providing access to credit for British businesses.
We are doing as much as we can to let people know that we are open for business,” a spokesman for RBS said. He said that RBS had £27 billion in undrawn overdraft facilities, offered to small enterprises but not taken up.

The CBI, the employers’ organisation, has argued that the lack of credit is the biggest issue troubling Britain’s recession-hit companies. Richard Lambert, its Director-General, has said that the issue is of more concern than that of bankers’ pay and bonuses.

The CBI said that RBS’s commitments were a welcome move. So, too, did the Federation of Small Businesses. Stephen Alambritis, the federation’s head of public affairs, said: “Businesses need to know that their credit lines are safe and how much they will cost. Commitments to guarantee overdrafts ... and commitments to transparency are a real help. We want these to make a real difference to the small business sector.”

RBS has committed itself to lending an extra £16 billion to small businesses. In the nine months to the end of September, it lent £28.5 billion. It said that approval rates on loans were running at 85 per cent, similar to a year ago.

from The Times Online November 30th 2009

Bottle Apostle will be hosting a very special wine tasting event at East London’s hippest restaurant Bistrotheque.
The evening will be FREE and open to both customers and members of staff. Tom from Bottle Apostle says “it will be chance to learn more about specific grapes and regions, and to try some delicious wines’ Tom goes onto to say “ This is the very first time we have taken Bottle Apostle to another venue and we are very happy to be going to Bistrotheque”
The event will take place in the Napoleon Bar on Tuesday 8th December.
For more information and to book a place click on the link below:

www.bistrotheque.com