news Archive 01/2010

This week’s list includes a wide variety of opportunities that Hackney businesses can access by registering with CompeteFor.

Some examples of the wide range of opportunities available are:
LOCOG, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, are looking for a supplier of office furniture; T-One Telecom Limited require the ongoing services of an Insurance provider; Jactone Products are looking for a waste management company to collect and dispose of their hazardous and non-hazardous waste on a weekly basis and Black Cat Couriers are looking for a company to design their website and to provide web support.

See these and many more CompeteFor opportunities by clicking the link below:

The re-opening of Stoke Newington Town Hall this month will lead to business opportunities for Hackney based companies.

The refurbished Town Hall will be a popular venue for weddings and civil partnerships, and this will lead to high demand for businesses providing the services associated with these events, whether it be catering, event planning, florists, dress makers, printers, cake maker or photographers.
In order to promote local businesses the Stoke Newington Town Hall Event Team will be compiling a directory of local businesses supplying of all of these services, and more, to give to clients hiring the venue.

Contact the Event Team at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to register the details of your business and to be included in the directory.

Businesses in Hackney are being offered the opportunity to join a new network that can offer them targeted support and advice.
The Hackney Enterprise Network (HEN) is run by HBV Enterprise on behalf of Hackney Council and is designed to help local entrepreneurs to make new contacts, enter new markets and to grow and fund their businesses.

To find out more about HEN and to register go to the HBV website :
www.hbv.org.uk

With HEN, you will benefit from:

Networking events giving you access to new business opportunities
Valuable Business Skills Workshops
Insightful guidance by our experienced business advisors in order to help improve your competitiveness
Help with finding and entering New Markets
Advice for recession hit businesses and ways to turn around your business
Information on available government support for enterprise
Exploring private and public sector procurement opportunities
Our expertise in gaining access to finance including their own loan fund
Opportunities to apply for business development grants

To access the e-newsletter, click here

www.invest-in-hackney.org/Newsletter.pdf

The London Borough of Hackney has adopted masterplans for the area’s two major town centres.
The plans for Hackney Central and Dalston are designed to improve and guide growth and investment over the next 15 years.

The plans see Dalston as a strong cultural, creative and community hub, while Hackney Central is identified as the borough’s key civic hub with an improved and expanded retail and cultural offer.

Both masterplans include plans to improve routes in and around the town centres and to promote and support walking and cycling.

Cllr Guy Nicholson, Hackney Council cabinet member for Regeneration and the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, said: “The masterplans are designed to provide a 15 year direction for our growing town centres that are becoming more popular and more successful.

“They aim to ensure Hackney Central and Dalston remain exciting, vibrant and creative places, attracting residents and visitors alike to enjoy Hackney’s diverse and eclectic offer.

“Our aspiration is to use the investment that comes with this growth to turn our two town centres into central London’s first low carbon town centres for the next generation.”

Article by Michael Donnelly, first published in PlanningResource, 18 January 2010

0% business loans for equipment upgrades
Borrow £3,000 to £500,000 at 0% interest

Is your old equipment making your business uncompetitive? Or is it simply costing a fortune in energy bills? The Carbon Trust is offering interest free loans give you the opportunity to modernise your business and reduce overheads.

Carbon Trust business loans are unsecured and interest free, with no arrangement fees and a straightforward application process. Loans can be repaid over a period of up to four years and as the scheme is designed for energy savings to cover repayments, the loan will effectively pay for itself.

To find out which projects qualify and if your business is eligible to apply go to the Carbon Trust website: www.carbontrust.co.uk/loans

See below for the latest listing of CompeteFor Opportunities.
Carillion PLC - the developers of the International Broadcast Centre in the Olympic Park - are looking for contractors to supply flooring, carpentry and painting services, and Go Commando Personal trainers are looking for a web guru among a host of other opportunities.
Log in to CompeteFor to get full details.

The London Development Agency (LDA), KPMG and Lloyds TSB are hosting a series of three free business strategy seminars for small and medium sized businesses called ‘Surviving the Downturn’.

These seminars have been specifically put together to help equip businesses with practical strategies for coming out of the recession and focusing on future growth. Each event will provide an opportunity to ask questions and network.
The events will be:
  * 26 January 2010 – Finance for survival and growth – this will cover topics such as invoice discounting, credit checks, cashflow and modelling/forecasting techniques.
  * 10 February 2010 – Managing the growth agenda – this will include accessing new markets, export issues, strategic planning, financial planning and employee incentives.
  * 11 March 2010 – Family First – this will concentrate on issues key to family run and family owned businesses such as succession plans, tax efficiency and talent management.

In addition, at each seminar Lloyds TSB will discuss how SMEs can access finance.

For full details and to register go to the LDA website at www.lda.gov.uk

Places are limited and are available on “a first come first served” basis.
26 Jan 2010 to 11 Mar 2010
Venue: KPMG, 8 Salisbury Square, London EC4Y 8BB
Time(s): Registration 17:30 for 18:00 start
Places are currently available, but will be allocated on a first come forst served basis.

A new lease of life is being planned for the historic Bishopsgate Goods Yard which has been dormant for 40 years.

The Mayor of London and Hackney and Tower Hamlets Councils have approved new planning guidance that will shape the future of the 4.7 hectare site in Shoreditch which straddles the borough boundaries.
The planning guidance lays out the vision for the site’s future regeneration, which could provide up to 2,000 new homes, including family and affordable housing, along with a health centre, community facilities and employment space.
An exciting feature of proposed development will be the creation of a high-level public park above the Braithwaite Viaduct, with links to existing green spaces such as Allen Gardens – to create a Shoreditch version of the famous New York High Line park. These plans will see up to 1.7 hectares of open space created for the local community.
Tower Hamlets Council Lead Member for Housing and Development, Cllr Marc Francis, said:“We particularly want to make sure any development integrates the Grade II listed Braithwaite viaduct and former entrance gates in a creative way.
“After sitting there unused for 40 years, it really is time to see this site brought back to life. The new Shoreditch high Street station will open on the East London Line extension next summer and it’s the perfect catalyst for the site’s regeneration.”
The planning guidance was amended after a ten week period of extensive community and stakeholder consultation which took place during March to May 2009. The draft was approved as interim planning guidance by Tower Hamlets’ cabinet on 2 December and Hackney’s cabinet on 23 November 2009. Deputy Mayor of London Sir Simon Milton endorsed the guidance on 9 December.
The local authorities and the GLA

< have worked closely with the future developers Ballymore Group and Hammerson Plc and with urban designers Terry Farrell and Partners to produce the planning guidance.
Tower Hamlets and Hackney Councils will now work with Transport for London to implement public realm improvements to provide an attractive setting for the new station. We will also consider temporary uses for the Braithwaite arches, such as shops, leisure facilities and cultural uses, to generate activity at the site before comprehensive redevelopment takes place.

A version of this article appears on www.newstartmag.co.uk

Another collection of varied opportunities posted on CompeteFor this week.
The latest batch includes an opportunity to supply Roller Advertising Banners to Carmel Coaches and 3663 is seeking a major supplier of Catering Consumables. Westminster City Council requires a contractor to Refurbish communal Heating and Ventilations Systems on the Lisson Green Estate; BAM Nuttall requires a supplier of Hydro and Grass Seeding and the Adidas group has an opportunity for the Screen Printing of T Shirts at a rate of 10,000 a day.
Download the document below to see the full listing.
Log on to the CompeteFor website to access these opportunities and many more.

Over 41million people in the UK are online. Over 70% of them have bought something online. Are you harnessing the power of the web to turn them into your customers? To help you on your way, the British Library Business & IP Centre have put together a month of special workshops and events: ‘Web in Feb’

What can you learn in ‘Web in Feb’?

  1. Navigate the world of social media and make it work for you
  2. Get your site noticed by Google and increase your traffic
  3. Write a blog, record a podcast, set up a website
  4. Avoid the legal pitfalls of doing business online
  5. Translate the jargon and gain the confidence to use the web effectively.

To get full details of all of the courses on offer during “Web in Feb” go to the British Library website at www.bl.uk/bipc

From the Standard 11 Jan 2010:
Tourism chiefs say London has made almost £40million from an increase in sports and business events in the run-up to 2012.

Improvements to transport and accommodation linked to the Games have resulted in a surge of bookings, said Visit London.

The group has calculated the value in hotel takings and visitor spending of bookings they say are related to being a host city. These include Sport Accord 2011, the world’s largest sports congress, set to bring in £2.4million and the 52-nation World Skills Competition in 2011 to promote vocational training, expected to generate £29 million.

Organisers of trade conferences have also told Visit London they chose the capital because it was gearing up for an Olympics.

Many business opportunities have been posted on Compete For in the last two weeks:
Can you supply after-dinner speakers? Or perhaps your business can provide a cameraman and TV team or event props? Do you provide design and print services? Can you supply PPE equipment, or cycle racks? These are just a few of the opportunities that are available this week.
Download the document below to see the full listing.
Go to the CompeteFor website to get more information on the available opportunities.