On this occasion, please could partners notify the clerk by emailing joanne.partridge@bromley.gov.uk if you wish to speak about something relevant to the group or a joint working opportunity.
Please note that any updates should be no longer than two minutes.
Minutes:
Members of the Partnership had undertaken a range of activities since the last meeting.
Zoe Griffiths – Your Bromley BID Company, advised that the ballot for their second 5-year term would commence from Friday, closing on the 25th February 2021. A majority of the votes was required, of which they were hopeful. However the key concern was that turnout would be lower than expected due to lockdown, which had also impacted on their engagement with businesses. If successful, it would attract a further £2.8m to support Bromley businesses over the next five years.
Zoe Carr – Beckenham Together BID Company and Penge SE20 BID Company, informed Members that the team had been undertaking work in relation to the business grant schemes, as well as the draft Economic Development plan. They were currently trying to establish which businesses had, and had not, claimed the grants they were entitled to, and feeding back on the criteria. It was highlighted that a number of business owners were too proud to claim, and had instead taken out loans, which was concerning. The ‘Street Ranger’ in Penge was going round the town centre, trying to talk with the businesses that were still open – those that were closed were being contacted by telephone and email. Ms Carr had been approached by a number of businesses that also had mobile elements, such as pizza vans or bakery deliveries, and were finding that they were “stuck between” hospitality and business rates which was something that needed to be looked into further. The team were planning for events in the summer months, and further ahead to the Christmas period.
Steve Lipscombe – Ronin Marketing, noted that as a marketing and design company, their experience during the pandemic was that they had needed to think of different ideas for marketing. From a creative point of view, it was difficult to work remotely, and the team was missing the benefits of being in a room all together. Overall, the business was doing reasonably well, and customers were “holding up”.
Sharon Baldwin – Orpington 1st BID Company, said that their main focus currently was agility and sustainability. They had been required to respond in an agile manner to deliver different types of services, and provide support to businesses in different ways. The team was excited about the opportunity to transform Orpington into an innovative, creative and sustainable town centre. There was a huge amount of development about to take place, and they would consider the needs of all stakeholders, and look at social, economic and environmental sustainability. They were working with businesses to use this quieter period to look at their environments, ensuring that when the town centre reopened, it was somewhere that people wanted to visit.
Russell Clarke – Sundridge Investments, said that little had been happening since the meeting in November 2020. It was felt that there was a deeper feeling of discomfort regarding the economy during the current period of lockdown. There was money out there, but most industries were not conducting a lot of business. Generally, tenants, both business and residential, were paying their rents, with the exception of pubs and restaurants. As highlighted earlier in the meeting, delays were occurring due to issues relating to planning, and it was taking much longer to get a response and decisions. An application had been submitted with a deadline for decision of eight weeks – yet after five months an outcome was still awaited.
Neil Coates – London South East Colleges (LSEC), advised Members that they were looking to secure more funding for businesses, and to provide a series of online training provisions to support staff on furlough, having a particular focus around mental health. The previous day, LSEC had launched a Bromley Youth Hub in partnership with the DWP – this focussed on supporting 16-18 years olds’ who had been made unemployed, referring them into training, apprenticeships or, hopefully, work. Work was also continuing with the South East London Chamber of Commerce to submit an application for businesses to be supported by the Kick-Start scheme.
Lesley Holland – Bromley Education Business Partnership, informed members that as part of the Local Authority’s youth services, they had also submitted a bid to the DWP to develop youth hubs across the Borough. These would focus on working with 18-24 year olds’ who were claiming universal credit, and helping them into employment. They hoped to hear the outcome of the bid in a couple of weeks, with the intention to start the scheme in March 2021. It was noted that half of the team had been redeployed to the Council’s COVID response team.
Marg Mayne – Mytime Active advised that this period of lockdown had been extremely challenging. Leisure facilities and services were currently closed, and staff had been furloughed. Discussions were taking place with the Local Authority with regards to what support they could offer, particularly for restarting services and having the leisure centres available to help people get fit and healthy as the country came out of lockdown. To help aid people’s wellbeing, virtual online exercise classes had launched in December 2020, and had now been made available free of charge. These were highly recommended, and could be accessed via www.mytimeactive.co.uk/app.
Lee Thomas – Fairlight Group noted that during the most recent lockdown, they had seen people trying to return to work. There had been a new flow of customers on the co-working side of the business, a number of whom felt they could not continue to work from home. They had taken advantage of the quiet period to invest in upgrading the facilities. With regards to flexible workspace, around 50% of people were in the buildings – they were charging a day rate of £8-9 for anyone wanting a day working away from home.
Lawrence Wilson – Business Doctors, informed members that they were doing their best to support local businesses during these challenging times. Workshops had been provided, free of charge, with a focus around business planning. They had tried to make them as interactive as possible, and provide businesses with the opportunity to suggest ideas, share success stories and learn from each other. The next event was scheduled for 17th February 2021, and could be accessed via the following link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/business-resilience-and-bounce-back-workshop-tickets-138442951595.
Helen McIntosh – South East London Chamber of Commerce (SELCC) noted that the Chamber had been extremely busy since the last meeting, with the government changes to the Kick-Start causing additional work. For many years, the Chamber had been affiliated to the London Chamber of Commerce, who were keen for there to be a Chamber in each borough, and as a result, the SELCC would also be working closely with Croydon. The latest copy of their business magazine, Masthead, had been published which included an interesting article on green screen technology. It was noted that a ‘Virtual Breakfast Meeting’ with Gareth Bacon MP would be held on 11th February 2021.
Gary Hillman – N. Hillman & Sons / Cray Wanderers FC, advised members that in relation to The Royal Bell Hotel, scaffolding had been up whilst they restored the front façade, and would start to be removed the following day. Internal restorations had also been continuing. They had been communicating and negotiating with some leading hotel brands – however most preferred working with locations having at least 75 rooms, and The Royal Bell would have between 50-58 rooms. The hotels brands also had different requirements in terms of the hospitality, food and beverage offer, and due to these sectors currently being closed down, further work relating to this had been paused. It was noted that hospitality companies in central London were looking at areas like Bromley, as following the pandemic, hospitality locations were expected to spread further out into the suburbs. A ‘Stopping Up Order’ was currently awaited relating to a piece of land that had been purchased at the rear of The Royal Bell. Conversations had also been held with Bromley Civic Society with regards to having an exhibition at the front of the building, once the scaffolding was removed.
With regards to Cray Wanderers FC, the first team had been doing really well, and they now had 22 youth teams established. Prior to lockdown the first team had been heading towards promotion, however as a result of the pandemic the season had been declared ‘null and void’. It was noted that the Section 106 restrictions regarding the number of units allowed were becoming a “hurdle” for the Flamingo Park development, and discussions with the Local Authority were continuing. Once up and running again, everything was looking positive from a Cray Wanderers point of view, and they were looking to take the lease for Hoblingwell Wood Recreation Ground to increase the number of youth teams even further.
Emma Santer – Bromley FC, informed members that she had recently been appointed Commercial Manager at the Club. She had a number of years’ experience on the commercial side of various sports, and was looking forward to taking the commercial and events work “up a level” and bring in further revenue. Due to the pandemic, this was currently difficult, so lots of planning, and work with the Directors, was being undertaken. Bromley FC’s first team were playing that evening, and the match could be viewed via a livestream.
Chris Glover – Churchill Theatre, advised that the Theatre had been closed since March 2020, and a date for reopening was awaited from the government the following month. A full season was planned from April 2021, yet realistically it was expected to start later than this.
Chandra Sharma attended the meeting representing the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). Members were advised that the FSB London Small Business Index had just been released, which measured confidence amongst businesses. This had fallen during Quarter 2, from -26 to -61, and uncertainty in confidence was highlighted across the country, with index scores being negative in all areas. However, London’s small businesses had recorded their highest levels of confidence for the next three months, compared to other regions in England, and was above the national average of -33. More could be read via the following link: https://firstvoice.fsb.org.uk/first-voice/regional-voice/fsb-london-publishes-the-findings-of-its-latest-small-business-index-study.html
Local networking events had been continuing virtually during the pandemic, with 20 events taking place across London. In Bromley, two events took place each month – the last one had been attended by the LBB Assistant Director for Governance and Contracts, and they were looking to arrange a further session focussing on ‘Contracts and Tenders’.
Members were reminded that the FSB was an official Gateway to the Kick-Start Scheme for the employment of 16-24 year olds’, which was fully funded by the government: https://www.fsb.org.uk/campaign/kickstart-scheme.html
The FSB had partnered with The Good Business Foundation to adapt the Good Business Charter accreditation and make it accessible for small businesses with less than 50 employees. This streamlined version of the GBC allowed smaller firms to stand out from the crowd, and lead the way on a range of important issues, from ethical employment practices to prompt payments.
The FSB Transition Hub was designed to support small businesses and the self-employed to understand and prepare for what comes after the end of the UK/EU transition: https://www.fsb.org.uk/campaign/uktransition.html
On 28th January 2021, by demand, the FSB had organised a national webinar entitled ‘UK has left the EU’. On the panel of experts to answer questions was the newly appointed Secretary of State for Business, Kwasi Kwarteng MP, Professor Anand Menon (UK in a Changing Europe), Alex Doisneau (Managing Director, Dnata UK), Joe Mayes (UK Government Reporter, Bloomberg News) and James Sibley (FSB Head of International Affairs). Hosted by Rosemary French OBE: https://www.fsb.org.uk/event-calendar/the-uk-has-left-the-eu-uk-transition-and-business-webinar-28-jan.html
Work was also continuing in relation to the updating of the FSB manifesto for the 2021 London Mayoral elections. FSB London members, via their policy work and events, were being asked to contribute to their manifesto refresh. Key policy areas included: Infrastructure, Environment, Crimes Against Business, Health and Wellbeing, Diversity and Inclusion (BAME; LGBTQ+; Women in Business), Cost of doing business and Skills.
Some of the FSB members were also working with the Rotary Clubs in the Borough to deliver workshops, free of charge, to people who had been made redundant.
Further information was provided following the meeting:
- Brand new FSB London LGBTQ+ event launching on 28th January 2021: https://www.fsb.org.uk/event-calendar/london-fsb-lgbtq-280121.html
- Wellbeing events for small businesses taking place monthly.
- FSB London was contributing to a FSB national webinar on Cybercrime and awareness in March.
- FSB London continued to support many small businesses with their issues and concerns and one campaign that was launched, and continued to run, to provide support is #LondonLandlordsListen: https://firstvoice.fsb.org.uk/first-voice/regional-voice/fsb-campaign-to-get-landlords-to-support-tenants.html
- Many ‘essential’ businesses in high street locations were expressing concern and were very worried about their ability to continue without financial support, e.g.: dry cleaners.
- FSB London continued to ask its members to sign up with the Local Authority to receive the latest business grants news.
- The FSB had social media channels and Members could also keep in touch with press releases via: https://www.fsb.org.uk/resource-library.html?contentTypes=press-releases
- FSB Covid-19 Hub: https://www.fsb.org.uk/campaign/covid19.html
Christopher Evans – Community Links Bromley informed Members that they had been working on the volunteer mobilisation to support the roll out of the COVID-19 vaccination, with further opportunities still available. Support was also being provided more generally to the sector to help secure additional funding, and they had submitted a bid to the lottery for delegated authority to distribute funding to the sector. They would be opening a grants round with the Local Authority to promote the COVID Respite Fund, with awards of up to £5k for organisations working with residents affected by the closure of day centres in the Borough.
In relation to the ‘Kick-Start’ programme, Community Links Bromley had been approached by a number of voluntary and community organisations who were willing to host a young person as part of the scheme. London Sport also had some funding available for programmes related to social isolation and loneliness, particularly focussed on young people – a seminar relating to this would be held on Friday, with the fund officially launching on 1st February 2021. Consultation work was also being undertaken with regards to future investment in Mottingham, as part of the ‘Big Local’ scheme.
John Coupland – South East London Business Network (SELBN) informed
Members that the network did not charge any membership or joining fees, and believed in producing value as best they could. They had experienced a great amount of growth with regards to their Linkedin group, which was approaching 4,000 members regionally. Messages had been received from new members to say that it was refreshing not to be receiving spam, which had put them in a good position going into the third period of lockdown. Mr Coupland advised that through his encouragement, he was finding that people were giving value by providing their reasons for blogging or share a video. Events could be shared, but it was highlighted that they did not welcome spam, which it was noted increased when times were hard. The SELBN had been hit by the pandemic, as they had been unable to attract sponsors for offline events, but he had been working hard to ensure they still delivered.
Mr Mike Humphreys, Handelsbanken also provided a written update following
the meeting:
2020 was a challenging year for everyone, but I am pleased to advise as I reported at the last meeting, that Handelsbanken remained open for business throughout, and continues to do so, with staff rotating between office working and working from home.
Handelsbanken is different to the main UK banks in that we continue to provide "old style relationship banking", following our ethos of "Local Relationship Banking", meaning we are geographically closely located to all our customers i.e. from our Bromley office we only look after customers who live or have their businesses located in a BR postcode or SE6. This meant last year despite restrictions we could continue to directly support our customers, both business and personal, with the direct challenges they faced. I am pleased to advise that currently we still have no customers in Bromley in "difficulty".
As a result, as a Bank, we remain very much "open for business", and are happy to consider opening accounts, and provide loans - both personal and business - to potential customers who meet our Bank criteria. So looking forward to 2021, an easing of Lockdown restrictions and continuing our support to both customers and the community.
RESOLVED that the updates be noted.