o Key updates from Partners
Minutes:
It was noted that the LBB Adult Education Service was waiting for an Ofsted Inspection.
It was reported that the banking sector remained busy and there was a constant anticipation of a reduction in interest rates. Handelsbanken Bank was active in endeavouring to bring business into Bromley, but it was felt that this process needed to be made easier. Current planning regulations were sometimes restrictive.
Russell Clarke (Sundridge Investments) stated that the residential property market was slow and seemed to be waiting for improvements in the economic outlook. Similarly, in the commercial property sector, people seemed to be ‘sitting on their hands’, although it was the case that most offices were being let. It was reported that the Glades had some empty units as did Blue Water and that certain types of retail businesses were struggling.
Mike Lewis (Michael Rogers LLP), stated that the office market was now more active. The two remaining large floors in the Threadneedle Building were now under offer and matters with respect to Northside House were progressing. The Bank of America building was being re-furbished.
Lee Thomas (Fairlight Group) informed partners that a Section 106 agreement had been obtained with respect to 43,000 square feet of office space in Elmfield Road. He had also let out 3,300 square feet of good quality self-contained office space. He said there appeared to be a return of commercial activity to the market. In his view, the quality of the stock in Bromley was two cycles behind. He commented on a recent visit that he had made to the London Borough of Croydon, and commented that Croydon was doing things that Bromley should be doing, such as trying to encourage large scale inward investment. Bromley needed to encourage more footfall and more money into the borough and needed to provide buildings that were of suitable quality.
Zoe Carr (Penge Bid) updated partners concerning Oakfield Road in Penge and the Oakfield Road Estate. She informed partners that many of the properties there were owned by Legal & General and it appeared that some redevelopment work was planned, not only for residential properties but also possibly for office space. A dementia event had been held on the 17th of May at which 10 organisations attended. It was hoped that in the future, similar events could be held in Bromley and Orpington. Much positive feedback had been received concerning this event. Partners were informed that the Penge Festival would take place in September.
Frances Forrest (Your Bromley) drew attention to the primary school planters in Market Square and said that Goldsmith’s were providing mentoring to small businesses. The ‘Make Music Day’ was planned for 21st June. There was also an update regarding the London Festival of Architecture and the return of ‘Midsummer Movies’ between 15th and 17th August.
Chris Travers (Orpington 1st Bid) stated that building occupancy in Orpington was strong, although there had been a fall in footfall recently due to some infrastructure works that had been taking place. However, there had been an increase in footfall reported during the Orpington Motor Show. He said that he was looking forward to the Priory Open Day which would be a chance to understand both the heritage of the town and the need for change. It was noted that there had been a donation of trees from an Orpington Company. Twelve had been taken, including some attractive looking Bay Trees.
Chandra Sharma (Elmcroft Business) updated the Partnership and said that the Small Business Manifesto had now been launched. A networking event had been held on the 16th of July at Bromley Old Town Hall. An event had also been held on the same day with ‘Clockwise’ for their tenants. ‘Startup Bromley’ was doing well and now had 638 members, with 37 new aspiring entrepreneurs.
This week was ‘Start Up Business Week’ and leaflets were available if anyone was interested. Various events had been planned, including an event where new businesses could get help with drafting a business plan; 53 businesses had signed up for this. There was news about a local businessman who had struck a deal with 500 Tesco stores to get his product on the shelves. Another entrepreneur supplying pre-washed jeans had been looking for office space and a site had recently been found. Referrals were coming in from the Department for Work and Pensions with respect to people looking to set up in business. Help was being offered in the form of one to ones, every quarter workshops were being held, and webinars were being run as well.
Katy Woolcott (Biggin Hill Airport) informed partners that the economic footprint study had been concluded. This aimed to assess the future aims and aspirations of tenants. A deep dive was undertaken with respect to the 10 largest tenants in terms of employees. This revealed that the wider outer London Strategic Development Centre supported 1750 jobs, which was an increase of 80% since 2012. It was estimated that the indirect or induced effect of this meant that 1890 jobs were supported in Bromley and that nationally this could extend to 2692. It was further estimated that this was a contribution of £200m to the UK economy, with 72% of this captured in Bromley. There was also an update regarding increased air traffic movements and the positive effect that this had on the economy. The Chairman noted that many of the jobs being created by Biggin Hill Airport were evolving from diversification which was good to see.
The Partnership was informed that the Churchill Theatre was doing well in terms of footfall. There were some big productions on the way, including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Six the Musical and Only Fools and Horses the Musical. With respect to the pantomime, which was going to be Snow White, the theatre was currently 2000 ticket sales ahead of the same time last year; this was helped in part by the fact that Gareth Gates and Dr RanJ would be performing.
Liz Lake from London South East Education Group attended the meeting in place of Sam Parrett. She informed partners that a new programme had been launched in conjunction with the DWP for green skills. It had been identified that it was hard to fill teaching assistant roles and so plans were in place to try and address this. Work was being undertaken with employers to develop and maintain the sustainability agenda. An EPI Skills Exchange programme was being developed and employers were encouraged to get involved. A new STEM building was being developed which would upskill students in carpentry, plumbing, building and electrical skills. The ‘Laser Foundation’ had been launched which was a charity that aimed to encourage aspiration.
The update from My Time informed partners that de-mobilisation was taking place at the West Wickham Centre in readiness for given it back to the Council for re-development. Similarly, a transition programme was being developed for the Walnuts site, as this was also going to be re-developed. Two ‘changing places’ changing rooms for disabled people and people with complex needs were being installed at the Pavilion and the Biggin Hill swimming pool. A £19,000 grant had been received from the Marathon Foundation that would enable the provision of specialist wheelchairs at the Beckenham Spa to enable disabled people to go swimming. Finally, the One Bromley Wellbeing Hub had just opened in the Glades and was designed to be a one-stop shop for well-being advice.
Steve (Ronin Marketing) provided an update regarding his website and marketing company. The business had experienced a mixture of challenges and good fortune. Most of the work they were currently undertaking was for branding and website marketing. Most of this work was coming from outside of the borough, but all in all a much better picture than previously.
Gary from Cray Wanderers provided an update and said that now Cray Wanderers had the best 3G pitch in the country and had a large football hub with 44 youth teams playing matches there. It was noted that Sheffield FC were coming to play Craig Wanderers and that Millwall, Palace and Spurs would all be playing pre-season matches there. Mention was also made of Bromley FC’s massive achievement in being promoted to the Football League and the fact that this would bring much income into the borough. Bromley FC now had to develop a stand and had recently spent £1,000,000 on a new grass pitch.
RESOLVED that the update from Partners be noted.