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Home > Recession help

Council responds

The Cabinet meeting held on 24th March 2009, proposed recommendations for Cabinet Members to agree additional support to the business community in 2009/10.

Excerpts from Cabinet report:-

“Buy Local – Trade Local” Campaign

  • Both consumers and businesses, (particularly retail operators) would be encouraged, respectively, to shop locally, stock locally produced goods (where applicable) and establish local supply chains. This could also apply to services, as well as goods, such as laundry provision, printing and publishing, vehicle maintenance etc.
  • There would also be the added advantage of reducing journey trip rates and therefore cutting harmful CO2 emissions. We would need to devise a logo and ways of embedding the message in the public consciousness.

Measures, including short-life lets to artists and visual artworks to deal with `eyesore’ empty, shuttered and boarded up shops, particularly in Ilford Town Centre

  • Forecasters predict that up to 1 in 5 shops and offices in Britain’s town centres could close, during the recession due to cuts, mergers, consolidation, landlord repossessions and insolvency.
  • Whilst it is not in the Council’s gift, we can do something about the increasing prominent appearance of empty shop fronts secured against vandalism and graffiti with chipboard and security shutters, which create a poor impression of our high streets and deter shoppers and potential investors.
  • If we can get agreement from owners and their agents, we could open up some premises to short-life uses by artists and artisans or at least apply locally designed artwork or marketing material (including the Council’s own) to those premises which have closed down and boarded up.

Promoting Ilford (and our other town centres) to the retail, leisure and hospitality industry 

  • The Regeneration Unit has already earmarked funds to upgrade the functionality and improve the design of the websites of the various town centre partnerships and continues to promote Redbridge more generally through the distribution of “VISION” magazine and the inclusion of promotional material by New London Architecture at the Building Centre in London’s West End.
  • The investment strategy also encompasses membership of Gateway to London and exhibiting at the annual Thames Gateway Forum at ExCel.
  • What we need to do now is to target those retailers, leisure, hotel and entertainment operators that could potentially open branches in Redbridge, but have so far eluded us, particularly in Ilford, such as Starbucks, H&M, Primark, French Connection, GAP, All Bar One, Page 95 three star Hotel chains, Pizza Express, Gourmet Burger and Pret a Mange. (Wanstead, South Woodford and Gants Hill have tended to fare better).

Introducing a digital networking facility for small businesses, pioneered by University College of London and already piloted in several other London Boroughs

  • There are close to 6000 businesses known to operate in Redbridge and the majority of these are either solo practitioners or small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), which historically have had few, if any opportunities to network with each other, nor, in terms of membership, is this `silent majority’ represented by either the Chamber of Commerce or enterpriseREDBRIDGE.  
  • Accordingly, we are negotiating the UCL to adopt, what you might term a social networking site for local businesses, including access to the relevant, softward – “Meganexus”, licences and site maintenance.

Reinforcing as necessary, the advice and information and supplier/buyer brokerage available to SMEs through third party organisations

  • Independent advice and guidance to local businesses is currently available through East London Business Advice Centre (ELSBC), East London Business Place (ELBS) and Business Links.
  • We need to ensure that these agencies have the capacity to meet the increasing levels of demand on their services and that this is sustainable in the longer term.

In addition and separately funded, it is proposed that the authority establishes an apprenticeships scheme across the professional and other services that make up the Council

  • This is over and above the existing management graduate placement scheme, and will be jointly resourced and managed by Planning, Regeneration and HR.
  • The idea is to introduce an apprenticeship scheme for young people who want to take up a professional career in local government, in line with the Governments encouragement to major employers to adopt such a scheme.

A small part of the available funding will be needed to provide temporary support to help manage these new initiatives.

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