Hounslow Chamber webinars
All are free, run for 60 minutes and start at 10:00 am:


16 th  June - Trading with the UAE and the Gulf -
Dubai wants to buy your goods. Join us to make this happen and to learn how.


18 th June - Business Task Force -
We are pleased that Cllr. Steve Curran, Leader of Hounslow Council, is able to be with us.


If you have missed our webinars, you can watch them now:  https://hounslowchamber.org.uk/10015
A message from the leader of Hounslow Council, Cllr Steve Curran 
Last night, the Council’s Cabinet met to discuss a report on how the borough has been impacted by coronavirus; how the Council has responded in supporting residents – particularly the vulnerable – and businesses, while keeping vital frontline services going; and how local organisations, businesses and hundreds of volunteers had come together in the joint effort.
We all agreed the way the Council and its communities have pulled together has been truly inspiring. It’s been a real joint effort of so many individuals, organisations and businesses; we’ve really seen the best of the borough.
However, we also agreed that without a major programme of investment, reform and collaboration the looming economic impact could be catastrophic. It is projected that Hounslow will be the second hardest hit borough in London, with a 40 per cent drop in economic activity and tens of thousands of jobs at risk because of its close links to the aviation industry.
We need to bring the borough together, to galvanise communities, local organisations, businesses and partners to rise to the challenge. It will also take a regional effort, working alongside neighbouring boroughs, and we need the Government to provide us with the necessary financial measures, investment and policy freedom. It’s not about handouts, but we need the tools and partnership working to provide local solutions and capture opportunities to support and empower our communities.
The voice of our residents, businesses and community groups will be essential in this. We need to hear from as many people as possible, to find out what you need or how you can help, and we will be stepping up our efforts on engagement. I’ll be updating you with more on that shortly.
We’re setting up a new Hounslow Recovery Board to lead on supporting the borough. It will be underpinned by boards covering economy, community, environment, and health and wellbeing, on which will be representatives from partner organisations, community groups and businesses. Projects include a piece of work to understand the impact of coronavirus and lockdown on our BAME communities, and to explore how the Council can better support them through the growing economic impact.
There’s no doubt things will be tough, but I have so much faith in the people of Hounslow and believe we will make the best of it and be stronger for it.
You can read the Cabinet report here , and watch last night’s meeting here , which was streamed live.
Update from the Cabinet Office

  • As confirmed by the Business Secretary earlier this week, shops in England selling non-essential goods will be able to reopen from Monday 15 June. It is vital that establishments ensure they are meeting Covid Secure guidelines before they reopen. Full details of workplace guidance can be found here: https://bit.ly/CV19WorkingSafely.
  • From this weekend, single adult households - adults living alone or single parents with children under 18 - are allowed to form a “support bubble” with one other household. All those in a support bubble will be able to act as if they live in the same household - meaning they can spend time together inside each others’ homes and do not need to stay 2 metres apart. If any member of the support bubble develops symptoms, all members of the bubble will need to follow the normal advice on household isolation. Please do consider sharing the PM's tweet on this: https://bit.ly/SocialBubbleTweet.
  • Because the risk of transmission is lower outdoors; from Monday, outdoor attractions where people can stay in their cars, such as safari parks and drive-in cinemas will be allowed to open.
  • Finally, places of worship will open for individual prayer this weekend. 
BAME business support webinar

Minister Nadhim Zahawi - invites the BAME business community to a Minister's Question Time. Hosted by the Voice Newspaper, ACBN(African Caribbean Business Network) and WinTradeGlobal Talks, hear about available support to assist small businesses to bounce back post-Covid-19 and ask business critical questions.
 
The free webinar will take place today (Thursday 11th June) at 5pm. Please register here:  https://bit.ly/BizSupportWebinar .
Migration Advisory Committee seeks views on skills shortages
(courtesy of White Label)

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) is currently seeking evidence from business organisations and employers on what skills are currently in short supply across the UK labour market as part of a review of the shortage occupation lists. As a result of the coronavirus outbreak, alongside the main call for evidence, the MAC have created options for businesses to provide more limited evidence or to register that they would have responded in different circumstances. Find out more here.
 
Sending your forms to Companies House during the coronavirus outbreak
As an emergency response to coronavirus Companies House has developed a temporary online service to upload a number of completed forms and send them to Companies House digitally. Find out which documents you can upload here.
South Chiswick to become a low traffic neighbourhood 
As part of the Hounslow's Streetspace project , we have accelerated the implementation of the Liveable Neighbourhood programme to transform South Chiswick into a low traffic area and improving local public space.

The Government has called for residents to walk and cycle wherever possible to ease pressures on public transport and continue to support our climate emergency. 
We have already started to introduce a raft of measures to help make it easier for residents of the borough to walk or cycle and to socially distance. The Liveable Neighbourhood Programme allows prioritisation of public safety and greatly enhances the quality of life of residents, with more opportunities to make greener, safer and healthier choices to walk or cycle.

You can find out more about the work being undertaken to reduce traffic and increase opportunities to walk or cycle more in South Chiswick on our website.
We’re thankful for the hundreds of comments we’ve received on our borough wide consultation which we are using to help prioritise some of our work to develop trial changes– please keep them coming! 

We will be collecting all the comments made on the proposals during the next few months which we will review carefully before we decide whether to make any of the measures permanent or not.

The COVID-19 Transport Response – Hounslow’s Streetspace consultation is open until the 25 June and can be accessed  here
Good News:
Holiday Inn Brentford Lock is reopening their Starbucks from Monday 15 th June for takeaway only.
Hounslow Chamber of Commerce is the primary support, networking, and representation organisation in west London for SMEs.

We support the interests, the commercial aspirations and the investment for some 18,000 firms - from Chiswick to Feltham, Heathrow to Osterley and Brentford to Bedfont - the Chamber is the voice for all businesses located in the borough.