Have your say in CBI’s London Business Survey

The CBI has partnered with CBRE to launch the London Business Survey.

This survey provides an up-to-the-minute barometer of London business sentiment and asks topical questions on priorities for the London Mayor and issues such as housing and wider infrastructure. The survey findings are crucial in helping to shape conversations with the Mayor, central government and key London stakeholders and to better understand the key issues for business in the capital.

At a pivotal time for London, and with the Brexit negotiations on-going, it is important to survey business sentiment and we encourage all our Love Wimbledon BID businesses to take part.

Read more about the London Business Survey.

SW Trains and Wimbledon businesses raise money for stem4

During The Tennis Championships, SW Trains held a raffle for staff working in the local area, with prizes generously donated by Wimbledon businesses.

SW Trains staff often see people living with the challenges of mental illnesses drawn towards Wimbledon station and were looking to make the difference by supporting a local charity. Wimbledon-based charity, stem4 was selected for their work in improving teenage mental health by stemming commonly occurring mental health issues at an early stage.

Numerous Wimbledon businesses generously donated a host of fantastic prizes for the raffle, including:

The All England Club also donated a polo shirt and cap.

 

Waterloo services update: 5-28 August

There will be some short-term disruption to Wimbledon services between 5 – 28 August 2017 while work to extend platforms at London Waterloo is underway.

The planned Waterloo works will allow longer trains with more seats and more space for passengers. Revised timetables for this period are available now.

Please visit National Rail to plan your journey or visit Train Service Information to view and download your timetable, and download the updated passenger leaflet, a guide to travel during the Waterloo & South West Upgrade.

There will also be works on a number of weekends throughout 2017 which will also reduce the number of trains in service. If travelling during weekends, please check planned engineering works.

During August, the impact on your journey will vary depending on when and where you travel but as fewer trains will be running your journey might be changed in the following ways, even if you are not travelling into London:

  • The majority of stations will have fewer train services
  • Services and stations will be busier than usual, especially in the morning and evening peaks on weekdays
  • Some journeys are likely to take longer
  • There will be queuing systems outside some stations
  • A small number of stations will be closed
  • Other operators’ services will also be busier while passengers take alternative routes, including London Underground

Please plan ahead by checking all the stations you typically use: your home and work locations. For more details please visit South West Trains.

Consultation on the potential closure of Wimbledon Police Station

The Mayor of London recently announced a consultation potentially resulting in the closure and subsequent sale of Wimbledon Police Station. We would encourage you to respond to this consultation.

You can learn more about the Mayor’s proposals by reading the draft strategy and reviewing the impact assessment, which investigates how the draft strategy affects different groups of Londoners.

The consultation will close on 6 October 2017.

Broadway Place Waste Collection: Case Study by Town Ranger, Tom Ruffell

One of Love Wimbledon’s aims is to make sure the town centre is kept clean, vibrant and attractive. In order to achieve this we work with third parties and various waste contractors to ensure BID businesses are getting the best possible service.

On my regular patrol of the town centre, I had seen that there were some considerable issues with the waste collections for PC World, O2, HMV, HMV Curzon, JD Sports, Maplin and Doddle; the businesses confirmed this. This area is known as Broadway Place.

Broadway Place – before

We liaised with all of the businesses and contacted the property management company directly to find a solution. After recommending and introducing First Mile they are now in place as the contracted waste company for Broadway Place.

Nik, Store Manager from PC World couldn’t be more delighted with how things have been sorted out and quick:

“Love Wimbledon want to do what is best for the businesses. They represent us and we couldn’t be happier with how much cleaner and tidier the area behind our shop is as a result. They lobbied for it to happen, and we noticed the results straight away!”

Broadway Place – after

 

The Management Surveyor at Workman said,

“Since taking on the management of Wimbledon Broadway in mid-February of this year I came to find that there were a number of issues with the waste from tenants on site. It seemed as though no recycling was taking place and the service yard itself was always full of litter. Kevin from Love Wimbledon was forthcoming to get the site cleaned up and recommended the services of First Mile who would be able to collect the waste more frequently and provide recycling.

“With the help of Tom from Love Wimbledon the tenants have been taught to organise their waste and recycle more effectively. The excellent customer service from First Mile has been greatly received to ensure things on site are going as they should be. With the cooperation between Love Wimbledon, First Mile, Workman LLP and all the tenants, we have managed to clear up the site and have a better environmental impact on waste disposal.”

First Mile, an award winning waste contractor, provides an excellent recycling service available to all Love Wimbledon BID businesses at a reduced rate including an allocation of free recycling too.

The Account Manager at First Mile commented:

“By moving waste services to First Mile, we have been able to save these businesses on The Broadway around 22% on what they were paying with the previous supplier and based on their bin setup, the recycling rate is going to be something in the region of 65-70%.”

There are now regular collections in place and a better service, the area is kept clean and tidy and Love Wimbledon will continue to work with the businesses, property management company and First Mile to ensure that the level of service is kept to the highest standard to provide free recycling allocation and a reduced cost on waste collection for all BID members.

If you would like to find out more about how Love Wimbledon can help you and your business save money, reduce hassle and benefit from the unique business opportunities we offer, please get in touch by calling 020 8619 2012 or emailing info@lovewimbledon.org


About Tom

Tom Ruffell is Love Wimbledon’s Town Ranger, patrolling our streets daily and reporting on any issues in order to keep Wimbledon Town Centre clean, attractive and safe. He liaises with local businesses on a day to day basis promoting Love Wimbledon’s services and making sure the businesses are looked after. He says:

“I pride myself in building relationships with the businesses so that they can speak to me about any topics that are affecting them.”

You can contact Tom directly by emailing tomr@lovewimbledon.org

New polymer £10 note enters circulation on 14 September

The new £10 polymer banknote will come into circulation on Thursday 14 September.

The Bank of England unveiled the new note, which features Jane Austen, on 18 July, the 200th anniversary of her death. Like the polymer £5 note already in circulation, the new £10 note incorporates enhanced security features.

For more details, including useful information for retailers, please visit www.thenewten.co.uk

Old £10 notes will come out of circulation in spring 2018.

Prudential RideLondon Directory now open

The Prudential RideLondon Business Directory is now open, offering local businesses a FREE opportunity to advertise.

The directory is a great way to connect with customers and communicate when and where they can access your shop or businesses during the festival of cycling which visits Wimbledon Town Centre on Sunday 30 July. All you have to do is register your business to be included in the 2017 directory.

The directory aims to support businesses by incentivising customers to visit your business on alternative days before, after or even during the festival event weekend. The directory will be online during the lead up to the event and for six weeks after the Prudential RideLondon festival weekend, until 10 September 2017.

Get involved in the celebration of cycling at Love Wimbledon’s annual RideLondon Street Party. New this year we’ll have the amazing Rollapaluza, a cycle sport like no other, plus spin bike activities from Virgin Active!

Please check details of road closures around this event and ensure your staff are informed as their journeys into work may be affected. You may also need to make alternative arrangements for deliveries and waste collections on that day. Access to/from the A3 in Merton will not be possible via Tibbet’s Corner and Coombe Lane flyover, and there will be no parking permitted on the route from 1am to 11pm on Sunday 30 July. Normal restrictions will apply in surrounding roads.

Update on Crossrail 2

Despite recent political turmoil, all has been unnervingly quiet on the Crossrail 2 front for the last few months, in fact there was a distinct absence of any reference in February’s Industrial Strategy Green paper, then in March over 70 business leaders (including Love Wimbledon BID) from across the country, wrote an open letter urging the government to make a decision. There was then no reference to Crossrail 2 in the Conservative manifesto or the recent Queen’s Speech.

However, just this week there has been some traction. Firstly we learn that Liz Truss has been asked to lead on Infrastructure projects with specific reference to Crossrail 2 and then Chris Grayling (Transport Secretary) responded to a question in the House of Commons about the Conservative Government’s support for Crossrail 2 “I want this to work – we’ll do everything we can to make it work.”

The revised business case is still being considered by Department of Transport and we will certainly keep you informed as soon as there are signs of any further development. What we do know is that there will be another round of consultation and we will continue to lobby for the businesses of Wimbledon to be well represented in that consultation. Watch this space….

 

Congratulations to all BID finalists in the Merton Best Business Awards

Congratulations to all our amazing BID businesses making it through to the final shortlist of nominees for this year’s Merton Best Business Awards.

The judges were absolutely delighted with the calibre of entries and the competition was certainly tough. It is a huge achievement to become a finalist and are looking forward to announcing the winners at the Gala Dinner on Thursday 27 September at Epsom Downs Racecourse. Tickets are now available at £80pp (max 7 per company) and must be booked by Friday 21 July, by calling Events & PR on 01908 542 720 or emailing laura@eventsandpr.co.uk

The full list of finalists is as follows:

Best Restaurant of the Year
Bar 191
Lu-Ma Cafe
Maison St Cassien
The White Onion

Best Pub of the Year
Hand in Hand
Prince of Wales
The Old Frizzle

Best Customer Service
Arthur House
Bakou
Holistic Fitness Studios
Polka Theatre
Quality Stitch
The Ballet Boutique
Willow Bough Tea Rooms

Apprentice of the Year
Finling
Jigsaw4u
Wow Your Crowd

Best Business in Wimbledon Town Centre
Eligo Recruitment Ltd
Fayre and Square
Gourmet Burger Kitchen
Holistic Fitness Studios
San Lorenzo
The Justin James Hotel

Best Business under 50 Employees
Art Division Ltd
GEM and Co Financial Services LLP
Openplay Ltd
Rainbow Productions Ltd
SPS Timber Windows
The Justin James Hotel
Thy English Academy Ltd

Best Enterprising Business
Business Clan Ltd
D Parry Pharmacy
GRASSify Artificial Grass
Harnham Group Ltd
RyGas
Tennison Property LLP

Best in the Creative Sector
3mil Ltd
Art Division
Attic Theatre Company (London) Ltd
Darling Magazine UK
FlashlightTV
Katja Nuutinen
Stagecoach Performing Arts Wimbledon
Wimbledon International Music Festival

Best New Business
360 Ripple
Bear and PineEazyCharge
Ensere Ltd
Stronger Fitness and Martial Arts
SW19 Design and Print
The Orchard Day Nursery
Wow Your Crowd

Best Service Excellence
Anderson Food Hygiene Limited
Kew House Care Home
Simmons Creperie Ltd
SPS Timber Windows
Taylored Room Solutions
Tennison Property LLP
Wimbledon Babysitting Agency
Woodside Dental

Entrepreneur of the Year
Anderson Food Hygiene Limited
Baachu Works Limited
Darling Magazine UK
GRASSify Artificial Grass
Jamie Lloyd Health and Fitness
Katja Nuutinen Couture
Make In 3D
Openplay Ltd

Employer of the Year
Arthur House
Harnham Group Ltd
Help for Carers

Team Development
Arthur House
Business Clan Ltd
Eligo Recruitment Ltd
Kew House Care Home

The Extra Mile
Dickie Wilkinson
Fitwise
Holistic Fitness Studios
Memory Gate Photography Ltd
Retail IT
Sai Restaurant
The Terrace Wimbledon Ltd

The Best Business Over 50 Employees
Elbrook Cash and Carry Ltd
Help for Carers

Healthy Workplace
MVSC
Peldon Rose Group Limited

Doddle returns to Wimbledon Town Centre

Doddle is back in Wimbledon, based on the third floor in Debenhams, Centre Court Shopping.

Doddle offers customers quick, convenient parcel collection with a personal touch, making a complicated process swift and simple.