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

26 th May: Cyber Security
2 nd June: Health & Wellbeing
4 th June: Business Task Force
9 th June: Structuring for re-emergence
11 th June: Business Task Force
16 th June: Trading with the UAE
18 th June: Business Task Force

(More links to register will be added soon)

If you have missed our webinars, you can watch them now:  https://hounslowchamber.org.uk/10015
DAILY BUSINESS BRIEFING FROM GOVERNMENT'S COVID-19 PRESS CONFERENCE (courtesy of White Label)

The government has agreed a £1.6billion funding package for Transport for London (TfL) to protect key services, help people to stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic and support the capital’s gradual recovery from the crisis.

The government has agreed a £1.095bn grant and £505m loan with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, which runs until October 2020 and a London COVID-19 task force, comprising representatives of the government and TfL, has also been established to oversee operational decisions during the crisis. Under the agreement, the taskforce will be taking all practicable steps to increase the number of services as quickly as possible to ensure people can follow social distancing guidelines while on the TfL network, making sure those who have no alternative to public transport can travel safely.

To reduce the risk of crowding and discourage vulnerable people from using public transport at the busiest times, there will be a temporary suspension of Freedom Pass and 60+ card concessions to off peak hours.There will also be a temporary suspension of free travel for under-18s, with special arrangements made to ensure children eligible for free school travel continue to get it.

To safeguard services, bus fares and the congestion charge will return.The Mayor of London has also agreed to increase fares next year on all modes of transport by RPI plus 1%, in line with the proposals in TfL’s own business plan.

As part of the agreement, there will also be a focus on promoting traffic management and active travel to maximise the benefits of the government’s record £2bn investment in cycling and walking - including efforts to push forward new segregated cycles lines, pavement extension and road closures to traffic, making it easier for people to chooser greener ways to travel.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: "People should avoid using public transport and work from home wherever possible, but as measures are slowly lifted it is vital that Londoners who need to use TfL services feel safe and secure.

"We must drive an increase in services to support social distancing and ensure our capital keeps moving, driving the economic recovery of this country going forward.

"This deal will encourage a real move towards greener and healthier walking and cycling options, ease pressure on our public transport and provide certainty and stability for London’s transport services in the future."

The government will also carry out an immediate and broad-ranging review of the organisation’s future financial position and structure, including the potential for efficiencies
In line with Government plans to increase national rail services, we are working hard to return Tube and bus services to normal levels while many of our staff are themselves ill, shielding or self-isolating.

By next week we plan to increase service levels to around 85 per cent on the bus network, 75 per cent on the Tube and London Overground (in line with national rail services), 80 per cent on the DLR and a full service on TfL Rail.

However, given the national requirement to maintain 2 metres distance between passengers wherever possible, the capacity on all services will be hugely reduced. On the Tube, for example, capacity will only be around 13-15 per cent of normal even once services are back to full strength.

This means transport must operate very differently.

In line with Government advice, everyone who can work from home should continue to do so. Public transport should be avoided, wherever possible, to free up the limited space available to those who have no alternative way to travel.

If you must travel, please plan ahead and travel outside of the busiest times, particularly first thing in the morning. The busiest times on the network are 05:45 to 08:15 and 16:00-17:30. It would help enormously if you were able to travel outside these times if you possibly can. 

Please also try to take the most direct route and avoid busy interchanges.

We have produced a list of the busiest times and places on our Tube and rail network . This list and the busiest times might change over time, so we will keep it updated. 

We are also updating our digital tools such as journey planner , our Facebook TravelBot and the real-time data we provide to third party apps. These could be helpful in re-planning your journey. 

We are taking measures across our network to enable social distancing of 2 metres wherever possible. Please wear a face covering and respect the space of fellow passengers to help maintain this distance. Do not travel if you have any symptoms of the virus.

You may be asked to wait to enter a station. Some stations will have one-way systems, or you may be asked to walk on the left. We are also asking people to maintain social distancing throughout stations, for example on stairs, escalators and in lifts.

If travelling by bus, please maintain social distancing at stops and bus stations wherever possible. Currently you will also need to board the bus using the middle doors. Please allow other passengers to get on and off while maintaining social distancing. 

When in the bus please use all available space, including the upper deck, if possible, to maintain social distancing.

Consider walking or cycling

If you can, please walk or cycle for all or part of your journey, including to complete your journey if travelling into central London. Please consider getting off a stop or two early to reduce the numbers of people travelling on Tubes and buses. We have been introducing local improvements in partnership with boroughs to widen footpaths and provide more cycle lanes. You can find out more here.

These improvements are also taking place to help support you in making the most of your local shops and outdoor spaces.

Congestion Charging

To prevent London’s roads from becoming unusably congested, the Congestion Charge and Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) will be reintroduced on Monday 18 May.

These schemes reduce congestion and pollution and help tackle the climate emergency. If your place of work is located inside the Congestion Charging Zone and you are an employee of an NHS Trust, the London Ambulance Service or a care home, please speak to your employer about the NHS reimbursement scheme. 

The Low Emission Zone, which discourages the use of the dirtiest lorries and large vans, will also be reintroduced at the same time.

Supporting you and our staff

We are doing everything we can to maintain the cleanliness of our network with regular cleaning using hospital grade antiviral disinfectant.

It is also important that you continue to follow the Government advice on hygiene. Please wash your hands before and after travel and carry hand sanitiser with you. 

We are also putting hand sanitiser dispensers in our stations as quickly as possible. 

Please be considerate to our staff and follow their instructions. Everyone is doing their best in these difficult times.

I will keep you updated with relevant information over the coming days.

Thank you again for all your help as we work together to keep everyone safe.
I know that over the coming days, many of you may be planning to return to work, I wanted to update you on what we are doing to make travelling with us safe, and how you can help us too.

Throughout the current Coronavirus outbreak, colleagues across South Western Railway have been working hard to keep the country moving for their fellow key workers and those that need to travel.

They have also been ensuring that those who do need to travel, can do so safely. For example, when cleaning, they have been paying particular attention to commonly touched surfaces such as ticket machines, grab handles, and door buttons.

From Monday (18 May), we will be making some changes to our services to increase capacity. Although this will remain a reduced service, some routes will see services reinstated for the first time since lockdown began, with other routes benefiting from longer trains with more carriages or some extra services at peak times. Despite these additional services, with social distancing measures in place, capacity is limited to 10-18% of usual levels across our fleet.

In order to ensure everyone who needs to travel can do so safely, we need your help. So, we would like to ask you to follow the below advice when travelling with us:
  • Consider other ways of getting to your destination – if you can avoid using public transport, then do so and only use our services if you have no other option.
  • Plan ahead – we are currently operating an amended timetable, so your journey time may be different from what it was prior to the lockdown. We also may need to introduce queueing at some stations, particularly in busy periods, so you should try to travel at quieter times of the day.
  • Try and keep your distance – where possible you should maintain social distancing with our colleagues and your fellow passengers as best you can. We are introducing floor markings at our stations to encourage social distancing, however, it may not always be possible to maintain a 2-metre distance, such as when boarding and alighting our services.
  • Follow Government advice on face coverings – the Government’s guidance advises passengers to wear a face covering on public transport.
  • Purchase your ticket online or use contactless – this will reduce the contact you will need to make with our staff when you are at the station. We are also only accepting card payments at our ticket office and ticket machines, we are not currently accepting cash payments.
  • Wash your hands with soap and water – do this for at least 20 seconds often and always wash your hands when you get home or into work. You may also want to carry hand sanitiser with you when travelling.

For further information please download our travel guide here .

With your support we can continue to keep the country moving during this difficult period.

Thank you,
Mark Hopwood
Managing Director
New funding for victims of domestic abuse
The Mayor of London has announced a £1.5 million emergency response fund  to provide victims of domestic abuse with safe accommodation and support if they need to flee their homes during COVID-19. The new funding will also enable victims to access specialist support, food and medicines.

Please remember that support is still available for anyone facing abuse in Hounslow and If you are concerned about someone that may be at risk of domestic abuse in the community, please download and/or share our  safety card  with friends, family members, neighbours and colleagues and for more support and advice please visit  www.hounslow.gov.uk/dvinfo .
Everything Speaks! HR advice from John Rose, HR Department:

How we as employers act now will be remembered by employees, customers and the local community long after the present health and economic crises end.

Helping employees return to a safe place of work is one of those defining moments.

Oasis Accountants is inviting for Zoom meeting

Topic : Estate Planning, Bounce Back Loans & Financial Planning
Time : May 21st 2020 at 06:00 PM London

Presenters:

  • Estate Planning by Vinay Jain
  • Bounce Back Loans by Alex Condick
  • Financial Planning by Shankar Devarashetty

Register & Join Zoom Meeting
Good News:
Cllr Steve Curran Visiting the West London Turkish Community Group Foodbank

First wild white stork chick 'in centuries' hatches in UK(courtesy of BBC Newsl)

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.