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

Arts & Culture - 9th July
This sector seems to have slipped the net in the Government funding packages. Over the past 100+ days of lockdown the arts has kept us going. The industry needs help. Please register to have your say.

Health & Wellbeing - 16th July
Lockdown has now lasted for over 100 days, the retail/hospitality sectors are beginning to open – are you confident to return to a pub? Please register to take part in the discussion

Skills & Training / Transform & Innovate - 23rd July
Yesterday 12,000 job losses were announced. Hounslow is going to be particularly hard hit owing to its proximity to Heathrow. Please register to have your voice heard.

If you have missed our webinars, you can watch them now:  https://hounslowchamber.org.uk/10015
Test and Trace (courtesy of London Councils)

London boroughs are working closely with Public Health England’s (PHE’s) Health Protection Teams to ensure the national Test and Trace programme operates effectively across the capital.    
 
The London Coronavirus Response Cell (LCRC) - a multi-disciplinary team of public health specialists including doctors, nurses, scientists, specialists in health protection, disease surveillance and environmental health, as well as administration and operations support - has been working on Covid-19 related cases and situations since February 2020.    
  
PHE London has updated its coronavirus blog here with the latest information on how contact tracing complex cases through NHS Test and Trace service will work in practice.
  
Responding to media reports of increases in coronavirus cases in some London boroughs and elsewhere yesterday,  Professor Kevin Fenton, London Regional Director for Public Health England said: “The number of new cases of coronavirus is under close, active surveillance across the country and small fluctuations day by day are to be expected. The increases in some boroughs that have been reported are mainly sporadic and are being uncovered as we scale up testing and contact tracing activity across the city. 

"Importantly, the overall levels of coronavirus in London remain low and steady. We’re working closely with all local authorities to prepare for and manage any potential local clusters and outbreaks and our epidemiological analysis will play an important role identifying if there is a significant sustained increase in the community.
  
“As we carefully emerge from lockdown, it is important now more than ever that Londoners continue to follow government advice on social distancing, self-isolation, wearing face coverings, and practicing good hand hygiene, in order to keep the number of new cases in London on its way down. If you have a new continuous cough, a high temperature or a loss of, or change to your sense of smell or taste, stay at home and arrange a test immediately.”
Covid-19 financial impact APPG

The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for London held its first ever virtual meeting last week. APPG Chair Sir Bob Neil MP was joined by MPs from all the main parties and London Councils Chair Cllr Peter John to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on London and what happens next. The meeting included a number of presentations on the impact of Covid-19 and London government, including from London Councils Director of Local Government Performance and Finance, Guy Ware, Strategic Lead: Enterprise, Economy and Skills, Dianna Neal and Strategic Lead: Housing and Planning; Elly Shepherd.

Green School for Girls Looking to Engage with Business

The Green School for Girls, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, has a growing Business Department. Business is now being taught across Year 10 & Year 11 (GCSEs) and in the Sixth Form. We anticipate about 90 students in 2020-21. We need active engagement with local businesses to ensure the practical realities of business life are understood and communicated to the students.

We are looking for:

  • Small and Medium Sized enterprises who are run by entrepreneurs and who carry out market research on customer feedback and on competitor analysis. The owner should be willing to speak about their entrepreneurial journey in creating the company, their product range and how they monitor customer feedback and competitor analysis. 

This is to Year 10 students in the first term - October 2020. Given the current crisis, this is likely to be via video link and would last about one hour.

  • UK based international businesses. The company should be willing to explain their product or service range, methods of financing international trade, support for international business from the Chamber of Commerce, government services, the impact of BREXIT and other trading bloc issues.

This is to Year 12 and 13 students in October 2020 and possibly a second time in early 2021. Given the current crisis, this is likely to be via video link and would last about one hour.

  • Support from a HR professional to mentor and support a student interview role play in October 2020. This will involve probably about three sessions of about two hours over a three week period.

This is to Year 12 students in October 2020 and possibly a second time in early 2021. Given the current crisis, this is likely to be via video link.

If you are able to help please contact: Padraic Doyle, Business & Economics Teacher, Green School for Girls, 07401 500244 or p.doyle@tgstrust.com
Gunnersbury Park - this much loved 186-acre park jointly owned by Hounslow and Ealing is in the middle of a big improvement project.

Already thanks to Lottery funding they have managed to restore the Gardens and Large Mansion, which now houses exciting new museum galleries and a conserved Victorian Kitchen.

A new Sports Hub is being built and is nearly completed alongside new tennis, football and cricket pitches.

Over one million visits are currently made to the Park by local people and they want to see even more!

The next big challenge is to restore the historic 1802 built Small Mansion and the Stables block, which are currently run down and not used.

A partnership of Gunnersbury Museum and Park Development Trust, Gunnersbury CIC, Historic England, the Friends of Gunnersbury Park, and Hounslow and Ealing councils are working towards the revival, restoration and future use of the Small Mansion and Stables buildings. 

They need your views on the future use of these buildings in Gunnersbury Park. Your views matter, whether you are a regular visitor to the park, or if you have not been before.

Please complete the survey here:

Your views can help shape the future of these historic buildings in Gunnersbury Park. Take this chance to share your ideas!

If you want to keep in touch about the project, please email gunnersburydevelopmenttrust@visitgunnersbury.org
John Coles, a supportive Chamber member, is pleased to present another selection of travel stories written by family, friends and business associates. Once again, it’s an eclectic mix of memories old and new, destinations near and far. To quote John, “I truly enjoy receiving these stories and compiling the newsletter. I hope you will enjoy reading them.


If you would like to share your own travel story, please write to me with (if possible) a couple of photos, and then we’ll publish a similar newsletter next month.”
For all your HR and Health & Safety advice, during these unusual times, please click here
Good News:
2020 continues to be a challenging year and some may question Business Awards going ahead. After much reflection we feel there are reasons to be optimistic. Please enter the Awards, based on your activity in 2019, using it as a means to celebrate the past, to mark the end of 2020, and to give you and your team a wonderful night out on 15th October 2020, to move into the Christmas season and to start 2021 in an upbeat frame of mind.

The Business Awards are open to ALL businesses in the London Boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Hounslow and ALL our Chamber members, wherever you are based.


There are 19 award categories which you can enter now, just click the link to enter, fill out the form and submit. The deadline date for entries is 22 nd August 2020.
West London Local Chambers & Hounslow Chamber of Commerce are the primary support, networking, and representation organisation in west London for SMEs.

We support the interests, the commercial aspirations and the investment from businesses in Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham - the Chamber is the voice for all businesses located in the borough