news BCC: interest rate rise “illtimed” as economic outlook weakens The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has criticised the decision by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee to raise interest rates. Interest rates rose for the third time in four months in March as the Bank of England made efforts to ease the cost of living crisis. The most recent increase, from 0.5% to 0.75%, means that rates are now at their highest level for two years. Suren Thiru, head of economics at the BCC, said: “The decision to raise interest rates, while expected, looks ill-timed against a backdrop of growing domestic and global headwinds, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While interest rates remain low by historic standards, the latest rise will be viewed by many as a further step in a prolonged period of aggressive monetary tightening at a time when consumers and businesses are struggling under a myriad of rising cost pressures. Increasing interest rates will do little to curb the global causes behind this inflationary surge and risks intensifying the headwinds facing the UK economy by damaging confidence and deepening the financial squeeze on consumers and businesses.” The BCC has called on the Chancellor to tackle the escalating cost of doing business by delaying the national insurance rise and introducing a temporary energy price cap for small businesses. “This would give firms the headroom to keep a lid on prices, protect jobs and make investment that is so vital to sustaining our economic prospects,” said Suren Thiru.
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Council funds local schemes to support green economic recovery A total of £300,000 has been awarded to 18 local businesses for innovative initiatives that support growth and help develop the borough’s green economy. The money has been made available through Kingston Council’s new Recovery, Adaptation and Innovation Support for Enterprise (RAISE) grant scheme. The funding will support the borough’s post-pandemic economic recovery and help to take action to tackle climate change. The successful initiatives range from funding staff bicycles and e-bicycles to allow carers to attend calls in a carbon-neutral manner, to saving honeybee trees which otherwise would have faced destruction. Councillor Andreas Kirsch, leader of Kingston Council, said: “At a time when the impact of the pandemic is still real for many businesses and tackling climate change has taken on an even greater urgency in our lives, the new RAISE grant scheme has been designed to help boost recovery and generate opportunities that will benefit individual businesses and stimulate the growth of our green economy.
The RAISE grant scheme is part of the council’s drive to create opportunities for businesses of all shapes and sizes to thrive and harness the spirit of innovation across the borough. More than 70 applications were received from across the borough, ranging from early-stage businesses and inventions in development to mature businesses looking to innovate. Businesses were invited to respond to a range of criteria. These included what they need to do to recover strongly from the past 18 months, how they could adapt to new working conditions and how they could respond to new challenges and opportunities such as tech advances and changing customer needs. They were also asked to consider how they could innovate through new products, services, or fresh thinking to boost performance or resource efficiency.
“Our local area has never been so important. We’re committed to creating a future that enables economic growth, that’s digital, smart, environmentally friendly and has the infrastructure needed to support living and working locally.”
Creative hub to offer opportunities for entrepreneurs and young people Exciting plans to turn the basement of the John Lewis Partnership building on Kingston Riverside into a new creative hub and affordable coworking and business support space are taking shape. The scheme, which will bring new opportunities for the borough’s entrepreneurs and young people, is part of Kingston Council’s heritage-led Transform Kingston programme. The council is working with business development expert Town Square Spaces, local arts charity Creative Youth and the John Lewis Partnership to deliver the space. One part of the Kingston Riverside space will provide affordable workspaces for local entrepreneurs and start-ups. Town Square will deliver a programme of business support and expert advice sessions to drive entrepreneurship and support business growth. Over the next ten years, this will enable the creation of at least 500 new jobs across the local economy. Next to this, Creative Youth will manage a creative hub that will inspire young people, emerging artists and the wider community to get
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involved in the arts. It will be a space for people from different artistic disciplines to learn from each other and showcase their ideas, and will be open to the entire community to enjoy. The scheme also includes improvements to the public space around the building. In conversations with the community about how the area could be improved, poor lighting and accessibility were highlighted as key issues. Based on this feedback, new lighting is being installed along the front of the building and at the entrance to the old nightclub to make the area safer and more inviting. The raised brick platform in front of the building is being lowered and planters are being removed to make the area more accessible to everyone. Plug sockets are also being installed to enable the space to be used for public performances.
