Travel Survey

A vision of choice...

I must begin my article with a small confession; prior to joining the Kingston Chamber of Commerce I had always been slightly sceptical and not a little dubious of networking groups. For me, such meetings seemed unlikely to yield any practical benefit and appeared to be- and at this point I must apologise for my former opinions-full of bombast. It was for this reason that I felt the need to share my conversion with the Chamber when called upon to speak at the breakfast gathering held at Warren House.

This was the second networking meeting that I had attended; the first having occurred some six months previously. The understated opulence of Warren House, creating an elegant yet informal atmosphere seemed an appropriate place to reveal my past (uninformed) views to the organisation that I had once disparaged and detail my change of heart.

The meeting elicited a good turn out and once the introductions had been made in the usual professional, yet humorous manner by the Chief Executive Lisa Gagliani, ably assisted by the highly entertaining William Freeman, a good breakfast was had by all. Indeed, I heartily recommend those who were unable to attend this breakfast meeting to ensure that their diaries remain free for the next one. I was then called upon to stand up and give a brief overview of my business. I must confess to feeling somewhat ill at ease standing in front of so many people, looking up at me expectantly, how could I compete with the wit of Mr Freeman or succinctly describe the essence of my business? In the face of such conundrums I opted instead to share the positive outcomes of being a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the rewards that it has brought my Company to date, rewards that forced me to look at networking groups in a completely new light. My first networking meeting brought me in to the company of the Brula Boys, Laurence Hartley and Bruce Duckett. This encounter secured my company with refurbishment project with Brula Ltd. We assisted Laurence and Bruce to open their third restaurant, La Saveur in East Sheen. Both Laurence and Bruce were a pleasure to work with and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for the trust that they placed with our company from day one. Whilst we were working at East Sheen another local business became interested in our work and, knowing the Brula Boys, enquired as to who we were. We are now due to start a project with the second company in late August. So much for my scepticism regarding the value of networking meetings, at the first meeting that I attended I was able to secure a project to the value of £120,000. This led to a further project with a value of £500,000.

My second meeting gave me the opportunity to meet other enterprising people, none more so than the Mayor; Shiraz Mirza with whom I was lucky enough to share a table and some excellent conversation. Attending the breakfast meeting as a special guest of the Chamber of Commerce, Mr Mirza is no stranger to adversity and is an inspiration to us all; his battle with a neurological virus is a remarkable tale of strength and courage. Talking to Mr Mirza, it is very soon apparent that he is a great supporter of local business and is what can perhaps be best described as an untapped resource for them. Mayor Mirza views local business as an essential thread in the fabric of community in Kingston; as such he is a useful contact to have as well as being an incredibly personable individual.    

I never did reveal the nature of my business and lest anyone be left in a state of suspense, I will take the opportunity to reveal this now. Vision Shopfitting and Building Services Ltd is a local company that with an impressive track record in the shopfitting, corporate and commercial interiors market. We have built our success from a strong and innovative commitment to customer service, high quality standards and a value for money philosophy.

The lessons that I have learnt from the two meetings of the Kingston Chamber of Commerce that I have attended are that one should never form an opinion without investigating all of the facts, that the sense of community in the Kingston area is a strong one, encouraged and supported by local business and that the Chamber of Commerce itself is comprised of motivated, individuals with a kaleidoscope of backgrounds and experiences all of whom share a collective Vision.

See you all at the next meeting…

Chris Zulerons

Business Development Director

Vision Shopfitting Limited

020 8339 4488

chris@visionshopfitting.com

www.visionshopfitting.com

Re: The Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames Business Directory

Business Directories are widely recognised as key publications that enable local companies and organisations to trade with each other, and promote themselves to a wider audience.  The Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames Council and Kingston Chamber of Commerce are committed to supporting the local economy, and we are delighted to announce the production of a new and improved Business Directory to enhance the development of our Borough’s economy in local and national markets.

The new edition will be published as a high quality, full colour, two-thirds A4 publication.  It will be widely distributed over a two-year period, being made available to businesses and residents through all of the usual official channels, and will also appear in electronic format as a fully integrated CD Rom and web site.

To ensure that the highest standards are maintained, we are working in partnership with Burrows Communications Ltd to produce the directory.

A limited number of advertising pages are being made available to a cross-section of the regions commercial, industrial, financial and professional companies to promote their own sphere of activity. Some of the positions are also being offered to training providers, educational establishments and health care organisations that operate in the area - their details will appear in the directory, CD Rom and web site.

Jan Turner is currently working with the Council and Kingston Chamber on the directory and is available on 020 8541 4441 (at Kingston Chamber’s office) or on 07909 527507 ( Jan’s mobile). As this is an extremely important publication We are sure that you will wish to be included. 

• To be included in the Directory as a listing, you need not do anything at this stage.
• If you are planning to move within the borough, please let us know you new contact details as soon as you can.
• To take one of the limited advertising spaces, call Jan Turner or Kingston Chamber at the number above
• Kingston Chamber members will be highlighted within the Directory listing. To apply for membership, please call Kingston Chamber.

We would like to thank in advance those of you who continue to recognise the importance of promoting your achievements and successes and in so doing affirm the endeavours and activities of the Council and the Chamber and our joint vision for The Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames and its future.

Thank you for your support.

Yours sincerely

Bruce McDonald                                                          Lisa Gagliani

Chief Executive                                                 Chief Executive

Royal Borough of Kingston                                   Kingston Chamber of Commerce

• Introduction to Microsoft office
• The practical use of IT at work
• Essential soft skills that compliment the use of IT
• The classroom activities are complemented by short 1:1 sessions with each candidate

Kingstonfirst Launches New Cardboard Recycling Service For BID Businesses

The Kingstonfirst team have launched their new cardboard recycling scheme this week targeting small businesses within the BID area.  This scheme has been introduced in response to a survey carried out in the town centre which highlighted the enthusiasm amongst businesses to recycle….if only a tailor made service existed.

Kingstonfirst Clean Team are now meeting that need.  The newly purchased collection vehicle can be seen in the town every day, between 9 and 10 am and 4 and 5pm.  The client list is growing all the time and a new cleaning operative – Adrian Buczynski, has been employed to cope with demand.

Adrian says ‘ I’m really excited to be part of this project – I think it’s just the sort of support that the businesses need to go green!’ This initiative is just one of the projects that will see Kingstonfirst continuing its aim of provide additional cleansing within the Business Improvement District.

For further information

Below is a link to an Office of Fair Trading report on retailers trading on the Internet

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE IN KINGSTON’S NEW FESTIVAL

The new Market House Festival kicks off on 7^th April in Kingston’s historic Market House with a talk by writer and philosopher Julian Baggini on his latest and topical book, “Welcome to Everytown - a journey into the English mind". Will the ideas and values of a Kingston audience turn out to be anything like those of the residents of the typical English “Everytown”?

This will be followed by nine very varied early evening events in the Market House, including more talks and discussions, an eco-fair, a “Strictly Salsa” class for beginners, and tasters of different cultures, languages, wines and foods (full programme below). All events are free and open to everyone, and are timed to suit visitors, shoppers and workers in Kingston as well as residents. There will refreshments (by Natural Café or the event organisers) and time for informal conversation. Something for everyone indeed!

The Festival is the result of two RSA Starbucks Coffeehouse Challenge discussions held in Kingston Starbucks in 2006 and 2007, involving about 20 local people in informal and very creative conversations. The first was about “community in Kingston” – it focused on the need for more community centres and more varied activities in the town centre, and identified the Market House as a town centre venue with great potential. The second followed this up with a very imaginative and positive brainstorming session on “101 Things To Do With A Dead Market House”, and some of the ideas that emerged led directly to this Festival. In December 2007 Kingston resident and convenor of the two discussions Marilyn Mason was awarded £1500 by RSA, Starbucks and T-Mobile, sponsors of the  Coffeehouse Challenge, to enable her to run a ten-day Festival. Since then she has become a temporary festival director, encouraging local individuals, groups and organisations to take up this unique opportunity, and organising hire, publicity, refreshments and the programme.

Marilyn says: “I’m delighted that the final Festival programme is so varied, and that all the events include an element of participation and socialising, as it was very much one of its aims to bring Kingston visitors, workers and residents together to do something different after work or shopping. I’m also pleased that it’s quite a multicultural event, with samples of new languages and cultures, a Moroccan evening, and a discussion between religious believers and humanists.”

“The other aim was to demonstrate how this underused asset in the town centre could help to develop and diversify Kingston's evening culture, along with the new Rose Theatre. I hope that this short one-off Festival will lead to more community use and more events in the Market House. I think many people would like to see a more vibrant and varied evening culture in the town centre, and the Festival is a small contribution towards that.”

THE 10-EVENING PROGRAMME:

MONDAY 7 APRIL, doors open 6.00pm
“Welcome to Everytown -  a journey into the English mind"

Julian Baggini, writer, journalist and philosopher, talks about his latest book

Key Business headlines include:

·         £60m over three years for equipping people to return to the workplace.

·         Corporation tax will fall from 30% to 28% by April this year, with simpler taxes for small companies.

·         More help for small businesses, with capital gains tax remaining at 10%.

·         Funds available through the small firms loans guarantee will increase by 60% in the next year.

·         There will be a capital fund of £12.5m to encourage more women entrepreneurs.

In addition the government proposes:

1.         A simplification review of accounting requirements and taxes for small companies in which we can participate:

Learning at Work Day is coming.  Are you ready?

This year's Learning at Work Day is on Thursday 22nd May. Now in its 10^th year, National Learning at Work Day is designed to promote and support workplace learning, helping your staff learn new skills that they can put into action at work.