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news John Lewis deal set to create 500 jobs
Kingston is set to benefit from 500 local jobs and a new creative hub after Kingston Council sealed a deal with John Lewis.
The agreement will see John Lewis lease the basement and parts of its ground floor riverside Kingston store to create a new affordable workspace for local businesses and a creative performance hub for young people.
Over the next ten years, the spaces will enable the creation of at least 500 new jobs across the local economy by supporting the activities and growth of local businesses. The council has appointed Town Square Spaces (TownSq) as managing operator of the new affordable workspace and Creative Youth to deliver cultural enterprise and events on the Kingston Riverside.
This innovative community and business partnership-focused venture will include co-working spaces, workstations, a cafe and performance and event space for the public to enjoy. TownSq will also provide start-up support enterprise programmes, including an accelerator scheme, to support fast-growing new businesses. Cllr John Sweeney, portfolio holder for business and leisure at Kingston Council, said: “This agreement triggers the creation of two amazing Kingston Riverfront spaces in a section of a building closed to the public for decades. Town Square have the experience to provide a thriving flexible workspace – and a hub for entrepreneurship, innovation and job creation in the heart of Kingston. Importantly, they also offer support to local people looking to take their first steps in starting a business. Creative Youth, already a fabulous Kingston institution, will undoubtedly bring excitement and fun to the Undercroft and the surrounding area.”
Mandy Weston, COO at TownSq, said: “When people from different businesses and industries are working alongside each other, there can be a complementarity of ideas, and that can lead to some incredible collaborations. When you create the environment for individuals and businesses to grow, that ripples out to the benefit of the wider community and the local economy. We can’t wait to get started.”
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The extension of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) has been welcomed by London Assembly member, Marina Ahmad AM, as “one of the biggest public health interventions we have seen in London”.
The ULEZ has now been expanded to the North and South Circulars, covering an area eighteen times larger than before.
Motorists driving into and around the expanded zone could face a daily charge of £12.50 if their vehicles do not meet new emissions standards. For drivers of non-compliant buses, coaches and lorries, this charge increases to £100.
Ms Ahmad said the extension will build upon the success of the Central London ULEZ, which was introduced in April 2019. In the lead-up to the pandemic, alongside other measures taken by City Hall to improve air quality in the capital, the Central London ULEZ led to a 44% reduction in roadside nitrogen dioxide emissions and a 97% drop in the number of schools in areas where there are illegal levels of air pollution.
A recent study has also showed that these interventions to tackle toxic air also contributed to a 50% reduction in the gap between the most and least deprived areas for exposure to harmful nitrogen dioxide emissions in 2019.
Other research has projected that the ULEZ and the Mayor of London’s other air quality policies will help to save the NHS £5 billion by preventing more than one million hospital admissions over the next three decades.
Local London Assembly member, Marina Ahmad AM, said: “The extension of the ULEZ will spread the benefits of cleaner air for thousands more people in our borough.
“Tackling air pollution is an urgent matter of social justice. We know it disproportionately impacts the health of Londoners from BAME backgrounds and poorer communities, contributing to 4,000 premature deaths each year in the capital alone.”
British Chamber of Commerce “hugely disappointed” at rail u-turn
The eastern leg of HS2 has been scrapped and plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) have been downgraded, the government has confirmed. Unveiling the new plan in the Commons, transport secretary Grant Shapps confirmed that the eastern leg of HS2 will no longer go all the way to Leeds. Instead, it will stop in the East Midlands near Nottingham. The announcement rows back on previous pledges that the high-speed route to Leeds would be built. Under the original plans, HS2 was meant to connect London to Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester.
There is also a scaling back of a new trans-Pennine rail route between Manchester and Leeds as part of the NPR project, which is designed to improve links between major northern cities. A combination of new track and enhancements to existing infrastructure will be made along this route instead.
Reacting to the news that the eastern leg of HS2 and NPR will no longer proceed as planned, Shevaun Haviland, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said: “This will be a huge disappointment to the thousands of businesses that were relying on HS2 and NPR to fire up economic regeneration through the improved capacity and connectivity of our rail network.
“While some places will benefit from these revised proposals, many companies have built their plans for the future around what they believed was a firm commitment from government to see these projects through in full. “The economic benefits that they would have brought to areas across the Midlands and the north would have improved the lives of countless generations and created growth opportunities for businesses across the country. “There is also grave concern that without more capacity on our railways, any significant progress on shifting more freight transportation off our roads and onto the rail network will be stymied, making it much more difficult to achieve our net zero ambitions.”
Richard Burge, chief executive of London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), said: “This watereddown proposal is not just a blow to the north, it’s a betrayal of the much-hyped levelling up agenda. It’s hugely disappointing that after the positive announcement of a new export strategy, the government’s commitment to invest in productivity gains for the future has been compromised. “Coming right off the heels of COP26, the announcement moves the country away from infrastructure projects that deliver a more sustainable future for British transport; this is especially disconcerting. “It’s difficult to understand how the government expects the UK to compete globally with the most advanced economies when we cannot deliver decent connectivity between our own cities. Delivering a high-wage economy, which the Prime Minister has made a stated aim, will require significant investments. The recently published Integrated Rail Plan falls well short of what’s needed to deliver the infrastructure necessary to secure Britain’s economic future.”
Santander Cycles hits
new milestone
Santander Cycles has enjoyed its best September ever as hires reached the highest level since the pandemic started.
More than one million hires were made in September, with an average of 40,660 per day – a new record for the month.
Transport for London (TfL’s) flagship cycle hire scheme is continuing to go from strength for strength with its highest September hires in its 11year history, as increasing numbers of Londoners returned to the office.
There were 1,219,804 hires during the month, an average of 40,660 daily hires – well above the 37,917 average daily hires in September last year and the 32,323 average daily hires in the three Septembers prior to the pandemic.
Office workers returning after the summer holidays helped to contribute to the record September. During the month, TfL saw the highest volume of Santander Cycles commuter hires since March 2020, with an average 7,573 daily hires made between 07.00 and 10.00 on weekdays. Santander Cycles can be hired from as little as £2 a day for an unlimited number of 30-minute journeys. The scheme recently reached its latest milestone of 10 million hires via the Santander Cycles app. The free app is available on Apple and Android App Stores, by searching for Santander Cycles. Using the app lets customers skip past the terminal and get release codes sent directly to their phone, so they can hire their cycle more quickly and easily.
David Eddington, TfL’s head of cycle hire, said: “We’re pleased to see Santander Cycles play a vital role in enabling people to return to work and it’s fantastic to reach yet another big milestone with 10 million hires made through the app.”
Dan Sherwood, director of marketing at Santander UK, said: “Bringing innovation to the cycle hire scheme has been a key focus during our partnership with TfL so it’s fantastic that we’ve reached such a great milestone in the number of hires made through the app since its creation together.”
