London Open for Business

because they either don’t have an online presence or they don’t know how to utilise it correctly. The ones that have been able to adapt are the ones that have survived.

“Restaurants have adjusted their strategy to offer takeaways or deliveries to customers. Small retailers have been able to use their database of customers to sell to them online. These businesses wouldn’t have been able to do this if they didn’t have a good digital footprint.

“The problem is that most businesses don’t have the time to devote to digital marketing. This programme enables them to get the right support so they can use digital marketing to promote their brand to potential customers and increase sales.”

The programme is delivered in partnership with business growth specialist Chamber Nation, which provides advanced digital infrastructure to Chambers of Commerce Women Business Centres throughout the USA and now in Europe. The beauty of this infrastructure is its flexibility; businesses can choose from a menu of different services to construct their own personalised digital marketing suite.

Options include an electronic business card which includes a custom texting keyword and number and a list of the company’s products and services. A marketing landing page is a useful tool for sharing information about the business from the main community search engine and directory, and is designed to direct customers to the company’s website or the internet. The landing page makes it easy for customers and other businesses to refer the company and its products and services to others via email, the business network and social tools such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

With more people consuming news on the move via their smartphones, the digital marketing suite also includes a mobile publishing and display system. In addition, a pocket marketing assistant enables users to add content about

their products and services to the local Chamber community marketing programme.

Steve Pinto says: “As we move to reopen the doors of our community, we need to realise we are not returning to the “normal” we had before COVID-19 hit our shores. Far more people are looking to do business virtually and online to stay safe. This is why we have created the London Open for Business programme – to give businesses an opportunity to promote themselves with an essential range of digital tools at a very affordable cost. We can also track return on investment (ROI) to show companies how much they’re getting for their money.

“In the short-term, as people and businesses get back to work again, our programme gives companies the chance to show the world that they’re very much open for business. In the longer term, it’s a great way to find different ways of selling products and services to customers.

“Not only that, but our programme fits in with the government’s aim of ramping up Britain’s digital capability and increasing digital inclusion in local communities around the country. We’re helping to do that and, crucially, we’re making digital

inclusion affordable for small to mediumsized enterprises (SMEs).

“Early feedback on this programme from the business community has been really encouraging. I believe that it really does have the potential to be rolled out in other areas of the UK.”

For more information about the London Open for Business programme, visit https://www.openforbusiness.london/

South East London Chamber members can sign up for the programme by emailing steve@openforbusiness.london

“In the short-term, as people and businesses get back to work again, our programme gives companies the chance to show the world that they’re very much open for business. In the longer term, it’s a great way to find different ways of selling products and services to customers.”

Three awards for Lewisham schemes

Lewisham came out on top at the recent 2020 Planning Awards, winning three accolades for its work in the construction and built environment sectors.

These awards celebrate the diverse talent working across these important sectors, which are key to the future performance of the UK economy.

Lewisham council received accolades in the following three categories:

Award for Community-Led Placemaking

Team Catford, the locally-based team which leads the community engagement on the regeneration of Catford town centre on behalf of Lewisham Council, won the award for community-led placemaking. Finalists were judged on how their project contributes to the improvement of the physical or environmental quality of a place or the economic or social well-being of a community. Since 2017, Team Catford has held thousands of conversations with local people to gather more than 2,500 views and ideas which are helping to shape the emerging framework plan to guide development over the next 10-15 years.

Award for Infrastructure Planning

The proposals for the Bakerloo line extension (BLE) won the award for infrastructure planning, with judges describing the project as “a great example of new infrastructure facilitating major regeneration”.

In partnership with the Greater London Authority and Transport for London, Lewisham Council has worked alongside Southwark Council to produce a series of interconnecting planning frameworks for most of the route corridor. These proposals aim to generate £8.2 billion of local economic benefits, including the delivery of 50,000 new homes, 12,000 new construction jobs with 18,000 more in the nationwide supply chain, and 9,500 permanent new jobs along the corridor.

Award for Fostering a Healthy High Street

Developer Really Local Group won this award for Catford Mews cinema and community space. Replacing an old Poundland store in the shopping centre, the multi-functional community space opened in 2019 to provide the first cinema in Lewisham in almost 20 years, a live music space, comedy and networking events, exhibition space for locals to showcase their work and a pop-up food market featuring local traders. The venue’s objective is to be affordable and inclusive, with community-led programming and cheap cinema tickets.

The judges said that the “mix of uses will ensure vibrancy at all times of the day”, and that the scheme demonstrated a “bottom-up approach”.

“These proposals aim to generate £8.2 billion of local economic benefits, including the delivery of 50,000 new homes, 12,000 new construction jobs with 18,000 more in the nationwide supply chain, and 9,500 permanent new jobs along the corridor.” Construction to start on cycle route

Construction work is to begin on the cycle route which stretches from Greenwich Park to Shooters Hill.

Funded by Transport for London (TfL) and part of Royal Borough of Greenwich Council’s Streetspace programme, the route will connect Greenwich Park and Shooters Hill via Old Dover Road and Shooters Hill Road. It will provide a much-needed safe, protected cycling space along Shooters Hill Road and create a better environment along Old Dover Road for walking and cycling.

The first phase will be built along Shooters Hill Road between Baker Road and Weyman Road at the eastern end of the route.

Segregated cycle lanes will be created using poles. The poles will provide protection from traffic for cyclists, but will be spaced so that residents living on Shooters Hill Road will still be able to access their off-street parking.

A new pedestrian and cycle crossing will be installed and works to bus stops along the route on Shooters Hill Road will ensure they remain fully accessible to bus passengers.

Eventually the route will connect to Greenwich Park’s east gate. This later phase requires upgrades to traffic signals, however, so the council is working closely with TfL to be able to start the second phase as soon as possible.

The measures will be implemented on a trial basis and residents are encouraged to comment on the scheme using the council’s online feedback survey at https://www.royalgreenwich. gov.uk/xfp/form/549

The feedback received will help the council to decide whether to make the changes permanent.

The Streetspace programme aims to change the streets of the borough to support the significant increase in cycling and walking that began during the national lockdown and looks set to continue. The changes will make social distancing easier which will help to stop the spread of the virus and bring longer term benefits for public health, including improved air quality and reduced carbon emissions.

Changes include widening footpaths and filtering more residential streets to create low-traffic cycle routes and neighbourhoods.