Southwark Business Today April 2017

Southwark

BUSINESS TODAY

Issue 13: April - May 2017

Exciting times in Peckham

With a wide range of organisations working together to strengthen the local economy. Page 16

• Arts and culture entertainment in Southwark page 8

• China: Huge opportunities for UK companies page 13

• Voice from Westminster page 29

Welcome to

Welcome

Southwark BUSINESS TODAY The Southwark Chamber of Commerce magazine for all Businesses in Southwark January. We are now focusing on exciting activities for this year. These include events to try and ensure that the Chamber fully reflects the ethnic community and richness that this provides to Southwark with a curry night. A meeting to discuss the effects of Brexit, food and drink at the much-celebrated Borough market and our annual river cruise, our guest of honour this year being Lord Kennedy.

We are also due to be joined by business people from our twin town Langenhagen (near Hannover) in Germany.

Southwark continues to prosper

Southwark continues to prosper despite the uncertainties surrounding Brexit; the eye watering increase in business rates Southwark is suffering; and huge cutbacks in the local educational budgets. The office sector is growing, particularly in technology media and telecommunications (TMT) for which Southwark is a leading location.

Former residential sites are now being switched to commercial developments.

For instance, my own company has sold two sites in the North of the borough, which were intended for residential use, they are now going for offices, within the new office buildings they are likely to employ 1,000 people.

The Chamber remains well placed to assist both existing and companies new to the borough through networking, producing this magazine, our political connections and many other strategies that we have been successfully using throughout our 93 years of serving the community.

Our active promotion of local businesses is helping to address the big disparity between the prosperous areas in the north and south and the challenged, poorer parts of the borough, generally in the centre.

After a particularly good year for events in 2016 the annual trip around the House of Commons was well received in

Disclaimer

This edition is featuring Peckham, one of Southwark’s many buzzing areas.

The community spirit there is so strong that we have been being inundated with articles from local people wanting to tell the story of what is happening.

Apologies to those who we have not been able to include in this edition, but we will do so shortly. Special thanks to Dan Harder from the Chamber's Peckham chapter for his assistance in producing this feature.

The Chamber continues to lead the crusade to try and coordinate and promote tourism in the borough, which plays host to 27 museums (the 3rd most in London), has over 100 tourist attractions and 30 million people that walk along the Southbank each year. The attractions have a rich diversity ranging from the most visited museum and gallery in the UK, Tate Modern, to small specialist buildings such as the Brunel Museum or the oldest gallery in the country, Dulwich, alongside numerous café bars such as the Bussey bar, Hawker House, the Artworks Elephant and the Print works. Not been there?

You’re missing out!

The chamber continues to attract a healthy level of new members, but we always welcome more as it gives more power to the elbow, allowing us to serve our members and the community which our business and consequently many of our staff call home.

Richard Kalmar

Southwark Business Today is mailed without charge to all Chamber members and distributed to businesses in the Borough.

All correspondence should be addressed to the Editor at Southwark Chamber of Commerce.

Chairman Southwark Chamber of Commerce

Views expressed in publication are not necessarily those of Southwark Chamber of Commerce. Reprinting in whole or part is forbidden except by permission of the Editor. © 2017.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of material published

Contents

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4-5 6 7 8-10 11 13-14 15 16-18 19 21 22-23 24-25 26-27 28 29 30 32 32 33 34 Enquiries

Up Front Ask the Expert Economy Arts & Culture Education & Skills International Trade News Spotlight on Peckham Remembering when...

Up Close New member profiles Women in Business Hospitality Living wage Voice from Westminster Health & Wellbeing Chamber Events New Members Last Word Chamber Membership

Southwark Chamber of Commerce Southbank Technopark 90 London Road, London SE1 6LN 020 7403 9922 Email: admin@southwarkcommerce.com Web: www.SouthwarkCommerce.com

Editor

John Dean Email: deangriss@btinternet.com

Publisher

Benham Publishing Limited 3tc House, 16 Crosby Road North, Crosby, Liverpool L22 0NY Tel: 0151 236 4141 Fax: 0151 236 0440 Email: admin@benhampublishing.com Web: www.benhampublishing.com

Published

April 2017 © Benham Publishing

Advertising and Features

Karen Hall Tel: 0151 236 4141 Email: karen@benhampublishing.com

Studio

Mark Etherington Email: mark@benhampublishing.com Media No.1550

in this journal, Benham Publishing and its agents can accept no responsibility for the veracity of claims made by contributions in advertising or editorial content.

Benham Publishing cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies in web or email links supplied to us.

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Up Front Rate rise cause concern for traders

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has warned that ‘the very nature of London’s high streets is under threat’ from increased business rate bills.

The Mayor is particularly concerned that many small, independent companies who have worked hard to build up their businesses could be forced to close as they will be unable to pay new business rates bills that are rising by up to 45 per cent.

According to Government data, London’s businesses are facing a £900 million business rate rise as a result of the revaluation, to fund an equivalent tax cut for the rest of the country. The figure could eventually rise to £1.2bn.

The Mayor said: “The very nature of London’s high streets is under threat.

What we need is full devolution of business rates to London with genuine protections in place so we can safeguard businesses like this which are part of the fabric of what makes London such a vibrant, diverse and successful city.”

While the Mayor has welcomed plans to alleviate the impact of the increases announced by the Chancellor in the recent Budget, he does not believe they go far enough.

The Chancellor announced a £300 million discretionary relief hardship fund in the Budget. London’s share in 2017-18 of £72.5 million equates to less than 10 per cent of the additional bill facing London ratepayers from 1 April. In some boroughs, the fund will make almost no difference, he said.

A visionary who put Southwark on the map Irvine Sellar, Creator of the Shard dies aged 82.

I do not think any other achievements of the famous dignitaries that we have had in Southwark has done more to put Southwark on the map and in the minds of people than the creation of Irvine Sellar’s Shard.

Any news footage on London the camera zooms in over the Thames and centres on the Shard standing tall on the Southwark side of the Thames exposing our Borough to the whole of the UK and indeed the World.

Just before the Shard was completed Irvine Sellars invited The Southwark Chamber of Commerce to send a delegation of members to tour the building.

It must have been a terribly busy time for him but he generously gave us 2 hours of his time to modestly explain the intricacies of the building, how they got around the problems including protecting Guys Hospital from any land movement caused by the foundation digging. He was rather proud of the fact that they just took one weekend to cement in the Foundation – Hundreds of Cement Trucks were lined up from Tower Bridge on the North side down to and across London Bridge to dump their load then to refill and join the queue again at Tower Bridge with a new load.

It is a wonder it happened at all as he bought the land Southwark Towers occupied by PWC as an investment but then the UK Government decided they preferred high density structures to be built around transport hubs.

His investment plot was ideal to fulfil this wish. He chose his Architect Renzo Piano who hated tall buildings but over lunch in Berlin, Irvine Sellar explained his concept of a vertical city and on a Menu and with Renzo’s pencil, drawings of the Shard took shape.

Renzo signed the Menu and that was the agreement between the two of them.

Initial funding was lost during the global property crash but the Qatari investors came in and later the State of Qatar acquired the stake and became partners with Irvine of the Shard and the adjoining London Bridge Quarter.

Despite negative press reports the Shard and the London Bridge Quarter soon filled up with high profile tenants and is now on every overseas tourists itinerary for its viewing platform of London.

Fashion retailer was Irvine’s first commercial venture - first selling Gloves from his father’s factory on a stall in Petticoat Lane to opening ‘Mates by Irvine Sellar’ in Carnaby Street with a first of selling Men’s

clothes next to Women’s in the same store.

Pop stars of the 60’s bought from Mates to wear on their performance on Top of the Pops that night!.

Mates by Irvine Sellar became a chain across the UK and eventually sold by Irvine in 1980 and he moved into Property. ’Ford Sellar Morris’ became a Stock Exchange quoted Company with pre-tax profit of £25 million.

It collapsed in the economic downturn of 91/93.

He came back in 1998 with the purchase of the site that became that of the Shard.

His Son James takes control of the Sellar Group.

Southwark has a lot to thank Irvine Sellar and his Shard – it stands as his monument and a Beacon for Southwark.

Barry Martin

Reception to mark the 100th Anniversary of the British School of Osteopathy A reception to mark the centenary of the founding of the British School of Osteopathy was held at St James Palace, hosted by their patron, Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal, the Princess Anne, on 2nd March last.

The reception was attended by staff, vice patrons, past students and guests from around the world, including representatives from a number of osteopathic schools and organisations. The event was kindly sponsored by The Alan & Sheila Diamond Trust.

The school was founded in March 1917 in Westminster and moved to their present location on Borough High Street in 1998. Ten years later they opened a state of the art teaching clinic on nearby Southwark Bridge Road, where they deliver over 35,000

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osteopathic appointments a year at a subsidised rate. They also run a number of free, specialist community clinics for children, older people, homeless people and people living with HIV and AIDS, and are committed to ensuring that osteopathic care is accessible to all.

They have recently been granted the power to award their own degrees, having been validated by the University of Bedford previously, and will be graduating their first cohort later this year.

Charles Hunt, Principal of the BSO, said of the centenary: “We are very proud of the role the BSO has

Southwark BUSINESS TODAY

played in the development and recognition of osteopathy over the past 100 years. The school has recently become the only osteopathic institution in Europe granted the ability to award its own degrees, and has also been designated for funding by government, recognising us as a quality provider. This new status will take us, with confidence, into the next 100 years and I thank everyone who has played a part in our journey.”

In her address her Royal Highness, who has been Patron of the BSO for 34 years, remarked on the

broad spectrum of graduates she has met over the years from around the world. She commented in particular on the varied backgrounds of students, many of whom are embarking on a second career having previously occupied professions such as bus drivers and tattoo artists.

The British School of Osteopathy have been Chamber members since 1998 and we wish them continued success going forward into their next century.

Ken Hayes

Up Front

Southwark plays its part in technological revolution Southwark will be one of the first London boroughs to benefit from what BT is calling ‘the phone box of the future’.

A number of new kiosks offering free ultrafast wi-fi, phone calls, mobile charging points and local information will be installed by the telecoms giant.

The kiosks, called Links, are the evolution of the traditional payphone and will come with a far greater range of services, and for free.

BT will be rolling out hundreds of Links across central London and other major UK cities in the coming years as part of a project called LinkUK from BT. The project is a partnership between BT, outdoor advertising company Primesight and Intersection, which has already installed more than 600 kiosks in New York City as part of the LinkNYC programme. Southwark joins Camden in becoming one of the first areas of the UK to benefit

from the new service. Each borough is expected to get around 100 Links, with the first due to appear in 2017.

Peter John, leader of Southwark Council, said: “Southwark is one of the key business and cultural hubs in London and home to some of Britain’s most loved tourist attractions.

“The increased connectivity and access to local services Links will bring to Southwark will undoubtedly benefit residents, visitors and businesses alike and supports our ambition to become a digital council.”

Nick Hale, managing director of ventures at BT Wholesale and Ventures, said: “This is the phone box of the future.

“We’re evolving the phone box to make it relevant to people in the 21st century by offering them

ultrafast wi-fi, free phone calls, rapid mobile charging, a range of digital and information services and all for free.

“Southwark is at the heart of one of the greatest cities in the world and it’s entirely fitting that it will become one of the first boroughs in the UK to benefit from the new Links as we look to transform the look of our payphones and the services they offer the public.”

Matt Bird, general manager of LinkUK, said: “The rollout of LinkUK from BT across Southwark supports the borough’s commitment to embracing change and re-imagining the implementation of digital infrastructure.

“In New York City, more than one million people have now connected to the fastest free wi-fi available via LinkNYC, and we look

forward to bringing this popular service to those who live in, work in, or visit Southwark.”

As well as free public services such as 1Gbps wi-fi, the Links will feature sensors to capture real-time data such as air or noise pollution, outdoor temperature or traffic conditions.

boost Canada Water Masterplan update Funding Final figures have been The Canada Water Masterplan covers a 46-acre site incorporating Surrey Quays Shopping Centre, Surrey Quays Leisure Park, the SE16 Printworks and the Dock Offices.

It will deliver a major new urban centre for Canada Water, including workspace, retail, leisure, entertainment and community space, plus new homes, a leisure centre and a potential higher education campus.

British Land and the team will share the updated masterplan with the local community for further comment and feedback in spring 2017. This follows numerous consultation events, topic sessions, presentations and walk-arounds held throughout 2016 to gather local knowledge and inform different aspects of the masterplan.

To keep up to date with the Canada Water Masterplan and information on forthcoming consultation events, visit www.canadawatermasterplan.com or email team@canadawatermasterplan.com Global Generation and Time & Talents Last month, British Land supported Global Generation, a charity focused on building links between people, places and nature, and community charity

Time & Talents, in organising a ‘Cosmic Fire Feast’ for local children. During the event, 25 children and 10 volunteers made a wood burning pizza oven, built clay models and pencils out of twigs, cooked pizza and cookies, planted bulbs and made fire balls.

Global Generation is also setting up the ‘Paper Garden’ maker space in the Printworks where it will be running further design, making, gardening, cooking and storytelling workshops with local schools and community groups in Canada Water.

UrbanPlan at Bacon’s College Members of the Canada Water Masterplan team recently took part in running workshops for a group of Year 12s at Bacon’s College as part of the Urban Land Institute’s UrbanPlanUK programme. The programme aims to bring urban planning and development to life through a challenging redevelopment simulation project of a fictional area. The masterplan team enjoyed using their real life experience in Canada Water to assist around 20 students with their projects.

Photography by John Sturrock

released around the sale of a new building at Elephant and Castle and Southwark Council will receive £22m, more than enough to pay for The Castle Leisure Centre.

One The Elephant is a 37-storey building on the southern junction at the Elephant and Castle, built by developers Lendlease as part of the regeneration of the area.

As part of the deal with Lendlease, Southwark Council agreed not to demand affordable housing on the site but instead take a share of the profits to pay for a new, much-needed leisure centre for the community.

Originally, the deal was expected to raise £12.5m to go towards payment of the new leisure centre but Southwark Council has not only received enough to pay for the entire £20m leisure centre, but an extra £2m that will be added to the council’s budget for building new council homes in the area.

The Castle Leisure Centre opened in April 2016. The centre and One The Elephant form an integral part of the St Mary’s Quarter, one of the first phases to be completed in the Elephant and Castle town centre.

When complete later this year, 179 affordable homes, and 562 homes for sale will have been built together with the leisure centre, new public realm with water features, children’s playground, relandscaped park, business and retail accommodation together with a new theatre for Southwark Playhouse.

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Ask the Expert

Protect your Business from a Ransomware Attack

by Jessica Symondson, Marketing Manager, Complete I.T.

2. Install Antivirus

Antivirus software is the second layer of a sound defense. Quality antivirus protection can stop thousands of attack attempts per day. In the case that an employee does click a malicious link or downloads a Trojan-containing attachment, antivirus will often save a system from full-blown infection.

However, new strains of ransomware are always being created, often at a rate higher than antivirus can protect against them, so eventually, the probability that one infection will succeed is high.

3. Total Data Protection

A lot of small businesses report that they do not feel they are likely to be targeted due to their size, in reality, the exact opposite is true.

74% of small organisations reported a security breach in the last year.

SME’s are now being pinpointed by digital attackers.

The top three industries that are most regularly targeted by ransomware are, Professional Services, Healthcare and Construction and Manufacturing, but ransomware attacks are certainly not limited to these industries.

91% of IT Providers report recent ransomware attacks against small businesses.

40% report 6+ attacks in early 2016.

31% report multiple ransomware attacks in a single day.

1 in 4 UK businesses has been a victim of ransomware.

93% reported attacks even with anti-virus or Anti-Malware.

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Have you thought about the real cost of downtime to your business?

• Financial • Legal Fees • Company Reputation • Staff Moral • Time • Reduced Productivity

So how do you protect your business?

The only really effective strategy to defending your business against ransomware is a multi-layered defence.

1. Educate your team

Educate anyone with access to company email, computers, and servers to inform about the dangers of social engineering schemes and phishing scams. Teach good security practices about email attachments and stress the importance of diligence.

However, even the most educated and well-meaning staff members are not immune to human error. Education, on its own, is not adequate protection.

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A data protection solution provides the ultimate failsafe in a layered defense strategy against ransomware. A data protection solution will automatically and invisibly take snapshots of your data and systems at regular intervals, and store that data in a secure location.

Should ransomware successfully penetrate your layered defenses, you can simply ‘turn back the clock’ to a snapshot of your business before the attack happened.

Complete I.T. has been in business for 24 years helping to protect businesses just like yours from Ransomware attacks.

Complete I.T. pride ourselves on keeping our clients informed about new technologies and emerging trends within the world of IT. With our office located on Borough High Street and 5 other locations throughout the UK we are always on hand to respond to clients should they experience an outage or security breach.

We care about your business objectives and will do everything we can to ensure you meet your business goals.

If you would like us to come in and have a chat with you about your business strategy and how we can help you to meet your business goals whilst protecting your critical data, give us a call on 0207 9930010 or email enquiries@complete-it.co.uk www.complete-it.co.uk

Economy

Report sets out economic priorities for Brexit The British Chambers of Commerce has published a blueprint for the UK government ahead of the Brexit negotiations.

Titled Business Brexit Priorities, the report sets out the steps that business want to see the UK take, based on feedback from more than 400 businesses at 16 Chamber-hosted focus groups, along with nearly 20,000 responses to Chamber surveys.

It puts forward priorities for action across seven key areas where business communities want practical solutions and certainty.

BCC evidence confirms that Europe will remain a key market for UK exporters and importers well into the future.

As a consequence, it is imperative that the government achieves a pragmatic UK-EU deal that facilitates continued trade.

The key recommendations in the report are:

• On the Labour Market, the Government should provide certainty for businesses on the residence rights of their existing EU workers, provide clarity on hiring from EU countries during the negotiation period, and avoid expensive and bureaucratic processes for post-Brexit hires from the EU

• On Trade, the government should aim to minimise tariffs, seek to avoid costly non-tariff barriers, grandfather existing EU free trade agreements with third countries, and expand the trade mission programme

• On Customs, the government should develop future customs procedures at the UK border in partnership with business, seek to maintain the UK’s position as an entry point for global businesses to Europe • On Tax, the government should guarantee that HMRC is appropriately resourced to help businesses through the transition process, and provide clarity on whether VAT legislation will continue to mirror current core VAT principles • On Regulation, the government should ensure stability by incorporating existing EU regulations into UK law and maintaining these for a minimum period following Brexit, and ensure that product standards are aligned with, and recognised by, the EU to keep UK products competitive

• On EU funding, the government should maintain UK access to the European Investment Bank, and ensure there is no funding ‘cliffedge’ for areas in receipt of EU funding • On Northern Ireland, the government must avoid any return to a hard border, so that businesses can move people and goods as freely as possible.

Adam Marshall, BCC Director General, said: “Business communities across the UK want practical considerations, not ideology or politics, at the heart of the government's approach to Brexit negotiations.

"What’s debated in Westminster often isn't what matters for most businesses. Most firms care little about the exact process for triggering Article 50, but they care a lot about an unexpected VAT hit to their cash flow, sudden changes to regulation, the inability to recruit the right people for the job, or if their products are stopped by customs authorities at the border. The everyday nitty-gritty of doing business across borders must be front and centre in the negotiation process.

"What’s also clear is that the eventual Brexit deal is far from the only thing on the minds of the UK’s business communities. An ambitious domestic agenda for business and the economy is also essential so that business can drive our post-Brexit success.

“Firms across the UK want a clear assurance that Brexit isn't going to be the only thing on the Government's economic agenda for the next few years.”

Marcus Mason, Head of Business at the BCC, and author of the report, said: “Since the historic vote on June 23, we have worked with Chamber business communities all across the UK to determine their key priorities for the Brexit transition.

“This report brings those practical priorities together and urges the government to adopt them in the forthcoming negotiations.

Chambers of Commerce stand ready to help the government shape a pragmatic and practical approach to the coming transition, so that firms can continue to trade successfully with customers and suppliers across Europe and around the world.”

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Arts & Culture

Three composers; Three acts; Three floors Snow, world premiere of the opera in Peckham’s Bussey Building.

A little back alley leads from the burger bars and flashing lights of Rye Lane, into the grafitti covered walls of a converted cricket bat factory. You could be in Berlin, but in fact you are in Peckham.

It is here that the world premiere of a brand new opera, Snow, by new opera company The Opera Story is taking place.

The story is based on the folk tale of Snow White and the libretto is written by poet JL Williams.

The three act opera is written by three different composers, Lewis Murphy, Lucie Treacher, and Tom Floyd, and staged on

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three different floors (a superb job by Set Designer Rachel Szmukler): you start at the top of the factory and move downstairs with each act.

Just in case the drama becomes overwhelming, there is a fully stocked bar on each floor to keep you well lubricated.

The first act, The Three Ravens, opens onto a white stage set.

There is a crib with a white veil, a white armchair with a little yellow table light, and an illuminated dolls house. A long white free standing mirror stands centre stage, just the thing for a wicked stepmother.

From the moment soprano Alison Privett, appears, you realise she is perfectly cast.

She has the Celtic black hair and white skin that Disney chose for Snow White, and as she emerges in charming pyjamas and begins to sing beautifully, you are engrossed by her tormented life.

Rick Zwart is the powerful baritone, and enigmatic, adulterous King, who recoils from Snow White's mother when she is pregnant.

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As the King sits on the bed with Snow White, there are hints of an incestuous relationship.

Mezzo soprano Polly Leech is powerful as the despairing former Queen, rejected by her husband. Soprano Alison Langer is magnificently seductive as the wicked stepmother. She shamelessly gropes the King on stage, and orders Snow to be thrown out into the cold.

The second act, the Death of the Seven Dwarves, music by Lucie Treacher, shows Snow White, lost in the forest, tormented by village women.

They finally tie the terrified girl up, plant a burning kiss on her lips, and set fire to the whole scene. This act was mesmerisingly dramatic, but had one very serious omission.

You never saw the Seven Dwarfs.

The Final Act, composer Tom Floyd's The Crystal Casket has an ominous tomb like setting.

The dead Snow White is incarcerated in a coffin, until rescued by her besotted handsome prince. His mother acerbically points out that he

cannot marry a girl who is dead.

But love will find a way, and the opera ends triumphantly.

The Opera Story is the brainchild of Colombian investment management professional Manuel Fajardo and Scottish opera singer Hamish Mackay, who have done a magnificent job. Their vision is to give up-and-coming writers and composers the chance to create new works for opera.

As Manuel has so rightly pointed out, the number of performances of operas by living composers is still relatively small, dwarfed by the performances of operas of the established repertoire, which makes it difficult for young opera composers to break out.

Their first venture in Southwark's Bussey building is a resounding triumph, and they hope to produce their next venture in yet another extraordinary Southwark building.

Let us wish them every success.

Credit for the photographs: Š Nick Rutter

Art & Culture

Imagine those crayfish nibbling your toes An exhibition of work by Swedish interior designer Josef Frank at the Fashion and Textile Museum Bermondsey St. Sunflowers, butterflies, waves, and tropical birds are some of the gorgeous blue, green, orange, and pink images that greet you as you enter the first ever UK exhibition of work in this country by Swedish designer Josef Frank. But, as my fellow viewer pointed out, you might sleep a little fitfully in a room adorned by wallpaper featuring hungry looking cray fish.

There is a stunning collection of sofas, wallpaper, carpets, and watercolours, and it is a welcome surprise to read PLEASE DO SIT ON THIS CHAIR, rather than the usual severe admonition not to.

I must say I happily tried every sofa, and they were at once relaxing and radiant.

Some of the most outstanding images were the wallpapers, usually on a white background and with a central theme. For example, there were images of ships in blue and white from the twelfth to the eighteenth century, many of them well known to a British audience, such as the Mayflower, (pride of Southwark),and Nelson’s ship, HMS Victory. There were images of butterflies and parrots, and a delightful composition, like a children’s educational poster, of coffee, cocoa, and tea plants.

There were the signs of the zodiac, in blue grey and white, and a very original depiction of Manhattan, with white grids, against a red and green background. Each wall hanging has a painted square beside it,

with the original image, which formed the basis of the repeating pattern.

Josef Frank was a remarkable man, a Jewish architect and designer, who escaped from his native Austria in 1933 to join the firm of Estrid Ericson, Swedish designer,entrepreneur and artist, and become a partner in her firm. You would never guess that the colourful paradise he has created, was against a background of the bombings, racism, and genocide of the 1930’s.

Upstairs is an exhibition of the watercolours Frank painted, as a hobby. You can see his favourite themes of plants and

fruit and trees, all with his distinctive use of vibrant colours. He uses the watercolour like oils, spreading it thickly on the canvas, but somehow the watercolours lack the distinctive impact of the butterflies and birds in his wallpaper which are radiant, against a white background.

One thing certainly does ring true though. Josef Frank is known to have said that painting made him happy.

When you are immersed in the gorgeous paradises he has created, both in the natural, and man made world, you feel happy too.

“Some of the most outstanding images were the wallpapers, usually on a white background and with a central theme. ”

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Art & Culture

“Art” at the Old Vic Would you pay 100,000 euros for this?

Would you pay 100,000 euros for a white canvas with a few white lines on it?

Suave divorced dermatologist Serge( Rufus Sewell), aggressive, balding aircraft engineer Marc (Paul Ritter) and red headed, bearded, ranting Yvan (Tim Key) battled this out on a minimalist stage at the Old Vic in Waterloo, and kept us gripped for an unbroken ninety minutes.

The acting is superb and there are some memorable moments in the play. Perhaps the best parts are when Serge, in separate scenes, proudly introduces each of his friends to the five foot by four foot white canvas, tells them what he paid for it and waits for their response. The writer, Frenchwoman Yasmina Reza, trained in mime and this is a marvellous opportunity for each actor to express their feelings without actually saying a word. Seated in the packed audience, you could hear a pin drop, waiting to hear the actors speak.

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Each actor is excellent in his own way. Rufus Sewell, known for playing sexy upper class baddies in costume dramas, becomes authentically French as the dermatologist Serge, the ultimate intellectual snob.

He advises his friends in a crisis, to solve their problems by reading Seneca, and orders them where to stand, to admire his blank canvas. Paul Ritter is the pugnacious aircraft engineer, Marc, who, to the audience’s relief, denounces the painting as a complete rip-off but then goes a bit too far in his merciless bashing of Serge. The two of them turn on poor Yvan, and castigate him as a vacillating amoeba when he tries to be diplomatic.

But he has, perhaps, the best lines in the play, when he goes into a tirade about the problems with whether to put the different stepmothers' names on the invitations for his forthcoming wedding. Ritter launches into this lengthy rant on explosive family politics, without taking a breath, and brought the audience to its feet, cheering wildly.

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But the real star of the show has to be the painting itself, or rather the lighting director, Hugh Vanstone. You begin as a member of the audience, as outraged as Marc, at the thought that someone has paid €100,000 for the painting.

But as the play progresses, and

Ivan stares at it, commenting on the different colours he can see on the canvas, you begin to wonder whether you are truly missing something.

The play has finished its run at the Old Vic, but keep your eyes skinned for a revival.

Education & Skills

An international feel to our local College Lewisham Southwark College have begun to welcome a wide range of international students and visitors to study English language, and Higher Education courses in the new Southwark Campus.

Visits have already started, with agents from Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Iran. Just before Christmas, the College also welcomed further education specialists from Korea via the British Council.

The new campus, located on The Cut, is London’s newest college campus with a wide range of state-of-the-art facilities including science labs, music recording studio, large fashion workshops, Mac Labs and dedicated drama and dance studios.

The College, which has over 7,100 students, is already a diverse and welcoming location – with students from 79 nationalities, where 149 languages are spoken.

Their English language courses include IELTS preparation and Cambridge English qualifications, which are highly valued by universities and employers around the world.

These interactive, enjoyable courses – taught in high-tech language facilities – are designed to improve speaking skills as well as reading, writing, listening and grammar.

An area of the campus will be dedicated to Higher Education students from September, welcoming more students to enjoy learning in the heart of London. The College delivers a range of HND, HNC and foundation degree qualifications which can then be ‘topped up’ at one of the London partner institutions to a full Bachelor’s degree. With fees cheaper per year whilst at the College (instead of a traditional

university), this is fast becoming a popular option for students.

International students have a high success rate in their final exams and leave ready to take their next steps – whether that’s

further study or work – so it’s an exciting venture for our local college.

If you’d like to find out more, please visit LSCollege.ac.uk

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International

Notary services made simple Vanner Perez Notaries. Modern and professional.

In an increasingly competitive marketplace British businesses are looking to new markets for growth opportunities and there are few markets more exciting or larger than China.

However, doing business in a foreign country, especially a country like China, brings with it many challenges, not least because of legal, cultural and linguistic differences.

Thankfully, Vanner Perez Notaries are an ideal partner to help you make the most of

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the many opportunities that China presents.

Our notaries are very familiar with working with documents for use in China, both for our private clients as well as our corporate clientele. Typically we notarise and arrange legalisation of educational documents for people wishing to work in China, corporate documentation for companies seeking to do business there or court papers for companies involved in litigation in China, most frequently to protect their intellectual property.

Southwark BUSINESS TODAY

Vanner Perez Notaries’ services include notarisation, legalisation and translation – not only for China, but for any country in the world. Our team has a wealth of experience in dealing with documents for clients across every sector of business as well as private clients from all walks of life. Our team is on hand to provide you with a fast, high-quality and costeffective service, always looking to cut costs and working with you to overcome obstacles.

We have an in-house translation company and so we are well-placed to help you translate documents from and into both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Our existing clients include magic circle law firms, international banks and global fashion brands as well as many small and medium sized business from every conceivable

business sector based in Southwark, the City and beyond. We are known for our excellent service, competitive prices and friendly team.

We are also very proud winners of Lawyer Monthly’s “Notarial Services Law Firm of the Year UK” award for 2016.

If you’d like to find out more about how we can help you do business in China, or indeed elsewhere, you can email us at info@vpnotaries.co.uk or call 020 3668 6626.

International Trade

China: Huge opportunities for UK companies, but where do you start?

Mark Hedley, china business advisor at China Britain Business Council, explains how UK companies should think about business with China – from understanding the current economic climate there to taking their first steps into the market.

For UK businesses new to the China market, it can be very hard to know where to start. On the one hand, it is adding an economy the size of Switzerland to itself each year but some argue its economy is on a cliff edge.

Innovation in China is increasingly more dynamic and globally impactful and yet China is often still regarded by business as a serious intellectual property (IP) risk.

Eye-watering figures numbering in the billions are regularly thrown about and make it hard

to understand what is really happening in China and how UK companies of different sizes and sectors can get involved.

China’s Economy is changing

The massive 10%+ GDP growth figures through last 30 years were built on low-cost manufacturing for export and large-scale asset investment.

It is a common path for developing economies but eventually does need to transition, as we have seen in China’s near neighbours.

Since the spring of 2013, the

Chinese government has talked about a New Normal – slower, more sustainable growth.

As a result of this shift, some traditionally strong sectors will struggle and there will be uncertainty. But new opportunities are blossoming.

And now, more than ever before the UK has the kinds of products and services that China wants – in education, healthcare, professional services, creative and innovative design, advanced engineering – all of which suit the lifestyle of a new emerging middle class in China.

Looking beyond the news headlines

Bad news and dramatic headlines sell but business people must be more granular in how they look at the challenges and opportunities.

China’s macro figures are trying to take into account an enormous and diverse economy.

Doing business successfully in China is about understanding the thirst for your goods and services on the ground. It also means understanding the local challenges. UK-China trade stands at about £60billion

Southwark BUSINESS TODAY

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International Trade

“Doing business successfully in China is about understanding the thirst for your goods and services on the ground. It also means understanding the local challenges. UK-China trade stands at about £60billion annually; having increased 2.5 times in the last 10 years and opportunities will only increase.”

annually; having increased 2.5 times in the last 10 years and opportunities will only increase.

What is also important to note is that in many areas China has leapfrogged traditional distribution channels. This is most relevant online. China is many steps ahead of the rest of the world in how the retail experience is integrated with smartphones, for example.

Social media platforms, such as WeChat and Taobao, have become life-partners for hundreds of millions of people, rather than occasional chatting and browsing platforms.

For any UK company, it is important to realise that China is different – not impossible.

It most certainly has challenges for businesses and like all countries has its own political agenda, which does not always align with the status quo.

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So where do I start?

It is important to do your homework. Be clear about what you want to achieve in China.

Talk to relevant organisations like the CBBC and the Department for International Trade. They can support with advice and a range of services such as research, trade missions, support to attend trade fairs and more.

Look for other similar companies who already have connections in market. CBBC’s 1000+ members often work together to help each other avoid the common pitfalls when entering the market.

Business in China is done very differently to the west and misunderstandings often have as much to do with culture as language. There is a greater importance placed on

Southwark BUSINESS TODAY

relationships, showing proper respect, and avoiding conflict.

Socialising is a big part of the process and Chinese business people will seek to build trust and rapport before moving forward with contracts.

Going to China and spending time with your partners to build these relationships is very important where possible.

Emerging Chinese competition is making it harder in some sectors but British goods and services are seen in a positive light in China and companies have succeeded across numerous sectors. When you have done your homework and are ready to really consider the market, avoid the low cost/high volume market. Domestic competition here is intense and foreign companies cannot compete on price alone.

Instead, differentiate yourself

on your unique selling proposition, quality and know-how. It’s also important to be flexible and localise your products or services quickly.

Businesses who assume their offering has the same appeal as in their home market are more likely to fail.

These are all ways to take the first step. It is not easy, but any company with an eye on international trade needs to consider ‘what does China mean for me now?’ You might not be ready, but at least think about it today.

China-Britain Business Council T +44 (0)20 7802 2015 www.cbbc.org

News

Joyslide for the 21st century Protection Thousands of Bermondsey children loved to play on the joyslide located in St James Churchyard between 1921, when it was opened and the mid 1980s when it was removed due to its poor state of repair caused by arson and vandalism.

As we approach the 100th anniversary of its provision, please join us in seeking to raise funds for a JOYSLIDE FOR THE 21st CENTURY. It will be located on the original site as part of the Children’s Playground.

The first slide was the idea of a local businessman, ARTHUR CARR, of the Peak Freans biscuit factory, who noticed the children of the area using the steps of the Church as a slide.

He was supported by ADA SALTER, local councillor and tireless campaigner for parks and gardens and playgrounds as one way of improving the health and quality of life of local people. With others, they raised the necessary funds for the slide to be provided.

Now we want to do the same.

The new joyslide will be designed for the same purpose, namely, to provide a means of enjoyment for children living in the area.

As well as the Council, the Project has the support of St James Church, THAMES TIDEWAY, CO-OP and the GROSVENOR ESTATE, the new owners of the Biscuit Factory, all co-ordinated through the Friends of St. James Churchyard.

The Project will include a History Board telling the story of the original slide.

The target required is £40,000.

Fundraising is already underway and donations can be sent to: St. James Bermondsey PCC Bank Sort Code: 40 52 40 A/C No. 00023983 Please reference all donations ‘Joyslide Project’.

There will be a formal launch event for the Fundraising Campaign at a Community event in the Churchyard on Saturday 22 Jul 2017, supported by a grant from the United St. Saviours Charity.

for pubs

One hundred and eighty eight pubs in Southwark have been given an extra layer of protection from development.

Southwark Council’s planning

committee agreed a proposal to place an Article 4 Direction to

withdraw Permitted Development Rights, introduced by the

Government, that threaten pubs by allowing any change of use,

demolition or alteration of public houses across the borough.

The Article 4 means that any

changes to local pubs will have to

go through the planning process, meaning the council – and local

community – will be able to have a say on any proposed changes.

Southwark is one of only a couple

of London authorities to take this

step with Wandsworth using the same planning regulations to

protect pubs.

News UK and the Wireless Group launch the Wireless Academy News UK’s News Academy has announced the latest partnership with The Wireless Group with the launch of the Wireless Academy.

The Wireless Academy will use the talent across talkSPORT, talkSPORT2, talkRADIO and Virgin Radio to nurture the next big hit shows and the UK’s most promising young presenters and producers.

The nationwide competition is open for submissions to those aged between 18-to-25-years- old.

Winners will join talent from across The Wireless Group at their studios in London, where they will work with producers to build their winning show ideas.

Finished shows will be pitched to a panel of top presenters including Edith Bowman, Julia Hartley-Brewer, Jim White, Jamie East and Paul Ross, who will offer their

professional opinion of the work produced.

Applicants have until Sunday 4th June to submit their ideas, and winners will spend the day at the Wireless London studios on Thursday 6th July.

More details can be found here https://academy.news.co.uk/news/newsacademy-launches-wireless-academy/

Southwark BUSINESS TODAY

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Spotlight on ...

Exciting times in Peckham These are exciting times for the Peckham and Nunhead area with a wide range of organisations working together to strengthen the local economy.

The area continues to be a key priority for Southwark Council, which has worked with local organisations on the Area Action Plan (AAP) to identify a raft of initiatives to provide much-needed new jobs, retail space and homes for local residents.

The AAP was consulted on extensively with local residents, businesses and community groups over a number of years and has already seen the Peckham Partnership deliver thousands of new homes, new parks in north Peckham, a new library and the Peckham Pulse leisure centre at Peckham Square.

In addition, the award-winning Bellenden Area Renewal programme and other housing renewal programmes have been successfully completed, resulting in more high quality housing and streetscape improvements.

Better transport links was one of the key themes that came up time and time again during

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the consultation so part of the approach has been improvements to Peckham Rye Station Square and Network Rail has developed plans for the arches to the east and west.

The Overground now runs through Peckham Rye and Queens Road Peckham stations, providing a much needed boost for local transport.

A retail study in 2015 states Peckham has 56,630 sq.m of retail floorspace.

Whilst it is a vibrant and busy centre, a retail study showed that most people in Southwark go outside the borough to shop for things like clothes, shoes, music, books and electronic equipment.

Peckham town centre has lots of small shops selling day to day goods, including ethnic food, and according to the council and other organisations working on the plan, there is the potential to increase the range of goods offered in the town centre Also, the partnership secured Heritage Lottery Funding for

Southwark BUSINESS TODAY

shop front improvements around Rye Lane and the redevelopment of the Wooddene Estate and there have been improvements at Queens Road Peckham Station and the surrounding area.

Peckham town centre has also developed a reputation as a creative and cultural hub and work is under way to increase the activities on offer, everything from music to art.

An example of the varied businesses operating in Peckham is Jar & Fern which produces hand-made terrariums, succulent globes and indoor plant arrangements.

In addition to producing the company runs workshops mainly in South East London in Camberwell, Brockwell Park and near Elephant and Castle, teaching people how to make their own.

Teaching the workshops now makes up most of the business along with running team building events and providing terrariums for offices and private venues.

Centre at the heart of the shopping experience The Aylesham Centre lies at the heart of Peckham Town Centre, on Rye Lane, and plays a key role in Peckham’s shopping experience.

Tiger Developments Ltd is at the early stages of exploring options for redevelopment of the centre and to understand the views of the local community, consultation workshops were held in November 2016.

Almost 100 people, including residents and businesses, attended across two evenings providing useful feedback which is being used by Tiger Developments Ltd to develop their proposals for the centre.

The discussions explored the opportunities and potential of the Aylesham Centre, including delivering a bigger and better Morrison’s store and a new retail centre with a mix of shops and leisure uses that will complement the existing town centre. The site also offers the potential to introduce new spaces for small businesses and the community, as well

Spotlight on ...

Peckham Level 2

as deliver new private and affordable homes.

It is Tiger Developments Ltd’s aim to create a range of new employment opportunities for local people through this redevelopment. In recognition of the large number of small and medium sized businesses in the area, the project team is currently exploring options for a variety of different sized office spaces within the centre.

It is expected that this will boost the local economy, as this type of space is not currently provided in the area, and provide opportunities to encourage new businesses and for existing businesses to expand into larger premises.

Tiger Developments Ltd will be consulted local people further in the coming months before submitting a planning application in the Autumn.

More details on the engagement conducted so far, including a summary of the feedback from the consultation workshops, can be found at

www.ayleshamcentrepeckham.co.uk

Applications officially open for membership at Peckham Levels.

Currently under construction and due to open in September, Peckham Levels is transforming seven levels of Peckham’s multi-storey car park into a creative workspace, community hub and cultural destination.

Peckham Levels will be a new creative community for artists, designers, entrepreneurs, makers and doers and the building will house a mixture of creative workspaces including studios, offices, manual workshops, music studios, print facilities and photography studios.

The site will also feature large public community spaces including event and exhibition venues, wellbeing and fitness studios and independent food and drink outlets.

A core purpose of the project is to offer affordable and inspiring workspace to local artists, makers, designers and small creative businesses.

Ten of the 50 studios available will be offered at highly subsidised rates to talented local people who otherwise might not be able to pay for membership.

There are also opportunities for larger, growing businesses with teams of up to 30.

Applications will be open until the 30th of April. Applicants will be scored based on a number of criteria including their locality to the project, their commitment to its ethos, a pledge of volunteering in the local community, their idea for using the space and their potential for growth.

Applications for membership from people already living or working in the area will be prioritised and the project is committed to reserving at least 70% of the available memberships for local people.

A number of Drop-In Sessions have been arranged where anyone can receive help with their application, including: 18th April, 17:00 – 19:00 at Peckhamplex Cinema, SE15 4ST Application forms are available at www.peckhamlevels.org/ membership

Changing lives for the better

What if your morning coffee could change lives? With the support and power of The Big Issue, Change Please have empowered homeless people with the skills, equipment and speciality beans they need to become fully-fledged baristas.

The organisation provides professional training and support with housing and bank accounts and give those in need an opportunity to turn their lives around.

Change Please have vans at locations in the centre of

Coffee at Change Please

London including Borough Market and The Shard and are always on the lookout for new places from which we can trade to help more people who have been homeless.”

They have a referral process for new Baristas whereby partners including CentrePoint and Big Issue refer potential new workers.

Following an interview process, it is expected that the applicant will attend an intensive training course over the period of one month. The training course includes cash handling, money-management, making and serving coffees, time management and customer service.

Change Please have developed partnerships with other organisations in the Hospitality and Catering Sector.

They are also looking to open up retail spaces, develop their offerings to corporates and continue to make a positive influence in the lives of people who have suffered from homelessness.

Peckham Town Centre – a community view

By Eileen Conn and Corinne Turner Peckham Vision’s community shop in Holdrons Arcade is a hub for information and discussion about Peckham town centre for residents, visitors, traders and small businesses.

Peckham Vision has grown from the local community campaign 10 years ago to improve the area around Peckham Rye station and to review plans to demolish several acres of the town centre for a tram depot.

This has led the way to an imaginative re-use of old buildings providing a supportive and stimulating environment for micro businesses.

As a result, the potential for a new cultural quarter in Central Rye Lane that the community campaign identified has been realised in the vibrant local economy in Copeland Park & Bussey Building and Holdrons Arcade. The new businesses along Blenheim Grove and in

Peckham Vision Community Shop in Holdrons Arcade

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Spotlight on ... the forthcoming Peckham Levels in the Multi Storey Car Park, and around the station and new square, are continuing this evolution.

All these changes are not without their new issues. More needs to be done to mitigate the impact of the growing night time economy on Rye Lane and local residents. And escalating house prices and rents, and business rents and rates, are forcing people who have lived and worked here for many years to move away. This is bound to have an effect on the nature of Peckham.

Historic Peckham High Street

Peckham town centre has a rare collection of buildings spanning the centuries since the late 1600s. They all jostle together to provide an eclectic and varied skyline in a living working museum reflecting London’s development from rural village to modern cosmopolitan city. Several years ago Peckham Vision got the support of English Heritage

and Southwark Council for a Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI) with over £2m to restore some of those historic buildings. That work should soon be seeing the light of day!

However, in the last year Peckham town centre has been awash with planning applications for large and small development sites. This is likely to change dramatically the character of Peckham town centre. Time will tell whether all these changes destroy the features that have made it so attractive, and just recently winning the top accolade as 'best place to live in London’.

An important part of creating the conditions for healthy, sustainable town centres is a lively local community.

For over a decade now the often unseen community planning work spearheaded by Peckham Vision, making ‘below the radar’ connections, helping local people have their voices heard and contributing local knowledge and experience about the area, has played its part. There is however much still to do in developing real dialogue and enabling the views of local people to shape their local neighbourhoods, rather than being dominated by external pressures.

Several years ago Peckham Vision teamed up with some traders in Rye Lane to form the Rye Lane Traders’ Association (RLTA).

This is a small voluntary team helping local traders deal with some of their business issues, and have a voice in the town centre developments. Recently, the RLTA linked up with the Southwark Chamber of Commerce through their Executive Committee on our mutual interests. Through this, we arranged a visit for Cllr Johnson Situ, Council Cabinet Member for Business, Culture and Social Regeneration, to meet some of the traders to hear what it is like trading on Rye Lane.

These were some of the issues that surfaced...

• Importance of equal car parking facilities for trading in the south of Rye Lane as well as in the north.

• Continuing problems for loading and unloading in Rye Lane.

• 'Waste management system should differentiate between business size and needs.

Rye Lane traders talk to Cllr Johnson Situ

Rye Lane traders talk to Cllr Johnson Situ

• Need for organised training for small traders, on a range of trading standards.

• Need for changes to ease the pressures of business rates on small shops on high streets.

We look forward to further discussions with the Council and Chamber of Commerce on how to take these matters forward.

* Peckham Vision is a local group that works to keep local people informed of changes in the community, and how they can take action where needed.

The community shop is in Holdrons Arcade, 135A Rye Lane, and open Saturdays 2-5pm and Tuesdays 2-4pm.

The group is run by a community team of local residents, and runs a multimedia information service about Peckham town centre. www.peckhamvision.org

Meeting the challenge of changing times by Peter M Frost Historically in the 1930s, Rye Lane was known as the Golden Mile.

Since that time, Peckham, Camberwell, Brixton and Lewisham, all centres with very fine departmental stores have all seen dramatic change in the methods of shopping. In many ways this has had a terminal effect on stores trading this way.

Only The West End and Kensington have bucked the trend. There is no simple way of trying to encourage the major chain stores coming back to Peckham, despite valiant efforts to do so. Out of town shopping centres, Bluewater, Lakeside and Westfield Stratford City, are very large spacious stores with car parking, often free, commensurate with them. Many rural towns run coach services to them.

The other major player is the internet.

What is easier to click on something on your PC/mobile device and have it delivered the next day?

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Southwark BUSINESS TODAY

The other trend is the large nationally known businesses on the Old Kent Road.

Recently certain businesses have sold off some of their car parking spaces for other purposes including houses.

There is one active engineering firm which may lose its site if the council conducts a CPO for more housing. This is all driven by the millions of pounds that are going to be invested into land either side of this major highway into which two underground stations are to be built.

Peckham has become a destination for shoppers travelling by our excellent bus and railway system. The car parking areas have become redundant.

Hence the exciting “Peckham Levels” a new entrepreneurial space for small businesses is to set up in a mostly decommissioned multi storey car park.

We have the re-development of Peckham Rye Station which will ensure that the

1930s buildings in the central part of the station are demolished. This will open up the façade of the Grade ll railway station as it was in the 1860s and will enhance the Conservation areas which at present cover most of Rye Lane, Peckham High Street and Peckham Hill Street.

There are challenges for example about decommissioning the businesses already in situ within the precincts of the station.

The hairdressers and nail bars may be placed in Peckham Palms, an enclave distant from good footfall in Bournemouth Road. We can see what is possible by looking at Bellenden Road and slightly further away in East Dulwich, Lordship Lane. Perhaps the biggest problem is gentrification which is a double edged sword. On one hand we see property values going up but that is going to make it difficult for start ups and then sustaining them.

Remembering when ...

Remembering when Peckham was just a village on the River Peck S.E. of London

By Ken Hayes. Hon. Secretary

In 1826 the project ran out of money and was never completed. In 1970 the canal was drained and filled in.

In 1851 Thomas Tilling started a horse drawn omnibus service from Peckham to London that had designated bus stops along the route and ran to a timetable. His services expanded to cover much of the London area until his horses were requisitioned for use in the First World War in 1914.

Peckham, a Saxon word meaning Village on the River Peck, a tributary of the River Thames.

Archaeological finds indicate early Roman occupation of the area.

Peckham appears in the Doomsday Book in 1086 as, Pecheham, owned by the Bishop of Liseux. The Manor was owned by King Henry I, who gave it to his son Robert, Earl of Gloucester. Robert married the heiress to Camberwell and the two manors were united under royal ownership. King John hunted in the area and he may have given the right to hold an annual Fair in celebration of a particularly good day’s sport. The fair was abolished in 1827 as it became rowdy. Peckham became part of the Parish of Camberwell and in 1900 became the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell and in1965 part of the London Borough of Southwark.

By the 16th Century Peckham became a popular place for the rich to build mansions, due to its proximity to the City of London and in the 18th Century the area became a commercial centre and attracted industries who moved there to avoid the

higher rents in London. There were also extensive market gardens and orchards suppling the London Markets with vegetables and fruit, including figs melons and grapes.

Peckham Manor, was rebuilt in 1672 by Sir Thomas Bond.

It was set on fire in 1688, as the then owner, Sir Henry Bond, was a Roman Catholic and a supporter of James II. It was demolished in 1797 for the construction of Peckham Hill Street as the area developed. Stagecoaches passing through Peckham from 1744 onwards had armed guards for the rest of the journey into London to protect them from Highway robbers.

Peckham was one of the last resting stops for many of the cattle drovers taking their cattle and sheep to the London Cattle Market. They stayed overnight in the local Inns, (such as the Red Cow), while the animals were held in secure holding pens. The unpaved roads were rough and narrow, so a branch of the Grand Surrey Canal was planned to link the Thames to Portsmouth. The first section of the canal was built from Surrey Docks to Peckham, which carried timber.

The arrival of the railway to Peckham, which opened in 1865, led to an increase in demand for housing that resulted in the development of land owned by the Hill family, hence the name Peckham Hill Street. Previously housing had developed in two areas, in north Peckham, (south of the Old Kent Road), and in south Peckham.

The railway and the arrival of Trams, made Peckham available to city workers and dock workers in the Port of London.

(Peckham Rye station’s victorian waiting room and staircase have recently been restored and brought back into use).

Housing for this socio-economic group filled all the fields around Peckham except for the Rye. In 1868 the civil vestry of St Giles Camberwell bought the Rye to keep it as common land.

In 1894 the vestry bought the adjacent Homestall Farm and opened it as Peckham Rye Park.

The increase in population with disposable income led to Rye Lane becoming a major shopping street. In 1867 Jones and Higgins opened a small shop on the corner of Rye Lane and Peckham High Street, which became one of the best known department stores in South London, which finally closed in 1970. Towards the end of the 19th Century George Batty, a condiment maker, whose business was at Finsbury Pavement in the City, opened a factory at 127 Brayards Road and adjacent railway arches.

This was taken over by H.J. Heinz in 1905, their first manufacturing unit in England.

Peckham suffered the post WW1 depression and again, following WW11, as Peckham had suffered war damage. This was addressed in the 1960’s by high rise re-development to replace dilapidated housing in north Peckham.

History tends to repeat itself and today Peckham has again become a popular place to live and run businesses, as it was 150 years ago.

“The arrival of the railway to Peckham, which opened in 1865, led to an increase in demand for housing that resulted in the development of land owned by the Hill family, hence the name Peckham Hill Street.”

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Up Close

A demanding job as hospital goes from strength to strength These are exciting times at London Bridge Hospital and steering the institution through a period of rapid expansion is Janene Madden, who was appointed as the CEO with effect from January 1.

Janene joined the hospital after a successful seven-year tenure as Chief Executive of The Portland Hospital, which like London Bridge Hospital is also part of HCA Healthcare UK. She joins London Bridge Hospital as it prepares to expand not only its services on the main campus but also about to open a new specialist private unit over four floors at the Cancer Centre at Guy's Hospital.

A physiotherapist by profession, Janene came to the UK from her native New Zealand 20 years ago, practicing for five years before going into management.

She said: “My working day either sees me get into the office at 7.30am or 9am depending on if I have meetings with our doctors.

“I have three children so I try to spend time with them at the start of the day or the end of the day and, because of the nature of the hospital’s work, the best time to get doctors together is early in the morning or evenings.

“Meetings with our clinical teams are an important part of my working day because our consultants are central to the development of the business and it helps to get as many of them in the same room as possible to share ideas.

“Not only does my job entail ensuring that we comply with our regulatory standards but we also seek to exceed standards, delivering clinical excellence and exceptional customer service.

“We are also constantly seeking to grow the business and the doctors play an important role in doing that. They may not always realise it but they have the ideas and the specialities and research knowledge that will allow us to take advantage of new opportunities. Getting them together helps us to do that.”

The approach works and recent times have witnessed a steady story of expansion. Opening in April, the new hospital is a good example. Based in space rented from Guy’s, the centre will bring together services ranging from chemotherapy to surgery, including the specialties urology, breast surgery and gynaecology.

In January 2016 London Bridge Hospital opened a new medical facility in The Shard, including consulting and treatment rooms backed by hi-tech equipment such as 3T MRI scanners and CT scanning, and where patients are treated by experts from HCA’s network of leading consultants in everything from orthopaedics and physiotherapy to spinal rehabilitation, women’s health and paediatrics.

Janene said: “We are expanding all the time and we are seeing a lot of demand from people wishing to take advantage of private healthcare, either through their own self funding plans or through medical insurance.

“Whether that is down to recent headlines relating to problems in the NHS it is difficult to say but we are definitely seeing an increase and a lot of our work is focused on developing ways to meet that demand and widen our service.

“Once I have finished my morning meetings, I will have other meetings to attend during the day while also taking time to answer my emails.

“I receive a lot of emails and every minute spent on a train is taken up with answering them or perhaps reading minutes of meetings or doing more general reading so that I keep up to date with developments.

“Then it may be onto evening meetings either with doctors and perhaps our medical board, which meets in the evening as well.

“When I get home, I will try to make time to be with my children then I will log back onto my laptop later in the evening and find myself working until half eleven or midnight. The beauty is that I can work at home which does allow me to see my family.”

“We are expanding all the time and we are seeing a lot of demand from people wishing to take advantage of private healthcare, either through their own self funding plans or through medical insurance.”

Southwark BUSINESS TODAY

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New Member Profile

We’ve got your back!

How London Wellness is championing preventative healthcare in London Bridge.

give their clients exceptional treatment, whilst teaching the science behind it.

Their unique approach allows a full understanding of the issues surrounding your stresses, aches and pains; they can address the cause, rather than just the symptoms. Chiropractic is a quick-yet-effective treatment and with simple habit changes it will have a profound impact on your long term health and wellbeing.

The London Wellness Centre first opened its doors in London Bridge two years ago.

With a specialty in Chiropractic, their philosophy advocates that ‘prevention is better than cure’.

They seek to help patients live happier, healthier lives, free from pain.

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Clinical Director, Dr Joanna Lowry-Corry (BSc Hons, MChiro, CCEP, LC) and her husband, Director, Oliver Codrington saw that there was a demand for affordable, drug-free treatment for the busy London Bridge populous. They aspire to change attitudes to ‘alternative’ medicine, and in doing so,

Southwark BUSINESS TODAY

With over 40% of the population suffering from back and neck pain, these statistics will only increase if people are not informed of proactive treatment and the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle. Whilst there has been a recent shift in attitude towards drug-free therapy, many still revert to pain-killers as a simple ‘quick-fix’. This is where London Wellness steps in. Drugs only mask the issue, bringing temporary relief, but do not address the underlying cause.

Clinical Director, Dr Joanna Lowry-Corry

In essence you end up unknowingly perpetuating or aggravating the problem.

So why not book your assessment now?

Visit thisislondonwellness.com or call 020 7531 4444 for more information.

* As a special offer for Southwark Chamber of Commerce members, London Wellness can organise a spinal screening and health talk in your office.

New Member Profile

IT support to SME businesses for over 20 years At Complete I.T. our business is our people and without them we would not be where we are today.

The best IT Support is delivered through great people and that is what we have. With 6 offices throughout the UK Complete I.T. have been providing market leading IT Support services to SME’s for over 24 years.

We are passionate about understanding our client’s businesses and helping them

use IT to meet their goals and overcome challenges. We don’t just fix problems, we find ways to improve your systems and positively impact on your team and your business.

Some of the key areas we are focusing on are security and ensuring our clients are as safe as possible, this includes implementing multi-layered security solutions and enabling the education of end users.

COMPLETE I.T.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is also big news, coming into effect in May 2018, all businesses, big and small, will be affected and planning is key. We run quarterly educational seminars which are advertised across our social media channels, with guest speakers such as our partners Microsoft and Datto.

We opened our London office in 2015 to ensure we were closer to our clients and have recently re-located to accommodate our growing team.

Our London team is made up of Jordan Arthur, General Manager whose skills lie within Service Delivery, he is passionate about ensuring each and every client

receives the highest level of customer service and will go above and beyond to make sure this happens.

David Papworth has recently joined the team as Operations Manager and also comes from a Customer Services back ground further enhancing our Service Delivery offering.

We have a full time Technical Helpdesk based within the London Office, Technical Consultants who know our clients businesses and IT inside and out and every client has a dedicated Account Manager who is purely there to ensure they are happy and Complete I.T. are doing what we should be. www.complete-it.co.uk

LOCAL IT SUPPORT SERVICES

Complete I.T. Manager - No In-house IT expertise, leave your IT Systems to us and focus on your core business Complete I.T. Support - Technical Experts to work alongside your existing IT team

Complete I.T. Director - Is IT hampering the growth

of your business? From system selection, data security and governance to the creation and delivery of an IT strategy, the CITD provides you with everything you need.

From Security, Monitoring, Virtualisation, Sourcing and Recovery, we have you covered.

We will happily come and have a discussion with you about your IT needs, give us a call on 0207 9930010 or email enquiries@complete-it.co.uk to book a meeting or for more information.

www.complete-it.co.uk

Complete I.T. Ltd, 5 – 7 Southwark Street, London SE1 1RQ Proud to be new members of Southwark Chamber of Commerce

Southwark BUSINESS TODAY

23

Women in Business

Successful Business Women in Southwark This issue we talk to three businesswomen who make a difference in their field

Why it’s good to talk

Meta Panchamia MW Solicitors

Meta Panchamia’s successful legal career began with a summer job taken as she prepared for the next stage in her education.

As she prepared to begin her A-Levels she worked for a law firm whose senior team were so impressed by her performance that they offered to take her on and fund her legal training.

As a result, Meta never did take her A Levels but was instead trained as a legal executive and was dealing with cases by the age of seventeen.

In time, she qualified as a lawyer and today she works for MW Solicitors, arriving at the

firm in September 2015 to head up the Commercial Dispute Resolution and Insolvency Department.

For Meta, the important thing in dispute resolution is to break down barriers from the outset and to get both sides talking, however entrenched the situation may be.

Meta said: “Taking a case to court really is a last resort.

Indeed, the courts would prefer to see cases settled out of court and they expect to see a good reason if you do go to trial.

“I would say that 95 per cent of cases are resolved but there are times when you do have to go to court.

“Taking a case to court really is a last resort.

Indeed, the courts would prefer to see cases settled out of court and they expect to see a good reason if you do go to trial.”

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Southwark BUSINESS TODAY

“My most recent court case involved one side that simply did not want to settle. We tried to resolve the dispute but they were not interested.

“When I was able to prove that we had done everything possible to come to an agreement but that they did not want to know, the judge came down on our side.

“However, those type of cases are rare. It is always best to get the two sides talking.

Sometimes principles get in the way but the key to success is engaging both sides early on and in my experience most cases can be settled without going to court.”

Women in Business

Life in the technological fast lane

Jessica Symondson Marketing Manager Complete I.T.

Jessica Symondson’s working day is spent in one of the fastest-moving sectors on the planet.

Complete I.T., has an office on Southwark Street, and supports over 400 SME clients, providing outsourced IT Support and priding themselves on becoming a part of their clients businesses. One of the issues all businesses have is securing their systems, CIT will help clients find ways to protect systems against online hackers using multi-layered solutions and user education.

Jessica who started her career over 10 years ago in Pharmaceutical PR, before moving into the IT sector where she has developed a wide range of expertise, said: “We are really busy and one of the things that is occupying a lot of our time is security.

“Security is massive at the moment and a lot of our work is based around educating our clients on ways to keep their systems safe.

“I think a lot of business people understand the need to be vigilant but you can never say you are 100 per cent safe and the hackers are constantly coming up with new ways of operating.

“Our message is that there is a lot you can to do protect yourself, for instance by not

opening suspicious attachments or by not clicking on links that could expose your system.

“Our teams are able to offer advice to clients on security and on a wide range of other IT subjects.

“An important part of what we do is based on providing excellent customer service and our technical staff are very good at speaking in plain language that our clients can understand.”

“Security is massive at the moment and a lot of our work is based around educating our clients on ways to keep their systems safe.”

Preparing for rapid expansion

Jennifer O’Donnell’s journey to becoming director of her own rapidly-growing commercial and domestic cleaning company started in a very different sector.

The owner of Jane Jefferson Cleaning started out in sales with a pharmaceutical company then went to work in increasingly senior roles for BBC Worldwide and Universal Music.

She said: “My dream had always been to work in music and I worked for the UMTV and Decca labels, dealing primarily in albums featuring big name artists.

“However, having done that for a number of years, I became increasingly aware of the work-life balance, particularly as I had two children.

“I had always wanted to do something of my own and we

would discuss it when friends came round and we would ask ourselves ‘but what can I do?’

“In the end, it was my |husband who said ‘you either do something that no one else does or you do something better than anyone else’ and knew that I was good at cleaning and could do it better than anyone else.”

She established the company in 2013, initially on her own, mostly doing residential cleaning, although she now employs thirty eight staff and is expanding her commercial cleaning service.

Jennifer said: “It was hard work at first but gradually the company grew and started to take people on.

“I was always determined that we would look after our staff. I have always had old-fashioned views in that respect and the big

breakthrough came when the MP Heidi Alexander mentioned us as an ethical company in the House of Commons.

“We also won the Living Wage Champion title for London and interest in what we had to offer grew.

“Now, we are on the verge of expanding rapidly and are thinking how we can do it in a way that allows us to retain the high quality of service for which we are known.

“My instinct is that we will go for it but it is important that we deliver the level of service that got us where we are.”

Jennifer O’Donnell Jane Jefferson Cleaning

“I had always wanted to do something of my own and we would discuss it when friends came round and we would ask ourselves ‘but what can I do?”

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25

Hospitality

The Laughing Gravy will have you salivating over the spread The welcoming candles and blue awning of the Laughing Gravy light up the bleak expanse of the Blackfriars Road.

“I was intrigued to sink my teeth into the doughnuts, apprehensive in case they squirted jam at me.”

Once inside, you know immediately you are onto a good thing.

A large crystal ball, like an enlarged bauble on a Christmas tree, lights up the centre of this intimate restaurant but it is the only flamboyant gesture in an intimate setting. Everything else is subdued.

On the walls hang muted black and white photographs of London and monochrome maps.

A piano sits quietly at the back of the restaurant. The waiters wear brown shirts and black trousers, and the plates are good quality brown ceramic.

When you try out the loos, you do not need, as in so many restaurants, an IQ rating of 150 to work out how the taps work.

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You lift them up, and hey presto, water comes out immediately.

However, it is not about the decoration; it is about the food. And what delicious, sophisticated food it is.

Just right before an evening at the theatre.

Owner Jon Wise is a former journalist and TV critic with a passion for good food. He claims his high forehead is due to the hair he lost renovating the restaurant on a shoestring.

He still has a lot of brown curly hair left, so you have to feel that it must be worth it.

We started with Duck terrine set in cider jelly with foie gras pate doughnuts, and rhubarb piccalilli.

Southwark BUSINESS TODAY

The terrine was a lovely mix of colours and blurry shapes, like a Renoir painting, and tasted delicious. I was intrigued to sink my teeth into the doughnuts, apprehensive in case they squirted jam at me.

I need not have worried, they had just the right subtle taste of liver, which contrasted nicely with the slight tang to the terrine.

The main course was roast guinea fowl, braised lentils, cauliflower rice, chervil root puree, and guinea fowl parcels.

The parcels were crispy, the guinea fowl succulent, and the lentils were delicious.

I looked at my watch and wished desperately that we had chosen an earlier time slot.

Our play started at 7 0’clock.

How I wish I had realised that the restaurant cleverly opens its arms to diners from 5pm, realising that many will be on their way to the Old or Young Vic. But the waiters were on our side. We had time to gulp down a very chocolatey hazelnut and chocolate delice with a hazelnut ice cream sphere and iced nougat.

But not enough to sample the hot chocolate, and coffee.

Still, what better excuse to come back soon.

I certainly will. And I won't just restrict myself to that cup of hot chocolate I missed.

Reviews by Susan Isaacs, Southwark Chamber of Commerce, Executive Committee Member

Hospitality

Fifty shades of Pink Welcome to your The Garrison Pub in Bermondsey St , a Gastro pub with a Fifties Vibe

The fringed lampshades with pink roses on them, and the wooden kitchen chairs, give this independent Gastro pub, the air of a tea room from the fifties.

The bookmarks they give you, showing frilly aproned housewives do nothing to dispel this illusion. But don't be fooled. The owners have thought this pub out carefully, and the food is very good indeed.

Cheerful waiters and waitresses greet you, clad in jeans, black jumpers, and grey aprons, and the parchment like menus have little sketches of bells and wooden crates on them. Some of the lamps swing so low from the ceiling that you can imagine their fringes dipping in the food. But there is a nice comfortable space between each table, and the music, although completely unmemorable, is also conveniently unobtrusive.

The colourful fruit and vegetables you see in wooden crates against the wall is attractive, and wine glasses hang appealingly in long lines above the bar. In a corner a stag's head with magnificent antlers stares majestically down upon the clientele.

Families sit here with tiny babies, as do long haired musicians and artists, perhaps refugees from the galleries and craft shops that line trendy Bermondsey St. In the distance

the plate glass palaces of More London, and the Shard loom, and some of the more smartly dressed customers in suits and ties may have fled from there to enjoy a quiet lunch in peace.

Mind you, there is building work outside, and scaffolding.

Perhaps the frosted windows looking out onto the street are frosted for a reason.

I found the cod baked in lemon light and filling, and the lentils that came with it were delicious. My dining partner had the aubergine lasagna which was rich and creamy.

The green leaf salad was very fresh, and had a fragrant light dressing. The chocolate brownie for dessert was moist, chocolaty and not too heavy.

The accompanying freshly brewed coffee was gorgeous, and came with a cute little mini tankard of milk.

Whilst making my way to the bathroom, I made the most startling discovery of the whole lunch. Suspended near the ceiling, behind the door, was a kitchen chair so high, that even a six footer could not touch it.

There was no hint of why it was there. Perhaps it was a warning to new customers to make sure to eat all their greens, and leave nothing on the plate Lunch for two, with a main course and pudding, set us back £70, which we considered well worth the visit. In the meantime, the free bookmark will be charming reminder of a very pleasant lunch.

next London venue!

Events & Hospitality QM is the in-house venue and hospitality brand of Queen Mary University of London; it offers over 100 venues for external hire at three sites in the City of London, Whitechapel and Mile End, in addition to operating three contemporary outlets and providing hospitality for the university.

Located in London’s vibrant eastside - two stops on the Central line from Liverpool Street and one from the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford –the Mile End campus offers a unique mix of historic and contemporary venues, providing the opportunity to stay, meet and eat in one campus environment featuring buildings from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

Many of the venues are available with built in audio-visual solutions from data projection and microphones, to wifi and live relay, alongside the two signature Grade II venues in the recently refurbished (2013) art-deco ‘ Great Hall’ (capacity 770 seated /

1000 seated & standing) and stunning Victorian Octagon (450 sq.m flat floor).

In addition to meeting venues, over 1000 ensuite bedrooms are available between mid June and mid September each year.

Events & Hospitality QM is also able to offer facilities for hire in the City of London at the Robin Brook Centre within the grounds of Barts Hospital for 10 – 200 and at Whitechapel, adjacent to the Royal London Hospital – both of which have facilities available year round.

To discover more about Events & Hospitality QM: visit www.qmhospitality.co.uk/new customers, call 020 7882 8174, live chat on our website or email to enquiries@qmhospitality.co.uk or connect on social media: Twitter: @qmhospitality Facebook: /qmhospitality Google+:/qmhospitalitycouk Events & Hospitality QM Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS

Southwark BUSINESS TODAY

27

Living Wage

Living Wage

By Jennifer O’Donnell, Director, Jane Jefferson Cleaning of goods and services may be unwittingly contradicting their ethical value set. The ever increasing need for cheap and on demand services means employment rights and stability is being side-stepped by the service companies such as Uber, City Sprint, Pimlico Plumbers et al...

In his spring budget of 2017 the Chancellor Philip Hammond wanted to address what he said was a disparity between the amounts of tax paid by the directly employed and the ever increasing self-employed workforce in the UK.

Despite the arguments for and against this proposal, it raises an interesting question as to the reality of working conditions for many workers who register themselves as self-employed - and their motivations for opting for this status. The Resolution Foundation (directed by Torsten Bell – ex-Labour Policy Chief) pointed out in a press release on October 16th 2016 that whilst the self-employed workforce has increased by 45% since 2001/2002 their actual earnings have dropped.

This prompts the questions: Are workers genuinely opting for self- employment? Or are they pressured to do so by

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employers who want to avoid direct employment obligations such as sick pay and holiday pay?

The rise in companies pressuring employees to adopt this kind of self-employed status, thus exempting themselves from the statutory employer responsibilities, is the main driving force behind the explosion of the ‘gig economy’. The ‘gig economy’ is characterised by low paid, short term, precarious employment, where labour is tapped on demand creating unstable patterns of employment. High profile cases, such as the ruling against Uber in a UK employment court in October 2016 have put a spotlight on digital platforms who argue that they out-source their work to independent contractors and are therefore not directly responsible to their employees.

This practise raises a paradox for the ethically minded consumers whose buying

Southwark BUSINESS TODAY

These precarious contractual arrangements are rife and have become the norm. They are not limited to technology based firms – such Pimlico Plumbers– but almost all ‘agency’ based service work.

According to the Gang Master Licensing Authority, the domestic cleaning industry is the largest abuser of black and grey market practices.

It is impossible to quantify the size of the market (as it is largely invisible) but estimates suggest there are hundreds of thousands of cash-in-hand and sub-contracted cleaners in this unregulated and therefore exploitative market.

Trading in this environment is particularly challenging for employers that take a traditional approach and want to protect their employees with fair pay & statutory rights.

In the domestic cleaning sector it makes it almost impossible to compete as consumers have engaged in black market practice for many years and do not think about the

implications of handing over cash to a cleaner or an agency who sub contract to an unregulated work-force.

In fact, consumers often don’t realise their well-intentioned cash-in-hand payments, or use of an agency, means worker exploitation and the health & safety of the work-force is being constantly kept at a low level through poor regulation.

Ethical and responsible employers competing in these self-employed sectors can be particularly disadvantaged as they are legally obliged to pass on additional employment costs to the consumer such as VAT on the total cost of the service. This makes them less competitive on price and operating in this legal model is much less attractive even though it offers stability and rights to the employee. Few employers choose to operate in this way and most succumb to overwhelming market pressure and adopt this selfemployment model. Whether this model persists is in part determined by the courts, and in part determined by how aware consumers are of the employment status of their cleaner, taxi driver, plumber etc.… The case has been made quite strongly for products – fair trade chocolate and coffee etc. – but the purchasing of ethical services remains a poorly understood area.

“Consumers often don’t realise their well-intentioned cash-in-hand payments, or use of an agency, means worker exploitation and the health & safety of the work-force is being constantly kept at a low level through poor regulation.”

Voice from Westminster

The chill wind of Brexit begins to blow Neil Coyle MP The Government is fast proving to be bad for business in the unnecessary and unseemly rush to leave the European Union. Ministers' mantra is that the 'will of the people' must be respected but the timetable and speed of exiting has been chosen by the Prime Minister without reference to ensuring alternative trade arrangements are in place.

I've opposed leaving the EU in every vote possible at Westminster and remain a 'remainer', but if we leave in 2019 and no deal has been settled, it is businesses that will suffer under WTO rules which will add costs to imports and exports. In Southwark, importers are already facing huge new costs through the drop in the pound. Some businesses, including restaurants at Borough Market, have passed those costs on to customers. Others have been forced to absorb them. Local businesses seeking to export under WTO rules will very quickly discover the impact and the Government is more than mistaken to think 'the will of the people' means losing jobs and businesses. I hope the commitment to ensuring all

MPs get a vote on the final arrangement is delivered and welcome business input in the meantime.

Businesses also face higher rates from April. In the spring Budget the Chancellor finally acknowledged the Government's mishandling of the business rates revaluation. Some businesses in Southwark face a rise of almost 80% - which could cripple some local entrepreneurs and prevent investment and expansion plans at this crucial Brexit juncture.

Southwark council will be administering an extra ÂŁ4 million fund to help mitigate some of the impact of the rise.

The fund is being overseen by Councillor Johnson Situ and the criteria for accessing this additional support is being developed now - so please do send him your thoughts!

It was a pleasure to facilitate a meeting between the Minister for Employment and some good people from Southwark.

GoodPeople literally - it's a local specialist firm helping good employers, including the Shard and Tiffanys, to take on new employees and apprentices from what the Government usually terms 'hard to reach' groups.

GoodPeople were joined by the South Bank BID to examine how Ministers expect existing

networks and good employers to be involved in future employment programmes and whether any new local or national commissioning of support services will provide opportunities for Southwark businesses. I am proud to show off good people and firms from our borough and if you think I might be able to support your business in Parliament - through questions to departments or in meeting Ministers - please do drop me a line at: Neil.Coyle.MP@parliament.uk

Increasingly, our local schools also have to operate as businesses but face significant funding cuts under current Government plans that risk setting back Southwark and undermining the employability of the next generation. Good schools and a quality education are the cornerstone of the future economy.

I’m passionate about Southwark kids having the best opportunities that living at the heart of London should provide. We have a lot to be proud of in Southwark schools.

Years of investment under the last Labour Government and

partnership working with heads, governors, parents and teachers have turned one of the worst performing local education authorities into one of the best in the country. Unfortunately the Government have announced their intention to axe ÂŁ5 million from Southwark schools as well as impose new costs on schools through national insurance and pension contributions as well as the apprenticeship levy.

Sadly, Southwark is the worst affected area in the whole country and it has led to a fantastic parent-led campaign against the Government's plans.

London schools face real challenges and should be better supported to equip our children to compete in the future, especially post-Brexit.

If you've not backed the campaign yet please see www.schoolcuts.org.uk and do sign up. I have met with the Minister and hope for announcements soon, but possibly also in the autumn Budget, that will mean Southwark and our local children do not lose out so badly.

Southwark BUSINESS TODAY

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Health & Wellbeing

Leisure operator a good fit for Southwark Everyone Active and Southwark Council a healthy partnership.

On 21 June 2016, Everyone Active took over the management of the eight leisure centres in Southwark, in partnership with Southwark Council.

Everyone Active is the UK’s longest established leisure operator, currently managing 140 facilities across the country in partnership with 42 local authorities.

The centres within Southwark include: • Camberwell Leisure Centre • Dulwich Leisure Centre • Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Sports Facility • Peckham Pulse Healthy Living Centre • Southwark Athletics Centre • Seven Islands Leisure Centre • Surrey Docks Watersports Centre • The Castle Centre Fantastic new kit and exciting refurbishments As part of the new partnership between Everyone Active and Southwark over £2.7million has been invested into the leisure centres, offering a range of improvements to benefit the local community.

Refurbishments have already taken place at Surrey Docks Watersports Centre, Dulwich Leisure Centre, Peckham Pulse Healthy Living Centre, Camberwell Leisure Centre, with Seven Islands Leisure Centre and Southwark Athletics Centre to receive investment later this year.

Surrey Docks Watersports Centre Exciting improvements took place in August 2016 to refurbish the fitness suite, group exercise studios and group cycling studio. Brand new Technogym equipment

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was installed in the fitness suite, which also now boasts Wattbikes, Power Plate machines, Stairmasters and M3i spin bikes. The free weights area was also extended, and the group exercise timetable expanded to offer a range of new classes.

Dulwich Leisure Centre Improvements to Dulwich Leisure Centre took place in August 2016, and included upgrades to the gym and group exercise studios. The fitness suite was installed with Technogym equipment, new Wattbikes and Gravity machines, as well as an expanded free weights area. The refreshed group exercise studio now has an 80-classes-per-week timetable including Yoga, Pilates and Zumba.

Camberwell Leisure Centre Camberwell Leisure Centre opened the doors to their brand-new fitness suite and indoor cycling studio in January 2017, following an investment of £1 million. The gym has been extended to over 100 stations, and now proudly boasts the latest Technogym equipment, an impressive array of free weights, Gravity machines, Watt bikes and Power Plates. The indoor cycling studio offers state of the art Stages Cycling bikes, with a bespoke lighting system that changes in sync with the backing music.

Peckham Pulse Healthy Living Centre In February 2017, Peckham Pulse Healthy Living Centre underwent extensive refurbishments following a £2.5m investment. A brand-new gym was kitted out with the latest cardio and resistance Technogym equipment and an extensive free-weights area.

The facility also now boasts three bright and spacious group exercise studios offering the

Southwark BUSINESS TODAY

community a wide variety of classes, as well as a refurbished group cycling studio with brand new bikes.

As part of the refurbishments improved changing facilities were installed, as well as a large indoor soft-play area featuring an adventure playground for children aged 5-8 years old, and an attached toddler area.

The centre is also minimising their environmental impact by investing £500k in sustainable projects, which will reduce the amount CO2 produced by over 350 tonnes per year.

Quote from Everyone Active Contract Manager Phil Edwards:

“We are delighted to be working with Southwark Council on providing top class facilities and programming for the local community. Everyone Active are committed to offering the best service possible, and the refurbishments that have taken place, as well as our proposed

plans, will make the centres inclusive and accessible for people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to get involved with a range of sports and healthy activities.”

Memberships Everyone Active has a variety of memberships on offer including annual memberships, monthly no-contract options, and corporate deals.

All local businesses have the opportunity to get a reduced corporate membership for only £44 per month, which takes just five colleagues to set up.

Membership gives you access to over *150 clubs nationwide and include access to the gym, swimming pool and classes.

For more information about our corporate packages please contact Benmoger@everyoneactive.com *T&C apply – Please visit www.everyoneactive.com for more information

Chamber Events

Upcoming Events Save the dates

Join our informative and engaging range of events.

DATE

Thursday 27th April 18:00 – 20:00 Thursday 25th May 08:00 – 10:00

Thursday 15th June 12:30 – 14:00 Thursday 15th June Tuesday 4 July 18:00 – 22:30

Thursday 20th July 17:30 – 20:00

A perfect opportunity to make new business contacts.

EVENT

AGM - The George Inn, Borough High Street, SE1 Regeneration

Food and drink Borough Market, SE1

London Southbank University are organising a workshop on Safe Exporting in conjuntion with the Department of International Trade on 15th June 2017.

Details of this event will be on the Chamber Website when finalised.

The SCC Annual Thames Cruise Social media

We’ve designed our events to help you broaden your network, learn something new or get involved with key topical issues for businesses in Southwark.

Our networking events are great for regular members to make and maintain useful contacts, and we always welcome first-timers.

Times and locations to be confirmed.

Please check the website www.southwarkcommerce.com for updated information.

Southwark Chamber of Commerce welcomes its latest member companies Craig Akhurst

Director of AMR Consult Ltd AMR Consult Ltd 2 Lant Street London SE1 1QR M: 07799334592 Email: craig.akhurst@amrconsult.co.uk

Patrick Okolie and Cedric Fernando

Directors, Clients Generator Social media marketing agency 2 The Cottages, Deansbrook Road HA8 9BG M: 07376 623987 Email: Contact@clientsgenerator.com

Joanna Lowry-Corry

Doctor of Chiropractic London Wellness Preventative Healthcare 52 Weston Street, London, SE1 3QJ Telephone: 020 7531 4444 Email: info@thisislondonwellness.com www.thisislondonwellness.com

COMPLETE IT LIMITED

Jordan Arthur, General Manager 5 – 7 Southwark Street London SE1 1RQA Telephone: 020 7993 0010 Email:enquiries@complete-it.co.uk www.complete-it.co.uk

Peter Lanceley

Manager, Resonance FM 144 Borough High Street London SE1 1LB Telephone: 020 7407 1210 Email: admin@resonancefm.com

Philip Reid

Founding Director, Studiomade Design and Brand Agency 29 Matlings Place, Tower Bridge Road London SE1 3JB Telephone: 020 7394 7234 Emal: phil@studiomade.co.uk

To find out more about becoming a member contact Southwark Chamber of Commerce.

Southbank Techno Park, 90 London Road, London. SE1 6LN Tel : 07477 581977 Email: admin@southwarkcommerce.com

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Southwark BUSINESS TODAY

French, Spanish, £30 o ff all new courses Italian, Portuguese and German Classes Cham membe ber r offer

Last Word

(full ra te £180 )

Starting May 9th

www.languages2000.co.uk

A series of language courses will be running from May for ten weeks.

The cost for new students is £180 and £150 for returning students. Tuesday classes will be held at Silk Street near Barbican and Thursday classes at More London (near London Bridge).

Courses are open to beginners, intermediate and advanced speakers of French, Spanish and Italian as well as beginners and intermediate students of German.

Class start dates, times and Locations

French classes (45 mins) May 9th Tuesday 8.00 am Higher Intermediate / advanced French near the Barbican 11th May Thursday 12.45pm Beginners plus French at More London 1.30pm Advanced French at More London 7.15pm Intermediate French at More London

Class Descriptions Beginners

Designed for total beginners and people who have done a little before. It aims to cover the following: How to say who you are, where you live, what your job is, talk about your family, how to buy clothes in a shop, book into a hotel, get out of an airport, and order food in a restaurant. Regarding grammar, we'll look at singular and plural, masculine and feminine, and the present tense, we may also look at the past tense depending on time. The main emphasis will be on speaking the language, so that you can visit the country, and make your way around.

Beginners Plus

This is aimed at those who have done a little before and who may like a refresher course.

We look at how to say where you live and work, talk about your family, cover situations like ordering drinks in a café, hobbies and pastimes, we also study numbers, colours and masculine and feminine and the present tense and perhaps the past.

Intermediate

This is for people who have done a few years French at school, maybe up to O-level or GCSE. We will be chatting about subjects like shopping, spare time interests, and holidays in some depth. Regarding grammar we'll

Spanish classes (45 mins) 9th May Tuesday 8.45am Beginners Spanish near the Barbican 11th May Thursday 6.30pm Intermediate Spanish at More London 8.00 pm Beginners Spanish at More London 8.45pm Advanced Spanish at More London Italian classes (45 mins) 11th May Thursday 12.00pm Beginners plus Italian at More London 5.00pm Intermediate / advanced Italian at More London

German classes (45 mins) 11th May Thursday 8.45pm Beginners German at More London 5.45pm Intermediate German at More London Portuguese classes (45 mins) 11th May Thursday 8.45pm Beginners Portuguese at More London

revise the present tense, and masculine and feminine, singular and plural, and look at the past and possibly future tenses in detail.

We look at slang, and colloquial expressions.

We'll also have a go at reading magazine excerpts, and writing short essays.

Higher Intermediate/advanced

This is suitable for people who have. GCSE and have spent quite some time in a French speaking country, or AS level or A level or possibly degree level French, The class will be mainly in French. We will revise some grammar and look at articles from the French news. For example we might look at the French medical or education system if it is in the news and see how it compares with what is happening here.

Advanced level

This is suitable for people who have A-level or possibly degree level French, and/or have spent some time in France. The class will be entirely in French. We will revise all grammar from the present tense to the subjunctive.

We will look at articles from the French news.

Please contact Susan on susanelizabethisaacs@icloud.com To join the mailing list please link to http://eepurl.com/bev4c9

Kevin Kelleher

Copytech Group Services Sales Director

Born at home in Lewisham surrounded

by Ambulancemen, Policemen and two Midwives (it’s a long story), we emigrated to Australia when I was 7 and came back at the age of 10.

Attended Addey & Stanhope Grammar in New Cross before travelling in Europe and also working on a Kibbutz in Israel. I wanted to become an Architect and got a place at Brunel but somehow was persuaded to take a job at a London copier dealer!

Never looked back – well not much.

Q1

What was your first job and what was the pay packet?

My first full time job was as a Clerical Assistant at London Transport’s head office prior to going travelling. I can’t remember the pay packet but £3800 a year rings a bell.

Q2

If you were prime minister, what would be your first decision?

To cancel HS2 and spend the money on new digital infrastructure and promoting Science and Innovation.

Q3

What is the biggest challenge in your business?

Winning business with a friendly consultative approach in a world where it sometimes seems that he who shouts loudest shouts last.

Q4

If you could do another job, what would it be?

Architect or property developer – with the chance to beautify the spaces that we live in and inspire the people that live in them.

Q5

What's your favourite London building?

Too many to mention but Eltham Palace would be one. It’s a magical mixture of mediaeval and Art Deco modern.

Southwark BUSINESS TODAY

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Join Us

Join Us

The Chamber is made up of active and successful business people from a wide range of sectors, who are based in Southwark, believe in Southwark and wish Southwark to prosper.

Our Committee Chairman Richard Kalmar President Neil Coyle MP

(MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark)

Vice President Lord Roy Kennedy (House of Lords)

Vice President Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC MP (MP for Camberwell and Peckham)

Vice President Baroness Jowell DBE PC

(former MP for Dulwich and West Norwood)

Patron Cllr Kath Whittam

(The Worshipful Mayor of Southwark)

Patron Sir Simon Hughes (former MP)

Council and Community Representatives Councillor Johnson Situ

(Cabinet Member for Business, Employment and Culture)

Abdul Mohamed

(Past Mayor of Southwark & Past Councillor)

Executive Members

Vice Chair Vice Chair Vice Chair Honorary Secretary Honorary Solicitor Honorary Treasurer Executive Member Executive Member Executive Member Executive Member Executive Member Executive Member Executive Member Executive Member Executive Member Executive Member Executive Member Administrator

34

Les Johnson Roger Beckett Yoko De Souza Ken Hayes Peter Mantell John Steward Sharon Achillea Duncan Field Prem Goyal Peter Hadfield Dan Harder William Harwood Susan Isaacs Nicole Leggett Barry Martin Margaret Rowse Cait Wilkinson Sonia Sutton

Southwark BUSINESS TODAY

Making the most of your SCC membership

Once you’ve joined us you have access to the opportunities we provide to help support you and your business. Whether you simply want to attend our networking events, run a seminar or sponsor or run an event, we’d love you to get involved. We like our members to make the most of their membership and get as involved as much as they can.

Membership Application • Sole trader

£100 per annum

• Large companies - 51 employees plus

£300 per annum

• Small/Medium sized companies 2 to 50 employees £150 per annum • Corporate/PLC’s by agreement.

• All new members pay a one off administration fee of £25 Company:

Address:

Post Code:

Telephone:

Email:

Number of Employees: Full Name:

Position:

Payment Details: BANK DETAILS: SORT CODE:

HSBC - SOUTHWARK C OF C 40-06-21 ACCOUNT NO:

21357646

To join, please send your details to: Southwark Chamber of Commerce Southbank Techno Park, 90 London Road, London. SE1 6LN Tel : 07477 581977 Email : admin@southwarkcommerce.com www.SouthwarkCommerce.com Twitter : @southwarkcomm Facebook : southwarkcommerce

SOUTH LONDON'S LEADING AGENTS

KALMARs are an expanding firm of South London

estate agents and an independent property adviser.

Our expansion is being achieved through improving client service by planned growth and training. We have many years’ experience as South London estate agents with

average time for staff at the company being 8 years,

complemented by a young enthusiastic team. We have an

unrivaled record in sales and lettings of commercial and residential properties in the South London area.

AGENCY

Our principal objective is to provide a professional service with quick results whilst maintaining complete integrity.

As South London Estate Agents we offer Development,

Office, Industrial, Retail and Residential Sales and Letting.

DEVELOPMENT

We offer a comprehensive package on development

projects starting at the site appraisals stage, often prior to

acquisition, working with other professions in developing plans, continuing with sales and marketing advice, and

concluding by arranging a letting or sale.

Jamaica Wharf

2 Shad Thames

London SE1 2YU CONTACT US

Telephone: 020 7403 0600

Email: info@kalmars.com

www.kalmars.com