Latest News from Gatwick

Business and Community

• Gatwick has announced vacancies for more than 1,200 retail, restaurant, check-in desk assistance and luggage handling roles.  This reflects Gatwick’s continued growth as we get ready to face our busiest summer on record.  More than 800 jobs are being offered from across the airport’s retail and restaurant portfolio whilst recruitment is underway for more than 400 jobs for ground handling agents, the companies which provide check-in desk assistance for passengers as well as loading/unloading luggage and cargo onto aircraft at Gatwick. More…

• The airport had its busiest March on record last month, +2.5% on last year, with a total of 3.5 million passengers passing through.  With long-haul routes +23.2% year-on-year, March also saw Gatwick once again adding to its global connectivity, launching two new long-haul routes to Austin and Chicago, as well as announcing Qatar Airways’ impending new service to Doha.  More…
• In March, the Gatwick Foundation Fund awarded £100,000 to 21 deserving projects across Kent, Surrey and Sussex. To date, 80 organisations and more than 46,000 people have benefited from the Gatwick Foundation Fund, with reported improvements in the services provided, which cover four main areas: Employment, training and skills; Families; Widening horizons and Elderly people. More…

• More than 40 local families with a family member who has a hidden disability attended Gatwick on Sunday (8 April) for an event designed to make airports feel like ‘a less scary place’.  Held in the North Terminal, Gatwick’s Accessibility Day helped to familiarise people with a hidden disability – and their families and carers - with the sights and sounds of an airport so they have a practical overview of airport processes before they travel. Gatwick is aiming to be the most accessible airport in the UK and is currently engaging with a broad range of disability groups to help ensure that the airport makes its services accessible for everyone. More…

• We have announced a new partnership with Kew’s wild botanic garden at Wakehurst Place to support a bursary programme for schools in the South East. It will cover the cost of travel to the site for schools with students from disadvantaged backgrounds, enabling them to access Wakehurst’s wide variety of educational activities which meet curriculum targets across a range of subjects including Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). The partnership, which also provides corporate membership benefits for the airport’s staff, sits within Gatwick’s Education Strategy ‘Inform, Inspire, Invest’, which includes partnerships with other STEM initiatives, such as the Big Bang Fair and Learn Live broadcasts.  More…

• Earlier this month London Gatwick announced its charity partners for the next two years. 

Following a Gatwick staff vote, St Catherine’s Hospice has been selected as the airport’s local charity partner, while Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance Trust has also been selected as a strategic partner.  Together the two charities will join Gatwick’s longstanding charity partnership with TravelCare, which has served alongside the airport’s terminals since 1986. Based in the South Terminal, every day the Gatwick TravelCare team helps to resolve a wide range of welfare issues including missed flights, passport irregularities as well as providing emotional support. More…

Noise and Airspace

• Gatwick continues to support a substantial programme of work to manage the impacts aircraft operations.  While we can't eliminate aircraft noise completely, our goal is to reduce it as much as possible.  We work closely with the Noise Management Board (NMB) which brings together industry partners and community representatives to oversee joint strategies to deal with noise around the airport.   To find out the latest information on the work of the Noise Management Board, read NMB Chair Bo Redeborn’s latest blog.

• Following the legal judgement to quash the CAA’s Route 4 Standard Instrument Departure routes Post Implementation Review in April 2017, our Head of Airspace Strategy Andy Sinclair provides an update on the current situation and planned next steps in his latest Airspace blog.

• Gatwick commissioned an independent study to look at the perception of aircraft height and noise following a recommendation from the 2015 Independent Arrivals Review. The academic study has been published, and its main findings can be found in bullet point format here.

Walk it Worthing - Interactive Map Launch

Are you a visitor to Worthing, or perhaps a newbie resident?  Have you explored the independent galleries, or tried out that new restaurant in town?  As part of National Walking Month, Worthing Borough Council’s  tourism arm, Discover Worthing, has launched Walk it Worthing a new digital interactive map to help visitors make the most of their stay and encourage local people to explore the town.

“The beauty of Worthing is everything is within walking distance. However, many of the town’s real hidden gems are tucked away and could be easily missed,” says the council’s Visitor Economy and Marketing Officer Judy Fox.

The Walk it Worthing interactive map is similar to Google Maps but links to the Discover Worthing website. Simply input your location, the distance you’d like to walk, search either by category, for example art galleries and museums or restaurants, or by theme including rainy day activities, family friendly or outdoor activities, and Walk it Worthing will give you walking directions to your chosen destination.

As Judy explains: “Imagine you were staying at the Burlington Hotel which is located to the west of Worthing on the seafront and wanted to find a place for dinner. Your natural instincts would probably send you along the promenade into central Worthing. Not ideal on a rainy day. Using Walk it Worthing you can type in your postcode, search Restaurants and Bars and up will pop a number places on Rowlands Road – a great neighbourhood area with an independent buzz, just off the beaten track.”

National Walking Month is the brainchild of national charity Living Streets. It is designed as a month of celebrating walking and encouraging others to become involved, improving the physical and mental health of all. Walk it Worthing also feeds into Adur & Worthing Councils' public health and sustainability strategies.

Improving Access to Staff Training

Research undertaken by Whitehead-Ross Education and Consulting in West Sussex has revealed that whilst many small businesses access staff training and development opportunities, many feel there is a lack of information and inflexibility to meet their needs.

The research, undertaken by Whitehead-Ross at the Better Business Show, hosted by Worthing and Adur Chamber of Commerce in February, captured data from 79 delegates on voting pads at an interactive exhibition stand.

Delegates responded that 51% invest in staff training and development opportunities, with a small fraction (9%) stating they do not have time to think about it.

In considering the barriers that prevent small businesses from accessing government-funded training programmes, many small businesses (41%) feel they do not know what training is available for their business sector.

Ian Ross, Managing Director of Whitehead-Ross Education, explained “There are many, often competing, skills programmes with complex and rigid eligibility criteria. Small businesses accessing our training programmes often tell us that they only found out about our funded courses by chance as a result of our own marketing.”

“This feedback suggests initiatives, such as the Business Navigators funded by the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership, need to think about other ways of raising awareness of the support available to the business community, as not all small businesses attend networking and Chamber events.”

“This could involve those government agencies responsible for economic growth in our region better coordinating with local authorities, such as flyers being sent out with annual business rate statements and developing stronger partnerships with high street banks to ensure literature about support available is available in branches.”

Additional challenges identified by small businesses include training programmes not being flexible enough (25%) – something training providers are in control of – and too much bureaucracy (26%) – such as too much paperwork to participate in funded programmes, which acts as a disincentive to access such programmes.

Of the small businesses who participated in the research, microbusinesses accounted for 59% of respondents (1-9 staff) with 9% employing 10-19 staff and 32% employing 20 or more staff.

Ian Ross concluded “According to West Sussex County Council, 84.6% of businesses in West Sussex employ less than 10 people. As the backbone of the local economy, this research gives a brief glimpse into how government agencies and training providers can better support small businesses to access staff training and development.”

ADUR AND WORTHING ARE TRULY 'WHERE THE WILD FLOWERS GROW' 

Adur and Worthing are truly ‘Where The Wild Flowers Grow’ this spring as the Councils announce a record programme to splash our communities with colour -- including World War One memorial displays rich with poppies.

District and Borough have a deserved reputation for the number of wildflower seed sowings on their parks, green spaces, churchyards and even roadside verges which burst into fragrant explosions of colour in the summer.

And this year’s sowings, called Where The Wild Flowers Grow, starts next week (April 30) when the community and many local area Friends Of groups are invited to help the park rangers and grounds maintenance teams sow the seeds. As well as planting the traditional flanders poppies, the parks department will be sowing seed mixes that provide rich nectar sources for our pollinating bees and other insects whilst producing vibrant colour displays.  Seeds include borage,cosmos, cornflower, flax, marigold, and many others.

On selected sites, residents will be able to help with the whole process, from planting the seed, to tending and weeding the sites as the flowers begin to grow.

For a list of the locations and times of the community sowing please follow this link wildflower web page .

In total there are 27 sites across the District and Borough which will be included for sowing some of which will be exclusively for poppies to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One.

Adur & Worthing Councils’ Parks and Open Spaces Manager Dan Ross said, ‘It’s fantastic to see the results of the sowing when the sites burst into colour. We really want to see as many people as possible coming out to help and then taking enjoyment in watching these pieces of land completely transform.

‘This year we thought it would be a fitting tribute to have some exclusive poppy sowings to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the World War One. We have had a great response to similar displays over the past three years, and I think it will be particularly poignant to see those areas grow in even more sites this year across our District and Borough.’

Wildflower meadows offer a diverse, and typically exceptionally attractive, habitat for the pleasure of young and old alike. The twentieth century saw a sharp decrease in the variety of wildflowers in the UK countryside,  due to changes in agricultural policy and practice, particularly increased field drainage and herbicide use.

But over the past two decades, renewed interest in wildflower habitats has grown with concerns for biodiversity protection and concern for the stability of our fragile bee population. In our parks, we are aiming to raise awareness of the importance of wildflowers, pollinating insects, and provide space for wildlife within our urban green spaces.

Some of the benefits of this are:

·        Plant diversity attracts insects and other invertebrates (including butterflies, bees birds and mammals

·        Flowering species add a changing palate of colour to the urban environment throughout the seasons

·        Active involvement of the community in managing the site encourages ownership values to be fostered.

·        Even small plots of wildflower planting can change the feel of a setting, so that the creation of a wildflower meadow as part of an urban greenspace can bring a little piece of countryside into the town.

For an interactive map of the sites under the Where The Wild Flowers Grow programme go to link here  Map

In addition to the creation of new wildflower meadows, The Council manage a number of important native meadows in particularly on our Chalk Downland sites. Sites such as Honeysuckle Meadow in Worthing, Mill Hill Local Nature Reserve, in Shoreham or Lancing Ring Local Nature Reserve. On such sites, we are working closely with the Southdowns National Park Authority and local community groups, to promote an understanding of the importance of the Chalk landscape. For more information about Chalk Grassland and our work on these sites, please visit our web site of click on these links. Importance of chalk grassland in the Downs, Lancing Ring, Mill Hill

The Nation’s Favourite Farmer and ‘Countryfile’ Presenter Shares Heartfelt Stories in an evening with Adam Henson
 
Famous farmer and steadfast Sunday evening TV favourite Adam Henson takes his live theatre show to Worthing’s Pavilion Theatre on Thursday 7 June, extolling the virtues of the British countryside in conjunction with his widely celebrated books ‘Like Farmer, Like Son’ & ‘A Farmer & His Dog’. Adam will share stories about farming life, his TV career and the running of the picturesque Cotswold Farm Park, together with his thoughts on British agriculture, followed by a Q&A session and a post-show ‘meet and greet’ book signing.
 
In 2001, Adam Henson was chosen from over 3,500 applicants to become a TV presenter on BBC One’s flagship rural affairs programme ‘Countryfile’. Though the programme takes Adam to a huge range of destinations, he often presents from the farm at home, providing the opportunity to describe first-hand the life of a livestock and arable farmer in these modern times. Perhaps a natural choice for the role, Adam’s familiarity with the media world began way before his appointment: his grandfather, Leslie Henson, was a comedian, his father, Joe Henson, presented a countryside TV programme with Angela Rippon and Adam’s uncle, Nicky Henson, is an actor who has appeared in films and TV programmes including Fawlty Towers, Inspector Morse and Downton Abbey.
 
Adam continues to carry the torch for the Henson family with his own unique brand of charisma and passion for rural living. Since joining the Countryfile team, the programme has progressed from strength to strength, now watched by over nine million viewers every Sunday, who look forward to seeing Adam address the issues that modern day farmers face in his own inimitable way. As he explains: “Working as a farmer and TV presenter is exciting and rewarding, particularly as the public are now much more engaged with the countryside, as farmers are with consumers. I believe the food supply chain has some amazing opportunities and Britain produces the best food in the world”.
 
Adam’s live dates provide an entertaining insight into British country life, presented by one its very best champions of modern rural living.
 
Tickets for An Evening with Adam Henson are available from the Worthing Theatres box office on 01903 206 206 and online at worthingtheatres.co.uk.

Adur & Worthing Business Partnership Launch new Business Portal

A new digital platform to showcase Adur & Worthing's bright burgeoning business community has been launched.

The  Adur & Worthing Business Partnership are pleased to announce their new and improved Business Portal which will help to improve communication between business community, partners and stakeholders as well as showcase innovation and talent across the area.

With an interactive feel and e-bulletin facility, the portal has been designed to promote business activities across the area quicker and to a wider audience.

The first e-bulletin will go out early April.  Businesses are encouraged to feed into the site on a range of themes including local economic success, community involvement and sponsorship opportunities.

Cllr Kevin Jenkins, Worthing Borough Council's Executive Member for Regeneration, said “Adur and Worthing have ambitious plans for how the place will achieve “good growth”. This 'good growth' is not about growth at any price; but one that balances economic success with the best quality of life for our people, sustains our natural assets and the environment and continues to attract increasing numbers of visitors.

Worthing is an increasingly popular business location with great transport and digital connections, a popular seaside destination for visitors and a place whose residents enjoy an enviable quality of life.

Worthing Borough Council is a strong supporter of local businesses and has an important role in helping to create, define and lead on place shaping and promoting good growth. I believe that this new business portal will showcase the work, skills and enterprise that currently exists within Worthing and provide a gateway between businesses for future growth, innovation and economic prosperity”.

Cllr Brian Boggis Adur District Council’s Executive Member for Regeneration, said “The launch of the new Portal will give one stop access to all that’s going on in the Adur Business Community, providing direct links to the many areas of support available to both the exciting new businesses being set up in the District, as well as those more established businesses, that continue to grow and provide ongoing prosperity. Already off to a good start, 2018 is going to be an exciting year for Adur and the new Portal can only contribute further to our growth.”

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Why the Facebook data mining scandal is a wake-up call for SMEs

The Facebook data mining scandal is a stark reminder for SMEs of the importance of data protection. However, small firms are dragging their feet. Cost is a barrier to security and alternative finance can help.

According to the latest figures, a staggering 87 million Facebook users may have had their data improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica. The scandal has prompted users to download their Facebook data from the social networking site and many have been astonished at what they’ve found. Facebook’s share price has taken a hefty hit as a result.

The scandal sends a clear message about data protection and the dangers of having inadequate security measures in place, both to individuals and businesses. There has been a strong focus on cybersecurity in the first quarter of this year, not least in the run up to the introduction of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). There have also been many examples of the havoc a cyberattack can wreak.

Nevertheless, the small business sector has been slow to prioritise investment in cybersecurity. New data from the Federation of Small Businesses suggests that this picture remains largely unchanged. According this new research, over a third of small companies have yet to being preparing for the introduction of GDPR, while a further third are only at a very early stage of preparation.

Why the sluggish response? Cost has to be a major issue. Small businesses are already burdened with a raft of policy and non-policy costs, such as those relating to the pension auto-enrolment, the living wage, apprenticeships and business rates. At the same time, they are battling market conditions affected by Brexit-borne uncertainty.

But, as the Facebook data mining scandal shows, investment in data protection and cybersecurity shouldn’t be put to one side. So how can small businesses afford it? Alternative finance services such as peer-to-peer lending, invoice finance and crowdfunding can help them raise capital for investment in new equipment and for safeguarding cashflow. In the face of continued caution from traditional lenders, more and more small business owners are turning to these non-bank finance options.

This is how a small business in Sussex used peer-to-peer lending, through a commercial finance broker that specialises in alternative finance, to raise £20,000 for new equipment.

These are challenging times for small businesses and accessing finance is critical to their ability to weather the storm. As such, it has never been so important for companies to make use of all the finance options available to them, including alternative finance.

To find out more about A&T Business Associates services, contact Tony on 01903 602211 or tony@atbusinessassociates.co.uk.

The Mellor Practice is expanding!

The Mellor Practice have opened their second office  - 31 Chapel Road Worthing BN11 1EG.  This is in addition to our existing premises just outside Arundel.  For some time I’ve wanted us to be more visible and we are now right in the heart of Worthing.  It’s important to us that we can serve the local community, right on their doorstep.

We continue to offer professional, unhurried, face to face Independent Financial Advice.  With well over 120 years combined experience, our qualified advisers - male and female - can help you answer the following questions - and more….

Ø  I’ve just inherited a capital sum- how should I invest it?

Ø  I’m retiring in the next few years- can you look at my existing pensions?

Ø  I’m fed up with poor Cash ISA returns- are there low risk alternatives offering potentially better returns?

Ø  I’m aware that my family needs life assurance/critical illness protection- can you help?

Ø  I’m concerned that I may need long term care- how is it best funded?

Ø  I’ve heard about Equity Release- Is it for me?

We offer the first 45 minute consultation at our expense, either in our comfortable offices in Worthing or Arundel.  This first meeting is an informal discussion to find out more about you, your aims and objectives and your attitude to risk.  All our fees are transparent and will be discussed with you prior to producing a comprehensive report with recommendations if you decide to proceed.

Please telephone Hilary Peyman on 01903 882007 to book your initial consultation. We look forward to being of service!

Digital hub planned for Worthing town centre

A thriving creative hub in the heart of Worthing could be expanded to house the technology brains of the future under plans unveiled by Worthing Borough Council.

Artists, musicians, innovators and designers are among those to have blossomed after Colonnade House opened to the public in October 2016.

In order to build on the success, the Council has developed six-figure plans to expand the complex to also accommodate digital businesses.

The proposal would see the purchase and refurbishment of two neighbouring buildings in High Street, with works potentially starting next year.

The three-storey building would be connected to top-of-the-range gigabit broadband infrastructure before the flexible office space is rented out to burgeoning businesses in both the digital and creative sectors, which council leaders believe will generate jobs and growth in priority industries for the town.

Martin Randall, Adur & Worthing Councils' Director for the Economy, said: “Since we opened Colonnade House, the benefits to our creative and artistic sector has been immeasurable.

“We want to build on that success and expand our offer to nurture some of the amazing creative and digital talent in our town. By blending digital and creative spaces in a single project we hope to be able give these growing sectors a base from which to expand and prosper.

“As well as creating jobs for the future, our plan also has the added benefit of refurbishing two town centre buildings which have historic and architectural interest.”

Worthing Borough Council secured funds in 2015 to create low-cost affordable creative art studio and gallery space in the then vacant Colonnade House.

It opened a year later and, run in partnership with the Adur and Worthing Trust, has been hugely successful with good levels of occupancy and a range of bespoke projects and events.

Despite the success, a paper presented at a meeting of Adur & Worthing Councils’ Joint Strategic Committee next week suggests that additional income streams will be needed to sustain Colonnade House into the future.

Councillors will be asked to support an £800,000 partnership bid to the European Regional Development Fund which would pay for the full refurbishment. A decision on the funding bid would be made next year with work potentially starting soon after.

The digital and creative hub would meet one of the aims of the Adur & Worthing Economic Strategy which was adopted last year which included the aspiration of creating Superconnected Worthing.

Karen Simporis, Chair of Adur & Worthing Trust, a local charity that supports arts and culture and has the lease on the building, said: “Many of the successful creative businesses based  at Colonnade House already use digital technology extensively so the improved connectivity this exciting plan offers will help them and new tenants go much further.

“By sensitively refurbishing the two adjacent buildings the hub will aim to nurture creativity in its widest sense and build a sound economic base for our forward thinking town.”

Worthing guest house owners get pedalling for summer 2018                                         

Worthing accommodation providers got on their bikes last week to re-launch the towns Donkey Republic bike hire scheme for the 2018 summer season. 

Representatives from Heenefields, High Beach, The Moorings and Baltimore Guest Houses joined Judy Fox, Worthing Borough council’s Visitor Experience Officer to test drive the bikes. 

The Donkey Republic Bike Hire  24/7, self-service scheme launched last May has been popular with visitors and residents alike. The Donkey Republic bikes which have been imported from Copenhagen are bright orange, easily adjustable and super comfy to ride. 

And guesthouse owners were eager to find out how the Donkey Bikes work so that they can help their guests make the most of their visit to Worthing this summer.  

Users simply download the app to rent and unlock the bike. It’s the perfect scheme for visitors who may not want the hassle of bringing their bikes from home.  

The Great news for 2018 is the introduction of a new 30 min bike hire for just £1.25 and a reduction in the rental from £6 to £5 for 2 hours. 

Discover Worthing is keen to promote Worthing as an ideal place for cycling with wide, flat seafront routes linking the town to nearby destinations such as Lancing, Shoreham and Brighton and Hove to the East and Goring to the West.

There are currently four pick up points around the town

• ·         The Lido
• ·         Pavilion Theatre
• ·         Steyne Gardens
• ·         Windsor Road Shelter.
•  

The Discover Worthing website showcases a variety of routes for all abilities and flags up stopping points along the way.  

Donkey bike familiarisation sessions are available on request for all accommodation/businesses providers in Worthing. 

Worthing Borough Council is looking to expand the scheme and would be interested to hear from any local businesses interested in sponsoring the introduction of new bikes.