Budget investment in city transport welcomed by Greater Brighton

Investment in transport links in UK cities are a welcome boost, claim Greater Brighton leaders - though they warn the Chancellor could, and perhaps should, have done more to improve South East infrastructure.

Following the budget yesterday (Wednesday November 22), Councillor Andy Smith, chairman of Greater Brighton Economic Board, which represents nearly one million people and more than 35,000 businesses, welcomed the announcement of a £1.7 billion transport investment fund for UK city regions.

However, with half of this restricted to the devolved combined authorities - most of whom are in the Midlands and North, Cllr Smith said more was needed to bring about lasting change to transport links across the Greater Brighton region.

Cllr Smith said: "While it is great to see the Chancellor's support for devolution and the City Regions, it is disappointing that half of the £1.7 billion transport investment is restricted largely to the Midlands and the North.

"Anyone who has used our over-stretched and unreliable rail system in recent years will know how much it is damaging business and restricting growth across our area. The same can be said for our congested highways, with the A27, A23 and A259 reducing productivity among our hundreds of thousands of workers.

"Greater Brighton look forward to being able to look in detail at how to access the remaining £850 million. And we will continue to campaign and lobby for improvements to the Brighton Mainline, as well as the A23 and A27."

The issues of a congested road and rail networks which are hampering growth across the Greater Brighton region were raised with leading Government officials in September. Whitehall officials were informed it currently takes more than two hours to get to Heathrow Airport by train and over 80 minutes to travel 34 miles to Guildford from the City Region.

Further research shows more than 35,000 people currently travel between Greater Brighton and Gatwick/Central London every day showing a reliance on north-south links. There is also a high number of people that rely on key transport links for jobs, with 2011 Census figures showing 32% of Lewes-based workers and 33% of Adur workers commuting to Brighton & Hove.

With the population increasing by 98,000 and 48,000 jobs being created by 2030, Greater Brighton leaders believe now is the right time for the government to invest.

For more details on Greater Brighton visit here.

The Top 8 Implications of the Autumn Budget for SME's

To help understand the key implications that small and medium sized businesses should know about, I’ve detailed the key items announced today:

1 - Stamp Duty Land Tax

The big announcements were in respect of housing, with the Stamp Duty Land Tax exemption of £300,000 for first time buyers being the headline announcement. However, whilst 300,000 more houses per annum is what experts believe we need, what actual impact will the SDLT relief have? There is much analysis that suggests that all that happens is the price for properties in this price range increase because of the SDLT saving.

2 - SME builders

We need to see the finer detail of how the help for SME builders will work. One of the biggest issues is that these builders often have difficulty in obtaining finance. The change to tax on liquidations in 2015 hit this sector hard, as it created uncertainty as to the tax treatment on exit for investors. One of the biggest helps here would be for HMRC to give real guidance on how this rule affects this sector.

3 - Supporting the knowledge based and tech business sector

Spreadsheet Phil also made a big play on supporting the knowledge based and tech business sector. The speech itself gave little detail as to how this would filter down – there was much talk of plans and consultations, and public-private partnerships, but little concrete detail.

4 - National minimum wage

Business will have planned for the increase in National minimum wage next spring, and this has been confirmed.

5 - Change to the calculation of business rate

There is a welcome change to the calculation of business rate increases (to the lower CPI rather than RPI), but the increase in business rates will now happen every three years, rather than five. This was presented as a benefit to business!

6 - Increase in EIS limits for tech companies

The increase in EIS limits for tech companies is welcome; but there are restrictions on EIS where they are lower risk. The definition of risk is to be what is considered ‘reasonable’. This can only add to complexity.

7 - How to deal with off-payroll working

Further down the line, there will be a consultation on how to deal with ‘off-payroll working’ and how this will be extended to the private sector. This has been a big issue for the public sector already in dealing with these changes. We can expect similar administration burden for those in the private sector as well.

8 - ‘Big numbers’

Whilst there weren’t many headline measures, it's always interesting to look at the bigger numbers in the Treasury’s Red Book. Here we see how the Budget will actually impact.

The abolition of indexation allowance (an allowance for inflation on cost for companies when they sell an asset) will save over £0.5bn pa.

The SDLT relief for first time buyers will cost a similar amount. If we say that the average SDLT for a first time buyer would be say £5,000, this implies over 330,000 first time buyers each year.

The change for business rates increase to CPI from RPI will save in total £0.5bn pa.

The really interesting one will be the National Productivity Investment Fund which will cost £7bn but only in 2022/23. If it's that important, perhaps we should have it earlier.

Perhaps the maths does matter!

Click here to visit the website

Click here to view the top 5  Personal Finance Implications of the Autumn Budget

Update from Southern Water - Lets Talk Water: A Resilient Future for Water in the South East

Water plays a central role in our everyday lives, but its value, importance and the wider benefits it provides are very rarely discussed. 

The impacts of climate change and population growth mean we need to adapt the services we provide to ensure they are resilient in the long-term. To achieve this we need to be bold and innovative - meaning we need to embrace new technologies and ways of working. 

Our Vision

This month we published our vision for the next 25 years entitled Let’s Talk Water – A Resilient Future for Water in the South East .This sets out how we will transform the services we provide to meet the challenges and opportunities the future presents. 

Worthing FX's Grand Opening!

Chamber members are invited to Worthing FX's grand opening day of their new shop on 29th of  November at 10am.

The address is 118 Montague Street BN11 3HG

Visit their website for more information http://www.worthingfxservices.com/

Students Film Comedian Jo Brand ahead of Worthing Pantomime
 
Northbrook MET Creative Media Practice (Moving Image) degree students had the amazing opportunity to film Jo Brand for her new role in Worthing Theatre's pantomime Snow White, which opens at the beginning of December.
 
Jo, who plays the mirror in the production, visited the West Durrington campus, where the students produced, filmed and edited a video of her, which will be incorporated into the pantomime.
 
Kate Mapes, Moving Image degree Course Leader, said, “It’s great that students get the opportunity to work on professional jobs. This gives them a real insight in how to work with a celebrity client in the outside world.”
 
Nick George, Artistic Director for leading pantomime production company Paul Holman Associates (PHA), said, "The students at Northbrook MET were a pleasure to work with. It was great to go into such a professional and well equipped facility, with the students on top of every aspect of the project. PHA would be very happy to work alongside the students on future productions.”
 
A series of collaborations with Worthing Theatres has been developed in the last few years by Level 3 Theatre Arts Course Leader Sadie Anderson. Projects have included the creation of a large scale Cinderella slipper and a Tinkerbell figurine.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs opens at the Pavilion Theatre, Worthing from Friday 1st December 2017 until Monday 1st January 2018. Tickets are available from the Worthing Theatres box office on 01903 206 206 and online at worthingtheatres.co.uk.

Latest Worthing Podcast

The latest Worthing Podcast is online, once again with Worthing Theatres, looking at what's coming up in December. 

There will be another podcast coming soon. With Frances Wetherilt from Here & Now Magazine, to talk to her about the background to the magazine and what makes it successful!  That will be up in a few days. 

Click here to listen to the podcast

Students Film Comedian Jo Brand ahead of Worthing Pantomime
 
Northbrook MET Creative Media Practice (Moving Image) degree students had the amazing opportunity to film Jo Brand for her new role in Worthing Theatre's pantomime Snow White, which opens at the beginning of December.
 
Jo, who plays the mirror in the production, visited the West Durrington campus, where the students produced, filmed and edited a video of her, which will be incorporated into the pantomime.
 
Kate Mapes, Moving Image degree Course Leader, said, “It’s great that students get the opportunity to work on professional jobs. This gives them a real insight in how to work with a celebrity client in the outside world.”
 
Nick George, Artistic Director for leading pantomime production company Paul Holman Associates (PHA), said, "The students at Northbrook MET were a pleasure to work with. It was great to go into such a professional and well equipped facility, with the students on top of every aspect of the project. PHA would be very happy to work alongside the students on future productions.”
 
A series of collaborations with Worthing Theatres has been developed in the last few years by Level 3 Theatre Arts Course Leader Sadie Anderson. Projects have included the creation of a large scale Cinderella slipper and a Tinkerbell figurine.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs opens at the Pavilion Theatre, Worthing from Friday 1st December 2017 until Monday 1st January 2018. Tickets are available from the Worthing Theatres box office on 01903 206 206 and online at worthingtheatres.co.uk.

Transferring the Baton at 5 Rings in Worthing

Sussex-based IT and telecommunications business, 5 Rings, recently celebrated ten years of service at an event held at Worthing Golf Club, attended by staff and friends.

The anniversary celebration for the family-run business provided an opportunity for Geoff Raynsford to hand over the Managing Director role to son Pete Raynsford. Geoff will very much be part of the business going forward operating in a CEO capacity. Pete however, will lead the operational aspects of this multi-functional group.

The group has grown steadily over the years and now provides IT support, telecoms and energy services as well as having an electrical services arm. Its origins are in the Worthing area but in recent years the group has added a highly successful St Albans operation headed up by Group Director, Steve Maton.

Commenting on the hand over, Geoff said: “The party gave as an opportunity to enjoy social time with our fabulous team and friends of the business. I am delighted to hand over to Pete who has proven to be an excellent Operations Director and has the drive and passion to deliver our next stage of growth.”

He adds: “We are a business that is based on a distinctive, personable, service driven culture. This has attracted quality people into the business and allowed us to diversify. IT and Telecoms will continue to be our hub but we are open minded about future developments.”

Worthing’s creative hub energised by grant

 Artists and creative professionals in Worthing’s Colonnade House are being powered on to success thanks to the support of energy firm E.On.

 The creative hub in Warwick Street has been a real hit since opening last year, providing studio spaces for people working in anything from digital animation to fine art and printmaking.

But, draughty windows and doors meant that energy costs to power the creativity were higher than they should be.

In line with Worthing Borough Council’s drive to improve the energy efficiency of local buildings, Adur & Worthing Trust, who run Colonnade House, contacted E.ON and applied to their Energising Communities Fund for a grant to make things better.

They have used the £2000 grant to install secondary glazing - with those behind the hub saying it’s made a real difference.

Clare Halstead, Creative Hub Manager at Colonnade House, said: “The grant from E-ON will be much appreciated over the colder months ahead.

 “Sussex Glazing Services did a fantastic job installing the windows and Colonnade House's staff team completed the energy efficiency work by draught-proofing the external doors, so we are ready for the winter.”

Colonnade House has three floors of studio spaces and two ground floor galleries, hosting a range of exhibitions and events.

In 2015 Worthing Borough Council made a successful application to the Coastal Communities Fund for £245,000 to refurbish the building and set it up as a creative hub.

Following the refurbishment, the building was leased to Adur & Worthing Trust, a local charity that supports arts and culture and is managed through a partnership between the Trust and the Council with a staff team of three, including one apprentice.

Colonnade House officially opened in September 2016 and by the end of the first year the ten studio spaces were let to people working across the creative industries, from animators to illustrators, and photographers to painters at around 80% occupancy.

With two ground floor galleries showcasing exhibitions by local artists and organisations,Colonnade House is bringing a creative buzz to the centre of Worthing.

For more details visit www.colonnadehouse.co.uk.

Rampion announces £4 million community fund

• £3 million fund for local projects to benefit the Sussex community
• £800,000 investment in Rampion Visitor Centre to be located in Brighton
• £100,000 donation to local RNLI stations who help save lives at sea