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Reading Enews – March 2009 Reading hosts government economic conference The government’s Regional Economic Council met in Reading today and a pre-visit to the town – by the Chancellor – was hosted by Reading UK CIC on behalf of the Government Office for the South East. The Chancellor met businesses that voted in the recent, successful BID2 Ballot and then spoke with a gathering of senior business stakeholders in the Forbury Hotel. The Regional Economic Council is chaired by the Chancellor and Secretary of State for BERR (Lord Mandelson), and includes the Secretary of State for CLG, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Regional Ministers. Sign Up and Switch Off On Saturday 28 March 2009 at 8.30pm, people, businesses and iconic buildings around the world will switch off their lights for an hour - WWF’s ‘Earth Hour’. Watch the 3 min video, get inspired and sign up www.wwf.org.uk/earthhour Reading Borough Council, working in partnership with SIFE Reading are asking you as businesses and individuals to join in and sign up to show that you care about people, wildlife and the planet, and that you want the world’s leaders to take action to tackle climate change. To see who’s already signed up and to sign up for the local business challenge go to www.reading.gov.uk/earthhour You have invested in your business – we would like to invest £1000 in you There is a flexible grant available to SMEs to help with leadership and management development activities. The grant can be used for a wide range of activities and one-to-one interventions such as coaching and mentoring, particularly useful in the current economic climate. Although the programme is running for the next two and a half years, there is substantial spare capacity for uptake to March 2009. Through the leadership & management programme, owner managers and company directors have a great opportunity to apply for funding to help develop business leadership skills. This offer is available to companies in the South East with 5–250 staff. A qualified and experienced leadership & management specialist adviser will help you identify your own personal training and development requirements, and offer a choice of flexible, tailored learning solutions to suit your individual and business needs. As part of the application process, you will be provided with a complimentary, tailored Personal Development Plan. Your learning programme can be funded up to a maximum contribution of £1000.
This money can be put towards one or a combination of training solutions to benefit you and your business. For example:
All training must have started and the grant claimed within 90 days of it being approved. All grants are exclusive of VAT. Previous beneficiaries (same director/manager within the same organisation) of ‘Business Leader’ funding are not eligible to apply. Call Train to Gain on 0845 751 2288 or e-mail info@traintogainse.co.uk to arrange an appointment. Midnight Walk A great idea for team building and community involvement - join the women-only 10km sponsored Midnight Walk in aid of Sue Ryder Care - Nettlebed Hospice. We are looking for 1000 women to join us on 9 May and walk 10km around GreenPark starting at the stroke of midnight. (Men are also needed on the night as marshals!). Registration is £12 which includes a t-shirt, medal and other Midnight Walk goodies, and there will be refreshments and entertainment en route. Register online at www.suerydercare.org/midnightwalks or call Sarah on 01491 641070. Get a group of friends, family or colleagues together and help raise as much money as possible for Sue Ryder Care - Nettlebed Hospice. We are also looking for a main sponsor for the event so if you would like to have an audience of 1000+ women plus other benefits then please call Sarah. This event is being supported by GreenPark, Reading Chronicle, Reading 107, Nuffield Health and Costco, amongst others. Inward/investment AdVantage, the newly refurbished office development on Castle Street, has achieved a BREEAM rating of “Excellent” – only the second building in the town to ever receive the accolade. BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) is a scoring system used to assess both new and existing buildings on their environmental performance, with “Excellent” being the highest rating. The £2.5m refurbishment delivers a new 24,915 sq ft office to Reading town centre. Its environmental credentials include ‘green’ features such as light sensitive fluorescent lighting, thermally efficient exterior double glazing and water saving devices. Other features are new exterior cladding, high spec air conditioning, new internal finishes, raised floors and DDA-compliant toilets/showers. BrightHouse is to open 24 new household goods stores across the North East over the next five years, with the creation of 168 jobs. BrightHouse, Chiltern House Marsack St, Caversham, Reading, RG4 5AP. http://www.brighthouse.info The Department for Transport has awarded a GBP 7.5bn contract to the Agility Trains consortium to supply new trains for the Great Western and East Coast mainlines, securing more than 12,500 jobs at a new manufacturing plant in Gateshead, Sheffield or Ashby and depots in Bristol, Doncaster, Leeds, London and Reading. http://www.dft.gov.uk Planning An application has been permitted to demolish the existing four storey building at 35-38 Friar Street (ex-ex-Halfords) and erect a seven storey building with retail/restaurant use on ground floor, leisure in the basement and 83 hotel use serviced apartments on the upper floors. An application has been permitted to change the use of 2 King’s Road (kitchen & bathroom showroom) from retail to restaurant/cafe. The application to change the use of 10 Gun Street from offices to shops at ground floor with offices above, has been withdrawn. Retail Long Tall Sally has completed its acquisition of a new lease on a retail property in Queen Victoria Street, and is currently fitting out. This is a re-location from a retail unit at the entrance to the former Bristol and West Arcade. Kik Sport is also re-locating from Market Place to 27 Harris Arcade (fronting Friar Street). Costa Coffee has exchanged contracts on the unit currently occupied by M Butterfly opposite Clinton Cards in The Oracle and is due to start shop fitting on 18 March with a view to opening at the end of April. Creating Profit Through Community Involvement The next Connect Reading conference will be on Thursday 19 March between 9.30am – 4pm at The Waterfront, Oracle Corporation, Thames Valley Park. An event for everyone who believes Community Involvement is vital, especially during challenging times and a must-attend for anyone who wonders if it is an expendable luxury. Speakers include: Steve Downing - Associate Professor of Strategy (CSR), Henley Business School Jenny Dawkins - Head of Corporate Responsibility Research, Ipsos MORI Reputation Centre Paul Briggs - Chief Executive, Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce Michael Coughlin - Chief Executive, Reading Borough Council Visit www.connectreading.co.uk and click on Events & Forums for further details 12 Gun Street: The Norway Maple Since March 2007 Jo Thomas has been developing a series of work about this tree in the centre of Reading, shown in Gallery 10 last November. The image is taken from a spring Polaroid, at a time when the tree suddenly becomes visibly alive with acid greens and yellows. It has been an exciting opportunity to return the image of the tree close to where the tree grows. This project is the beginning of a new way of involving Reading artists working on a programme jointly supported by Reading Borough Council and Reading UK CIC. Artists can respond to opportunities that arise out of economic change; jelly was founded in the last recession and there is a sense of a growing creative community within Reading. The Art Fund Prize for museums and galleries The Museum of Reading has been long-listed for the UK’s largest single arts prize, The Art Fund Prize for museums and galleries, worth £100,000. The Museum has been long-listed for its project Outside the Box, a partnership with 20 museums across Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. With the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, over 20,000 objects from the Museum’s collections and from partner museums and heritage organisations, have been packed into over 1,500 boxes to go to hundreds of schools, colleges, care homes, libraries, and local community groups in the Thames Valley. The list has been selected following deliberations by a high profile judging panel including acclaimed film-maker David Puttnam and artist Grayson Perry. Ten museums and galleries compete for the £100,000 prize, which is awarded to the museum or gallery whose project demonstrates the most originality, imagination and excellence. Reading: Then and Now On 14 February the Mayor of Reading opened ‘Then and Now’, an exhibition staged by the Museum of Reading and supported by members of Reading Civic Society. The Society's members have taken 80 photographs of Reading 'Now' and developed the explanatory text alongside each picture. Open until 14 June Reading loves reading Book Awards 2009 If you live or work in Reading, nominate and then vote for the best adult and children's books published in 2008. Nominations for your favourite book start in March and you can cast your vote for the winning book from 3 April. Once you have voted, you will be entered into a draw, giving you the chance to win one of three £30 book tokens. Simply visit www.reading.gov.uk/readinglovesreading. Reading Half Marathon - Sunday 29 March The Reading Half Marathon is now full although you can still enter the GreenPark Challenge or Osborne Clarke Business Challenge. The GreenPark Challenge is a 2.8km run open to all the family. From serious athletes wanting a shorter race, to complete beginners wanting to have fun, get fit and raise money for charity all at the same time. Start time is 8:30am. Osborne Clarke Business Challenge - part of the Reading Half Marathon. This corporate relay sees teams, made up of four people, run the designated half marathon course. Start time is 10.05am. For information on the Half Marathon, GreenPark Challenge and the Osborne Clarke Business Challenge, visit www.readinghalfmarathon.com Full details of road closures can be viewed at http://www.reading.gov.uk/leisureandculture/readinghalfmarathon/ Chinese State Circus Monday 30 March - Sunday 5 April, Hills Meadow The Chinese State Circus brings to Reading its new show ‘Olympics Nations Tour’, based on ‘a 2000 Year Tradition of Entertainment, Daring and Unsurpassed Skill’ and featuring the World Famous Shaolin Wu-Shu Warriors. One of the highlights of the new production will be four Chinese athletes, from Jilin province, who will be performing a range of gymnastic apparatus. This is the first time that gymnastic gold-medal winners have been integrated into the Chinese State Circus. For more information, visit www.chinesestatecircus.com Tim Smith 2 March 2009This newsletter
is for general information only. Whilst it is
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