Improving business in Hammersmith
Apr 8 2010
Every week members of the community speak out on local issues. This week it is MATTHEW JOHN, who is the operations manager of Fulham and Hammersmith's BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT. If you want your voice to be heard email danhodges@trinitysouth.co.uk
THERE are about 20 BIDs in Greater London and we are all non-profit organisations that provide additional support and improvements for businesses.
Our focus is solely on Hammersmith.
We are run by businesses for businesses and we want to make Hammersmith a better place to live, work and visit.
We are completely independent of the council. There are several main project areas we focus on.
These are: Safety and Security, Clean and Attractive, Promoted and Energised, and Supported and Represented.
As part of our commitment to safety, we hire additional police officers to liaise with businesses and focus on business crime.
To that end, we work closely with the council's CCTV system, so that the place is made safer.
Additionally, we operate the Safety Network Radio Scheme.
This means that if, for example, there is an incident in a store, staff can get the police there quickly and get everything recorded. The Business Crime Partnership is another scheme.
This allows photos of criminals to be circulated around pubs and shops to give managers the information they need to work in a safer environment.
As far as the aesthetics of the town goes, we created the Hammersmith London Roof Garden at the Lyric Theatre, which is a beautifully designed garden open for anyone to enjoy. It is an oasis of calm among the urban sprawl. A number of cleaning campaigns have also been launched as part of our efforts to rejuvenate the area.
As well as helping the businesses, shoppers can take advantage of our Privilege Card, which gives discounts in a number of the town's stores.
In short, we are here to listen to what the businesses have to say and it is a chance for them to tell us what they want to see.
Everything we do has a business focus.
