Licensing Policy Consultation
Havering
Council is currently consulting on a new Licensing
Policy to come into force from January 2016.
The policy has been rewritten to make it
easier to understand and a new addition is a chapter which describes the
expectations of applicants.
There
are three areas where special policies are proposed.
In
Romford Town Centre, within the ring road, and in St Andrews Ward in
Hornchurch, where applicants will have to provide evidence in their application
that if their licence is granted it will not have any adverse impact on the
area.
A
special policy will apply to Harold Hill for applications for off-premises
sales of alcohol only.
The deadline for completing
consultation responses is Monday 31 August 2015.
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Breakfast for business
Join us for breakfast on Thursday 16 July from 8.00am until 10am
at the Romford
Office Quarter Forum.
The event is hosted by the Right Choice Insurance Group, and is the first in a series
of events bringing businesses based in the office quarter together to
informally network with other local businesses.
Jonathan Baggs of Crossrail
will provide an update on improvement planned for Romford station
while other speakers will explain about the Romford
Development Framework and the new high speed broadband offer for
businesses.
If you are in the Romford Office Quarter send an email to book your place here
before Thursday 2 July.
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Meet your pension
responsibilities
If you run a business that employs between 1 and 50 people, aged between
21 and statutory pension age and earning over £10,000 you have a legal responsibility to enrol them into a pension scheme or your business may face large
financial penalties.
Kingston Smith is running a free
workshop on Thursday 25 June, from
5.30pm until 7pm, followed by networking, at Havering Museum, 19-21 High
Street, Romford, RM1 1JU.
To book your place email Kingston Smith.
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Shine as a sponsor at Havering Business Awards 2015
The Havering Business Awards 2015 are an ideal opportunity to get your company in front of Havering's business community as part of a high profile, five-month publicity campaign including a glittering, gala awards finale.
The campaign will include local press and radio, Living in Havering Business Focus magazine (which reaches more than 100,000 households across the Borough), email newsletters and J C Decaux outdoor poster sites across Havering.
A range of sponsorship packages are available starting at
£100 for the award certificates through to a package for the main event
sponsor – the aim of each package is to give your business the maximum
return on your investment.
For more details of all the benefits and packages available email Joanne Yeomans.
More information
on Havering Business Awards 2015 available here.
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Act fast for discount on courses for business
Having just celebrated 50 years
of providing high-quality education and training, Havering
Adult College has launched its 2015/16 prospectus.
The wide range of part-time
courses aimed at improving job prospects and developing skills range from
customer service, computer skills, languages, creative arts, beauty and acting
courses.
Take 10% off courses when you
enrol before Monday 31 August 2015 with our Early Bird discount. Quote ENEB15
to receive your discount.
More
information available here
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Platform work
starts at Romford Station
Crossrail
is coming and to make sure the longer trains can stop at Romford work starts in
June to extend the western end of the platforms over the River Rom.
The work is due to finish in May 2016 and will involve closure
of some footpaths in the station area.
The National Rail 24 hour Helpline number is 08457 114141.
More details are
available here.
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New traffic safety system
at Dartford
Crossing
There is a new
traffic safety system on the A282 (M25) northbound approach to the Dartford
Crossing tunnels.
The leaflet Information for drivers of goods vehicles provides
further information about the correct lane and route to take to avoid being
stopped and turned around
This system will allow the crossing operators
to:
- identify
vehicles that may pose a safety risk, for example because they are
oversized or carrying dangerous loads
- safely
escort such vehicles through the tunnel – or turn them around
- stop
vehicles entering the tunnels in the event of an incident
Watch the video or read the leaflet to find out more about how
the new traffic safety system will operate.
More information on Dart Charge.
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New rules when hiring
vehicles
DVLA will no longer issue the paper
counterpart to the photocard driving licence.
If you need to check the
counterpart for entitlements or endorsements, you now use the Check Driving Licence service to check the
licence using the code provided by the driver.
This means you
can view the details on a driving licence, for example, the vehicle categories they’re
entitled to drive and any penalty points. This service also
gives you the option to print or save a copy of the information.
Drivers can request a unique code from GOV.UK to allow
them to share their driving licence details or they can download a summary.
The code lasts for up to 72 hours and will allow vehicle hire companies
to make any necessary checks.
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Still time to try electric vehicle for your business
Do
you run a vehicle for a business based in Havering and want to cut escalating
vehicle running costs?
Havering
Council, with Toomey Nissan is offering 12, one week
test drives in either the all-electric Nissan LEAF or e-NV200
van (pictured) so businesses in the Borough can experience the benefits that electric vehicles offer.
This offer is limited to one test drive per
business in Havering on a first come, first served basis and is subject to
availability.
Email
Darren
Smith, EV Specialist at Toomey Nissan quoting ‘Business Briefing’.
More information on Nissan electric vehicles is available
here.
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Help from HMRC
HMRC is offering free webinars to help businesses successfully complete
end of year returns.
These include:
24 June at
11:00
Statutory sick pay
24 June at
15:00
PAYE expenses and benefits
30 June at
10:00
PAYE expenses and benefits
When you click a registration link, you will
be asked to provide your name and a valid email address, so HMRC can send you a
link to attend.
You do not need a camera or microphone to
attend a webinar. Even if you do have these, the webinar will not
activate them, and HMRC presenters will not be able to see or hear you during
the webinar.
If you wish, you can still ask questions by typing them into
the text box in the webinar screen.
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Beat the 6 July deadline
Monday 6 July is the deadline for submitting expenses and benefits
forms (P11D/P9D), so HMRC is offering help to make sure the returns are done correctly.
The advanced toolkit is useful
to anyone who wants detailed information for handling expenses and benefit and also includes a checklist.
The toolkit is a PDF file and the following link will open it
directly from the GOV.UK website.
Expenses and Benefits from Employment Toolkit
Food
courses to
boost business
Staff
in food businesses across Havering can gain new qualifications and help their business
meet tough food regulations and hygiene standards thanks to a series of courses
organised by Havering Council.
The
Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) Level 2 Award in Food
Hygiene and Catering courses will be run at Romford Baptist Church, Main Road,
Romford, RM1 3BL.
All
the courses are on Tuesdays, starting at 9.15am and ending at 4.30pm.
The
proposed course dates are
- 14 July
- 15 September
- 13 October
- 17 November
Book
your place here.
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Hall is ready for hire
The newly refurbished Hacton Lane Hall is now
available for hire and is an ideal venue for business away day meetings.
The hall can accommodate 80 people seated and
has a modern kitchen with fridge freezer, microwave and
cooker, as well as on-site parking.
Hire charges are £33 per hour, Monday to
Thursday and £50 per hour, Friday to Sunday.
The hall is reached from Haydock Close,
Hornchurch, RM12 6EA.
To find out more email
HactonLane.
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Upminster solicitor appointed as
Professional Deputy
Matthew Edwards, Partner and Head of the Private Client Team at Upminster
solicitors, Pinney Talfourd, has been
appointed to the Court of Protection Panel of Professional Deputies. Matthew’s
appointment makes him one of only 68 Panel Deputies in the country.
More
information available here.
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Cash help to create child-care
If you’re thinking of starting a child-care business or
nursery the Government has announced that the Childcare Business Grant is being
doubled and that businesses which have received their OFSTED certificate in the
last year can also benefit from the scheme.
Under the scheme up to £1,000 can be received to help a new
child-care business.
More information available here.
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 Book site visits 24/7
If
you are a builder or developer who needs a site visit from a Havering Council
Building Control officer you can now book that visit at any time 24/7 using our
online booking service.
Book
online before
10am and your site can be visited the same day.
There
are also many Building Control forms you can complete
online here.
Havering Council also issues a Building Control
Briefing email update which you can get
free of charge here.
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 Travel advice for businesses
Havering
Council offers a range of services to help businesses make smarter transport
choices.
Free
guides and resources are available to help you plan and develop new ways of
getting around.
More
information is available here.
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Building for success
Construction firms in Havering can benefit from free
training thanks to a project involving the London
Enterprise Panel and the Construction
Industry Training Board.
The key learning areas are:
- Tendering to win
- Selling for profit
- Excelling at customer service
- Diversification to grow
- Business
planning for success
- Marketing for results
For more information email here.
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Keep on the
right side of the law
1.
Read about six things you need to
do when employing staff for the first time.
2.
Check that you are
paying your workers the National Minimum Wage here. National Minimum Wage calculator for employers
3.
Prepare for the new
workplace pensions, which you must provide to certain employees to comply
with the law.
More
information available here.
HGVs face ban in safer zone
From Tuesday 1 September, HGVs
will need safeguards to protect cyclists, and improved mirrors to give drivers a
better view around their vehicle if they want to enter London inside the M25.
The scheme will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a
week, and will be enforced by the police, the Driver
and Vehicle Standards Agency and the joint TfL and DfT-funded Industrial HGV Taskforce
(IHTF).
The maximum fine for each breach of the ban will be
£1,000. The operator will also be referred for consideration to the relevant Traffic Commissioner, who is responsible for the licensing and regulation of HGV
operators.
More information available
here.
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Businesses supporting
the community
Havering Council is developing a project with
companies with a presence in Havering who wish to support their local voluntary
and community sector.
More information is available here.
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