To receive an update from Paul Roach, Windsor Town Manager.

Paul Roach, Windsor Town Manager, said a new tiered system was created to support businesses on 5 November 2020. The first system had a £10,000 and £25,000 one-off payment to businesses under the business rates value of £51,000. The current system allowed businesses over the value of £51,000 to apply for up to £3,000 per 28 days. There was also a Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund, which allowed the local authority to have control of the fund. The criteria were to be finalised the week following the meeting and the grant could be applied online rather than on paper for time efficiency. Other updates included:

·         A single portal to promote local businesses was created and local businesses were encouraged to be directed to the website, https://myroyalborough.com/.

·         Free one-to-one support was to be given from the Berkshire Growth Hub (https://www.berkshirebusinesshub.co.uk/) that gave guidance on the government’s financial support scheme.

·         The Government Kickstart Scheme was launched in July 2020, which provided a 6-month placement for 16 to 24-year olds.

·         An apprenticeship scheme was being delivered through https://www.berkshireopportunities.co.uk/, with information on how employers could take advantage of this, as there was a significant increase in apprenticeship uptake.

·         So far, £234,000 was granted to 122 businesses across the borough, 82 places were awaiting assessment and 32 open applications were awaiting to be finalised.

·         Prior to the second lockdown, footfall was almost back to normal. In October 2020, footfall in Windsor was 550,000, compared to 590,000 in October 2019.

More shops were open in comparison to the first lockdown. Regarding businesses being open in the second lockdown that were not closed in the first, the Forum was informed that the businesses chose to remain closed, despite meeting the criteria to remain open in the first lockdown. Some concern was raised about certain businesses being opened, which were directed to the Trading Standards to investigate.

Whilst pop-up stores and other opportunities were being explored, landlords and agents were looking for permanent full-time retailers. Windsor Yards representatives were invited to the Forum; however, they declined the offer as they were not in the position to discuss their business strategy and needed to discuss with partners and owners before discussing in a public Forum. Pop-up ideas were being pursued, to be opened before Christmas 2020. 

The Christmas lights were turned on 21 November 2020 in the safest way possible, and a competition was launched to encourage the community to decorate their home and share their pictures using the hashtag #LightUpMyRBWM. The competition was between 21 November 2020 and 6 December 2020, with a prize of £250. As events and activities were cancelled, an online Christmas programme was to be launched that shared key things that were still open during COVID-19.

Paul Roach explained that the Chambers of Commerce had not ceased to exist but remained in name only. The activity previously undertaken by the Chambers of Commerce was now executed by the Windsor and Eton Town Partnership and Sue Watts attended meetings as a representative of the body.

Councillor Davey asked what footfall measured, as traditionally it determined the success of the town by the number of people who entered the town. Paul Roach said other measures were also used to measure success, such as car parking figures and vacancy rates. There was a need for sales data, however not many businesses shared the data. Windsor was part of a pilot scheme during COVID-19 to monitor the bounce-back to pre-COVID-19 conditions by comparing data in January and June 2020. There were positive results, and the data used included free information from Google Analytics and footfall. The government also provided data from four different sources, but it was costly.

Councillor Davey asked if retailers could be informed of the e-petition to provide free parking in Windsor during the Christmas 2020 period. Paul Roach said the Council was reviewing the parking plans and said whilst it would be nice to have, it had to be balanced with the budget implications.

The Vice Chairman said new shops had opened in Windsor, including Heidi and HotRocks.

John Webb asked if business promotion was only available for bricks and mortar operations, and Paul Roach said support was available for all businesses across the borough. 

Ed Wilson said there was a litter pick at Bridgewater Terrace, Windsor, which looked neglected and asked if there were plans to upgrade the area. Paul Roach conversations had taken place with the horticultural team on a possible future project on upkeeping the small green spaces.

Councillor Tisi said Councillor Davies came up with an idea to increase community participation in looking after local parks by having park user groups and West Windsor Councillors were in the process of setting this up. This could be a model to be adopted by local group of residents.