To receive a presentation on the above.

Steph James, Service Lead for Economic Growth, Saloni Radia, Economic Development Officer and Julia White, Visitor Marketing Manage presented a written report to the forum members which gave an overview of the local economy in Windsor. This was accompanied by a presentation, which forum members noted.

Saloni Radia outlined a global context, which showed a global slowdown of economic growth and a very rapid increase in inflation, largely due to the war in Ukraine. The UK’s GDP growth also slowed, tracking in May 2022 at around 4.8%, which was now lower than that of Germany, France, Italy, and Japan. It was predicted that UK growth was to drop to around 3.9% in 2022 and 1.1% in 2023, which would follow the cost-of-living crisis.

Saloni Radia said that the UK’s annual consumption growth in 2021 was 6.2% and that it was predicted to fall to 4.3% in 2022, and 0.5% in 2023. The inflation rate was currently the highest it had been in 40 years, with there also being a current fall in real wages, which was not expected to increase again util 2025. Consumer confidence also fell to its second lowest level in almost 50 years during April 2022. Employment levels were growing in the borough, however the average salary had dropped in recent months, which reflected the lower pay rates within the areas of job growth.

Steph James shared the KPI’s from Windsor town centre with the forum members but did not elaborate on them due to them having been covered within the earlier town manager update.

Julia White said that the Office for National Statistics (ONS) were predicting that international visits and spending would not increase at all during the financial year 2022/23. The UK had received 5.9 million international visits during the first four months of 2022. Inbound visitors spent £4.3 billion from January to April 2022, as with visits, spending went up month by month.

Julia White said that paid attractions were likely to receive less visitors and therefore income due to the effects of covid and also the effects that the current cost-of-living-crisis was having on people. However, visits to free attractions were to instead increase because of this. This included attractions such as Windsor Great Park, which was listed as the most visited outdoor attraction in the country so far this year. She then said that the issues that were being seen with flights and airport travel meant that the borough’s hotels were benefiting quite well.

As Paul Roach had mentioned, coach parking figures were down compared to the pre-pandemic levels. Windsor Castle was now closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays which in turn would have a negative impact on coach parking figures anyway. The groups business was appearing to return slowly. Staffing issues also appeared to be a key issue in providing all services within the hospitality sector.

Steph James then outlined some key issues that were currently facing the borough.

These were:

·       Recruitment and retention of staff.

·       Cost of Living.

·       Increase in business overheads (High energy prices).

·       Resurgence of Covid-19 within the UK.

·       Disruption to flights affecting tourism.

·       Increase in business crime (Shop thefts and ASB).

In terms of the support that was available, Steph James said that this included the following:

·       My Royal Borough.

·       Berkshire Growth Hub.

·       Visit Windsor Partnership.

·       Windsor, Eton & Ascot Town Partnership.

·       Night Time Economy (NTE) Working Group.

Steph James said that My Royal Borough business networking sessions were restarting in July 2022. The economic vision for the borough was being developed, with focus groups planned within the local business community. Business engagement was seen as a priority for the Economic Growth team.

The Chairman thanked the Economic Growth team for their presentation and all of their hard work. Job fairs across the borough were also seeing high attendance. Meetings also occurred every Tuesday morning with shops, to discuss anti-social behaviour.

Councillor Tisi asked about the night time economy working group and if residents wished to be involved, how would they be. The Chairman replied by saying that the group was organised by Thames Valley Police and that residents were invited to it. The group met every quarter, and it would be held virtually online going forward.

Councillor Price asked if a heavier focus would now be put onto domestic tourists due to the reduction in international tourist numbers. Julia White said that no money had been spent on international marketing this year and that focus would now be on staycations and domestic tourism.

Councillor Price wished to mention the Job Club that was run on Wednesdays between 12pm and 1pm by Abri. This was for all residents and was not just exclusively for Abri clients and she wanted this to get as much publicity as possible.

Ed Wilson thanked the Chairman for placing the report onto the agenda. He said that the future was bright for Windsor and that plans looked very promising. He asked what new things would be coming to Windsor within the next 6 months and who within the Council was setting the economic direction moving forward for Windsor.

The Chairman said that she was the Cabinet Member for Business and that she worked closely with the economic growth team, along with Councillor Johnson, who was Cabinet Member for economic growth. They worked very closely together but also with businesses, to drive demand and success in Windsor. Steph James added that both Paul Roach and Robyn Bunyan, Maidenhead Town Manger were also a part of the team, along with the museum team. She added that there was a big opportunity to bounce back from the pandemic and improve Windsor for the long run.

Claire Milne said that things in Windsor were looking very positive. The only thing that brought some concern to her was the limited inclusion of residents in the Windsor Yards consultation. She asked if there was another way for residents to be informed and contribute outside of the 2 consultation events. She also said in relation to the vision for Windsor, that residents’ voices were very important and that they needed to be heard very early on to really have the best effect.

The Chairman agreed with this and said that the Prince’s Foundation work was going onto their website the week that followed the forum and that a workshop would hopefully occur in September 2022. Windsor Yards could be contacted via their email address, which was available via the link that was provided by Paul Roach earlier in the meeting.  Steph James said that the Prince’s Foundation were very keen to engage with residents and the broader business community going forward.

Councillor Price raised some concerns over the Prince’s Foundation work and the Windsor Vision, not running parallel. She said that some areas could have already become determined, due to the ill timing. The Chairman said that they were both separate and that both were engaging with each other to understand what each was attempting to achieve. The final documentation for the Windsor Vision was expected to be finalised in early 2023.

Councillor Davey asked the Chairman if she could ask Windsor Yards to host another consultation event in the Dedworth area on the back of Claire’s comments. The Chairman said that they were an external company, and that this decision was down to them and not the Council.

Councillor Bowden said that if West Windsor was to have extra consultation meetings, what would happen to the residents in Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury. These residents also frequented Windsor and may ask also for a consultation event. Councillor Davey replied and said that he was simply standing up for the views of his residents in Dedworth.

The Chairman thanked Steph James, Saloni Radia and Julia White for their report and their attendance.