Take advantage of council grants to smarten your shopfront
Boost business with free training and advice
Ealing Council is recruiting Acton and Southall businesses to its free training scheme to help traders attract more customers and improve their profits.
The council, together with award winning retail specialists Vision On, has already been working with independent traders in other parts of the borough and around 30 businesses will graduate from the programme next month.
The Vision On team will hold sessions, funded by Ealing Council, with traders to give them tools and tips in making a business even more successful. The first Acton session will take place on 15 October and Southall businesses will receive training on 21 October. Inductions take place a week prior to this.
For more information about the sessions or to book a free place call 07801 258595 and speak to Susan Williams at Vision On. Visit www.vision-on.co.uk for more about the company.
Argiros Agapiou, owner of The Golden Chip, in Boston Road, Hanwell, has recently taken part in the programme. He said: “The sessions give you a different perspective, encouraging you to think of ways of making the shop look nicer that you may not have considered before. We didn’t need to do much but the scheme has made a difference to us, I would certainly recommend other businesses to take part.”
As part of the council’s £15million town centre regeneration programme and commitment to local businesses it is also spending £1.6million to improve shopfronts. Businesses may
be eligible to apply for a grant of up to 90% of the costs to improve their shopfront. The grants are available to independent businesses across Acton, Central Ealing, West Ealing, Hanwell and Southall.
Councillor David Millican, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Transport, said: “Ealing has great character and a lot of this is down to the wonderful local businesses we have in the borough. Traders have welcomed the training courses and shopfront grants and the council will continue to do all it can to help them boost trade and encourage people to shop locally.”
October 1, 2009