Agenda and minutes

No apologies for absence given.

2.1  No urgent items announced.

3.1  Cllr Coban advised that he runs a charity (MyLifeMySay) that is based out of Plexal, the business of invited speaker Andrew Roughan.

4.1  The report was included for reference only and was not a discussion point.

5.1  Andrew Roughan introduced himself as the managing director of Plexal and has been with HereEast since 2011 when the company took over the area that used by the broadcast and media team during the Olympic games. HereEast is hosts a collection of Universities, and large & small businesses.

5.2  Andrew Roughan advised that they have moved to predominantly remote working. 1,700 students are using the service with none of those being on site now. There is a major concern from universities restarting the academic year after the summer both in terms of the validation of the receipt of student fees from international students, and the ability of domestic students to return.

5.3  Andrew Roughan advised that most of the large businesses have dispersed to remote working. Andrew gave the example of B.T. Sports who have been forced to focus on creating content unrelated to live sport and thus utilising fewer employees. He also gave the example of Ford & Ladbrokes Coral, both of which have been materially affected by COVID-19 in a way that has reduced the number of staff working on site through furloughing.

5.4   Andrew advised that in recent consultation with these businesses, it was confirmed that it was unlikely to see a major return to site at HereEast until September, and many of those business approaching autumn with caution with many considering restructures.

5.5  Andrew moved on to speak about Plexal which is more a reflection of small business in Hackney. Plexal is home to 123 businesses with varying numbers of employees from just one to larger groups of teams from larger businesses. Andrew explained Plexal principally does three things: House and accommodate those businesses, have an event program which is relevant to those businesses, and they run a consulting team that focuses on government initiatives, technology, and change.

5.6  Andrew advised that in terms of business, Plexal has lost approximately 20% of their customers either through companies going through administration or terminating their contracts with Plexal because of being more prudent with their discretionary spending.

5.7  Plexal has deferred costs of about 60% of it’s customers, and their events business is effectively paused with Andrew expecting that to be the case for the next 9 months. There is a risk that during that time, corporates will have lost confidence in mass events and Plexal is aware this aspect of the business may not return fully for a substantial period.

5.8  On the consulting side, Plexal has a contract with DCMS which is linked to national and cyber security. Plexal is awaiting the next steps from the government to see how that aspect of the business will be affected.

5.9  Andrew advised that Plexal are long-term stakeholders in the Legacy Program, and they have shareholder confidence despite some of the financial setbacks that COVID has presented.

5.10  Andrew wanted to raise three things to the commission to move forward with:

  i. The discretionary grant fund is providing welcome relief to many businesses, however many businesses are not eligible  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.1  Jermain & Shekeila are co-chairs from the Young Futures Commission.

6.2  Jermain advised that they have a report that includes a theme on Inclusive Futures that encapsulates the economy, business, community, and how young people can benefit from economic growth.

6.3  Jermain highlighted that many young people are worried about the impact of COVID-19 on employment and opportunities for training schemes and apprenticeships.

6.4  Jermain introduced the term ‘Better Normal’ stating that the previous normal was not as inclusive as it needed to be and didn’t serve everyone in the community equally.

6.5  Shekeila stated that they have started having conversation with young people under the title of ‘Hackney Covid Conversations’ centred around discovering what issues they’re facing. Areas of concern so far have included mental health issues, the wellbeing of their families, children feeling fearful and not having the appropriate support networks to help signpost the future, and in so doing make them feel secure. There are also fears around exam results, access to resources such as Wi-Fi, and access to jobs.

6.6  Shekeila acknowledged that neither they nor anyone else currently has all the answers to what the ‘new normal’ will look like post-COVID, but that it should be kept in mind when designing policy around rebuilding, particularly to ensure young people are included in the considerations.

6.7  Shekeila conveyed that businesses and adults have in some cases received more support than many young people in the borough and this needs to be actively combatted.

6.8  Jermain spoke about the night-time economy, and expressed the Young Future’s recommendation to the Commission is that it support young people and the night-time economy simultaneously by ensuring inclusive and fair access to the night-time economy, the example method was given of developing local inclusion pilots to increase the visibility and participation of young people to access the night-time economy.

6.9  Jermain expounded on the Young Futures Commission’s request for better access to the night-time economy by saying that many young people from Hackney say they do not patronise the night-time economy of Shoreditch or Dalston, citing a need for greater diversity in terms of what is on offer as the cause.

6.10  Jermaine expressed the need for young people to reap the benefits of opportunities post-Covid, giving the example of young people taking over shopfront’s of temporarily closed businesses as a premises for entrepreneurship.

6.11  Cllr Coban thanked Jermaine and Shekeila for their comments and their work with engaging young people and echoed the need for the inclusive economy to work for young people. Cllr Coban introduced Melanie Rochford, the Business & Development Director from the Hackney Food Bank as the next speaker.

6.12   Melanie opened with thanks to Hackney Council for supporting the foodbank, particularly the Chief Executive Directorate’s Head of Policy, Cllr Williams and Cllr Billington who were all involved to drive support for the foodbank in the face of ballooning need for its services.

6.13  Melanie advised that there are 5 centres across the borough, and they have all  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.1  The Minutes were agreed. Please note that this item was dealt w/ at the start of the meeting following item 2 (Urgent Items/ Order of Businesses)

8.1  There was no other business.