Saturday 5 December marked Small Business Saturday in the UK. As a town centre with more than it's share of small businesses, Kingston First gave their support to the campaign by encouraging shoppers to keep it local and support small businesses heavily affected by lockdown. "Now more than ever, showing... read more →
Dec
07
Dec
04
Kingston First has joined forces with businesses, other Business Improvement Districts, Local Authorities, destinations and industry bodies across the country to launch the ‘Bounce Back Better’ campaign urging the government to provide extra support for retail, leisure and hospitality businesses, including extending the businesses rates holidays. Read our press release... read more →
Dec
02
This role will support the Senior Insights and Engagement Manager and Project Manager in the delivery of projects and services that support our engagement with members and enhance our streets and spaces. This is a new role that will span the business with lots of opportunities to learn and be... read more →
Nov
25
We are thrilled to have Kingston's brand new Christmas lights switch on and illuminating the town, and the Christmas trees are up on Clarence Street and in the Market Place. Visitors to the town can enjoy the new lights down Clarence Street and spot one of our new installations, the... read more →
Nov
20
For this week's member spotlight, we caught up with Kelly Melnikova-Rhodes, Clinic Director of Kingston Chiropractic & Wellness Centre on Castle Street. What was your experience of lockdown at Kingston Chiropractic & Wellness Centre? "When we decided to close our doors in March, we did this very reluctantly, as a... read more →
Nov
02
The Prime Minister’s announcement of the four week lockdown, starting on 5 November, will be another devastating blow for so many businesses and the town centre, which was starting to build back confidence after the first lockdown. I have seen and heard from so many businesses and sectors in... read more →
Oct
23
Kingston First and Kingston Council are calling on the government to extend closing time to 11pm based on feedback from local hospitality businesses who say the extra hour will make a huge difference to their economic viability. The Leader of the Council, Caroline Kerr, has said that the relaxation... read more →
Oct
15
The government has today announced further restrictions, to help reduce the spread of Covid-19, which will come into force from Saturday 17 October. From Saturday London, including Kingston, will move from the government’s Tier 1 alert (medium) system to Tier 2 (high). In summary, the new measures mean: Mixing... read more →
Oct
14
Kingston Canvas is our collaboration with Kingston School of Art to inject colourful and vibrant imagery into the town centre's vacant retail units. While footfall in Kingston has steadily increased with our town often performing better than Greater London, vacancy units around the country have continued to rise, and empty... read more →
Sep
27
Arjun Varma, CEO at Chakra We’re pleased to hear from Arjun Varma, CEO of Chakra, and long-time Kingston resident about his restaurant’s experience over the past few months. “As someone who has lived in Kingston for so many years, this is an area which I’ve always adored. It has... read more →