This week, we are delighted to launch our 'We Are Kingston' consumer campaign, bringing back that community spirit to Kingston and brightening up our streets. We Are Kingston aims to inspire you to shop locally in Kingston, so we've chosen to showcase just a few of the independent businesses who... read more →
Sep
21
Aug
05
A new round of Discretionary Grants has been opened by Kingston Council, and the application process for table and chairs licences is now open. Discretionary Grants A third round of Discretionary Grants and, thanks to Kingston First lobbying, will be open to businesses including private dentists and charities, two sectors... read more →
Jul
27
We were very pleased to have Kingston featured on BBC London News yesterday evening, profiling the town and our members. Kingston First's Chief Executive Kirsten Henly and our independent businesses, Food for Thought and The Terrace Eatery, talk about their perspectives on the introduction of face coverings and building... read more →
Jul
14
After successfully lobbying and working closely with Kingston Council we are pleased to announce that the Council's Discretionary Grants Fund Round 2 is now open. We hope this will be of particular help to independent businesses with a rateable value of over £51K and up to £100K, and businesses that... read more →
Jul
02
Ahead of the re-opening of pubs, restaurants, cafes, hotels and hairdressers this weekend, we have updated our Kingston Re-opening Guidance in line with the latest government and council advice. It's just been sent out in our bi-weekly update to Kingston First members, or you can take a look on our... read more →
Jun
23
Today, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that from 4 July pubs, restaurants, hotels, hairdressers and barbers will be able to re-open and social distancing measures will be reduced from 2 metres to 1 metre ‘plus’. Sector-by-sector guidance is due to be published in the coming days with advice... read more →
Jun
18
Knowing the hard work and community spirit that's gone into getting retailers reopen over the last few weeks, we put Kingston forward to the media and were delighted to secure a feature on BBC London News on Monday 15 June. Kingston was featured alongside our friends at New West End... read more →
Jun
18
To help you with reopening, we've created two sets of assets you can use yourself to promote your business and help manage social distancing. We've created an A4 document you can print yourselves to signpost how many customers you're allowing in your store at once. Just print, fill in the... read more →
Jun
10
In order to support businesses and organisations across Kingston town centre who are planning to re-open over the coming weeks, we have produced Kingston town centre Re-opening Guidance which can be downloaded here. The document provides an overview of town centre updates, Council updates and projects and services we... read more →
Jun
02
At Friday 29 June's 5pm press conference, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that from August employers will have to start to share the cost of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and he confirmed that he will extend the Self Employed Income Support Scheme to August. Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Employer... read more →