West of England CA Mayor Dan Norris guest at September Business Breakfast
Please join us and our guest Dan Norris, West of England Combined Authority Mayor, at our Business Breakfast on Th. Sept. 23rd from 08:00-09:00. Please register here.
Circular Economy Community Economy Employment Events Jobs Members News Public News Skills Transport Uncategorised
Economic Recovery & Renewal across Portbury Avonmouth Severnside
July Business Breakfast – Thurs. Jul. 22nd 2021 from 08:00 to 09:00. We were delighted to be joined by Stephen Peacock. Stephen is an Executive Director at Bristol City Council responsible for Regeneration & Growth. We’d like to offer our thanks once again to Stephen for taking the time to join us. It was much appreciated. We hope that the event has helped understanding of the area and of the opportunities we all have to work together; and we look forward to further discussion. SevernNet presented a ‘Future for Portbury Avonmouth Severnside’. We welcome any comments or thoughts you may have on this; and would like to use it as a basis for developing a collaborative shared vision and for discussion around place making. Do please get involved and get in touch (info@severnnet.org). We discussed the Bristol One City Economic Recovery and Renewal strategy which was published in October last year. Here’s a link. This includes Avonmouth as one of Bristol’s seven priority places. The aim is to develop an area based economic strategy for Avonmouth which maximises the locational advantages and sectoral strengths It’s good to see that there are many shared goals and aspirations between the SevernNet presentation and the strategy above; and the recognition that more needs to be done to break down some of the silos created by local authority (LA) boundaries, and within LAs themselves. We need to see better integration between the needs of Transport, Employment & Skills and Circular Economy and how they can come together to support placemaking and strengthening the community. Progressing the Portbury Avonmouth Severnside Transport Strategy must also be seen as a priority, along with the M49 Junction, and the need for orbital as well as radial routes to support the area. Please follow up with us if you would like to discuss further and/or get more involved; and thanks to everyone who attended for a very worthwhile event. The next Business Breakfast is on Thursday September 23rd. Our guest will be Dan Norris, the newly elected Mayor of the West of England Combined Authority (WECA). The link to sign up is here. Please join us.
Apprentice and Skills News
One of the best business decisions I have made in recent years was to hire an apprentice.Weston College: “We’re seeing increased demand from employers looking to build their team for the future, so we’ve committed to creating 300 apprenticeships in just 100 days.” For more information contact Dave Crew at Weston CollegeWhy not upskill a current employee?Anyone can be an apprentice, even if they are already employed by you. By upskilling current staff, you can eliminate the cost of recruiting and training someone new and allow current employees to gain new skills and knowledge and keep your staff motivated, as well as promoting internal progression and reducing staff turnover.For more information contact Simon Arnold at City of Bristol CollegeGift your apprenticeship levyApprenticeship levy transfer is an excellent way to encourage potentially lost Apprenticeship funding to stay or be imported locally.For more information contact Steve Gale at Western Training Providers Network Workforce for the Future … see separate post
Workforce for the Future
Get support from the West of England Combined Authority’s expert partners to ensure your business can identify ongoing skills needs, unlock opportunities, drive change and invest in your current and future workforce. Workforce for the Future is a free service that gives you free tailored, in-depth support to help your business plan and adapt both now and for the future. What will I get? 1. Workforce development planning2. Access to training such as digital skills development3. Access to new resource such as apprentices, interns or work placements4. Talent retention strategy5. Strategic planning and guidance on change management6. Access to education and skills pathways Download the brochure for more information or visit the West of England Growth Hub for more information and to arrange a call-back. Alternatively please follow the Combined Authority’s business support service the West of England Growth Hub on Twitter and/or LinkedIn, where you can easily share any and all posts relating to this programme and our other services.
BT fibre installation work at corner of Kings Weston Lane and Merebank Road on Tues 27th July for 3 days
Works: BT- installation of fibre cable in to an existing BT duct.Location: Kings Weston Lane & Merebank Road junction Duration & Dates: 3 days from Tuesday 27th – Thursday 29th July 2021 Times: 08:00-17:00 daily Traffic Management: See picture.There will be three portable traffic signal heads in place:- On Merebank controlling traffic outbound, left and right in to KWL- On KWL heading inbound to Avonmouth (St Andrews Road) and right in to Merebank Road- On KWL heading outbound to Lawrence Weston and left in to Merebank RoadOperatives will be on site to manually manage lights and release traffic to avoid congestion
GWR Reduction in services due to staff shortages
From GWR …From Monday 26th July, our Bristol to Weston services will be cancelled on weekdays and Saturdays. We will be putting in additional stops on our local services to ensure stations on this line are still served. We will also be removing two journeys in each direction from Bristol Parkway to London Paddington. An hourly service will remain on this route throughout the day.For clarification Bristol-Weston local services will not run, instead our Bristol-Taunton services will call additionally at stations between Bristol and Weston. Our High Speed train services between London-Weston/Taunton will continue to operate as planned. We will make customers aware of these changes through our website, media, station posters, on board announcements and have liaised with Network Rail to update journey planners as quickly as possible so that the correct timetable is available through online journey planners by Saturday morning. We will also be contacting customers directly where they booked online and will be offering customers with Advance purchase tickets the opportunity to use their tickets on the nearest alternative services, or offering full refunds. Making these changes now will mean that we can reduce ad hoc, last minute cancellations, helping customers to better plan for their journey. We are continuing to monitor the situation with test and trace and will restore these services as soon as we can.Please also see item below relating to impact of the Bristol Rail Regeneration programme and disruptions.
NHS Avonmouth Vaccination Clinic
The NHS Avonmouth Vaccination Clinic is sited at Evans House on Third Way, BS11 9YL. Find out more below. We are using a local online booking system for appointments rather than the National Booking System at this clinic. Your employees can book a vaccination themselves directly using this link: .Alternatively, you can use the link to arrange for employees to book through their line managers so that you can manage the days and times of vaccination, yourselves. We’d like to remind you that vaccination is an individual’s choice and request that you encourage, but do not put any pressure on workforce to be vaccinated. The intention of this clinic is to make vaccination as easy as possible for people who may not be able to take time off work, easily, or who’s shift patterns make finding an appointment difficult. If your workforce would like more information about Covid Vaccination, we have provided links at the end of this article. The clinic’s initial opening hours (opened on 28th June) are from 9:00-16:00. Please get in touch if you think evening clinics would be helpful to accommodate shift patterns or if you wish to work with us to offer dedicated clinics on specific days or times. We are happy to work with you to make it as easy as possible for you and your employees to be vaccinated. Information for your employees is available in various languages on the BNSSG Healthier Together website: https://bnssghealthiertogether.org.uk/covid-19/ . If you have questions or suggestions about any aspect of this Avonmouth Vaccination Clinic, please call the site on 07526 971 975 or contact our Operational Manager on 07968 511 474.
Bristol Rail Regeneration Programme and disruption impacts July to Sept 2021
Major railway upgrade work will be taking place in the Bristol area over the eight weeks from Saturday 10 July – Friday 3 September. The first phase will be running from Saturday 10 July – Friday 6 August. Here’s a link to an 11 minute streamed video to explain the programme. This link provides detailed information and maps. In the Bristol area passengers will be affected for varying lengths of time and at different periods between these dates. Some journey times will change, and customers will need to check their journey before travel. Services between Bristol Temple Meads and South Wales, Gloucester as well as local stopping services are affected; with buses on some routes and some changes in journey patterns. Notably passengers travelling to and from the following locations will be affected: Cardiff and NewportCheltenham and GloucesterWestbury to Bristol Temple Meads via BathServices to Filton Abbey WoodServices to London PaddingtonSuburban lines into Bristol Long distance services for London, South Wales, the Midlands, the North and the South West will continue to operate throughout this period. GWR and Network Rail have produced a set of resources to help explain to employers and colleagues the impact of the works. These can be downloaded as a zip file here: toolkit of resources.They are also available individually below. Severn Beach Line ImpactDownload the table here. GWR and Network Rail advice that you check before you travel over this period www.nationalrail.co.ukwww.GWR.com/Bristolwww.Crosscountrytrains.co.uk/bristol GWR Customer Poster GWR Customer leaflet explaining each phase of works Employer self print poster with QR code which takes you to web page explaining stages with supporting maps Links to additional resources: Bristol rail regeneration programme video – word document with details and link for video Bristol railway work Toolkit newsletter article – word document wit some short text for a newsletter Cross Country station poster – pdf highlighting impact to Cross Country services Employer Twitter or web graphic
Travel & Transport at June’s Business Breakfast – Th. Jun 24th 08-09
Date:Thurs. Jun. 24th from 08:00 to 09:00.Venue: Zoom – link to be sent with Joining Instructions on 23rd June.Host: SevernNet Getting into, around and out of Portbury Avonmouth Severnside continues to be a challenge for many, whether you’re a resident, colleague or delivering goods and services. There’s been much promise over the years of improvements to the rail system with delivery dates seeming to shift like the sands! There’s been improvements to active travel over the last five to six years which are making a difference to some. Severn Ride & Stride has been popular and the recently opened Lawrence Weston Bike Hub is delivering much needed services. … but there remains much still to do! Please join us and share your views as we seek to get more attention on the needs for Travel and Transport across Portbury Avonmouth Severnside ahead of our next Transport Forum on Weds 14th July. Register here for June’s Business Breakfast We’ll be hosting via Zoom. And also encouraging you and your colleagues to take part in the Clean Air Challenge which starts today across Bristol – and Portbury Avonmouth Severnside. We look forward to seeing you on Thursday morning, 24th June Book your ticket now SevernNet Virtual Business Breakfast’s are an opportunity to meet and collaborate with local businesses and stakeholders. There’ll be an opportunity for everyone to introduce yourself and your business. You’ll have to bring your own breakfast! Please note, we depend on our subscribing members to fund our work for you and the area. There is more information about Membership and a Membership Form here or you can join online here.
Travel to Work Survey 2021
The West of England Travel to Work Survey 2021 will be taking place this year from the 8th to the 14th of March 2021. Pre-registration is now open until 1st Feb 2021. Click here
