Past events
Past events
PRBG organise an active series of high quality events throughout the year with expert speakers and good attendance.
| 23 MAY 2014 – GLA BRIEFING |
This event presented The Park Royal Atlas which was created by the GLA’s Regeneration Team which had been carrying out an employment study of Park Royal to create a better understanding of its contribution to London and its economy. The Atlas was created to inform policies and strategies for sustainable regeneration in the area.
| 12 JUNE 2014 – MEET THE BOROUGHS: EALING & BRENT |
Businesses discussed their concerns with 1:1s with the key officers of Brent and Ealing councils. Whatever the concerns – skills, employment, transport, roads, safety, power etc – this was the businesses community’s opportunity to raise them with the local borough teams.
| 24 SEPTEMBER 2014 – HS2 BRIEFING |
This event presented HS2 and its impact on Park Royal and Old Oak Common. PRBG invited representatives from HS2 to come to Park Royal and present an update on HS2. This was a great opportunity to voice concerns and ask questions, as well as network with local Park Royal businesses.
| 21 NOVEMBER 2014 – THE FIRST PARK ROYAL INFRASTRUCTURE SUMMIT: THE BROADBAND CHALLENGE |
Businesses in Park Royal had voiced concerns about Broadband coverage in the area. It is patchy and creates significant performance/ cost challenges for many local businesses. PRBG arranged for experts in the field to come and give an update on the current situation in Park Royal. BT Openreach and independent IT company ITSB presented current infrastructure updates and what options are available to optimise broadband coverage. There was also discussion around what can PRBG might do to improve the situation.
| 21 JANUARY 2015 – PARK ROYAL BUSINESS GROUP – CROSSRAIL UPDATE |
Crossrail, London’s largest infrastructure project, will have a major impact on Park Royal’s accessibility and local businesses. At this business briefing Crossrail’s Community Relations Manager, John Goldsmith, updated PRBG on Crossrail’s progress and answered questions and concerns.
| 3 JUNE 2015 – TRANSPORT BRIEFING |
This special briefing, was designed to highlight the severe transport congestion and freight issues. It gave local Park Royal business on the estate an opportunity to voice their concerns to key representatives from Transport for London and WestTrans.
Contributors were Paul Strang, Principal Business Planner (TfL), outlining TfL freight strategy, Georgina Barretta, Borough Strategy Adviser (TfL), focusing on A40 and Park Royal – Old Oak Planning Framework and Tim Forrester, WestTrans Coordinator, presenting the WestTrans plans for a West London freight strategy.
| 8 JUNE 2015 – BRIEFING ON THE FUTURE OF PARK ROYAL |
An update for PRBG on the future plans for Park Royal.
| 23 SEPTEMBER 2015 – FOOD SECTOR WORKSHOP |
PRBG invited key food and drink businesses on the Park Royal estate to a discussion and breakfast brainstorming meeting to create a Food and Drink forum. This was an opportunity to share concerns, frustrations, sales advice and be part of a group which will be the voice of the Food Industry in Park Royal to Government.
Jane Milton chaired the event and the aim was to draw up an outline for the development of PRBG’s Food Sector Group.
| 22 OCTOBER 2015 – HEALTH @ WORK |
At this networking breakfast PRBG heard from the GLA, Ealing Council who introduced the London Healthy Workplace Charter and case studies from Danone and LickaLix, two local organisations who have implemented the charter and how it has impacted on their businesses.
The Healthy Workplace Charter provides a free assessment framework that gives action points to help employers large and small build good practice in health and work. The framework reflects best practice and is endorsed by Public Health England.
| 20 JANUARY 2016 – MEET THE MPs /PR BUSINESS PLAN DISCUSSION |
Victoria Hills, Chief Executive of OPDC, joined Park Royal Business Group (PRBG) members at FitOut UK to introduce the work being undertaken to produce a Park Royal Business Plan. MPs Rupa Huq & Andy Slaughter also joined us to share their reflections on Park Royal and talk to PRBG members.
| 10 FEBRUARY 2016 – SKILLS AND APPRENTICESHIP FAIR |
Delivered in partnership with Ealing & Brent local authorities and West London’s College, the fair at Abbey Manor was aimed at businesses seeking to recruit new talent and fill vacancies. The businesses were able to share with local residents (aged 16+):
The fair included workshops, talks from businesses, networking opportunities, information from agencies such as Connexions, Jobcentre Plus and local colleges, CV writing skills, the chance to register for current vacancies and access advice on next steps into employment.
| 6 APRIL 2016 – TRANSPORT STUDY WORKSHOP |
The Park Royal Transport Study, completed early in 2016, provided a strategic assessment of the existing transport provision in Park Royal, the impact of the planned future growth and identified the transport interventions required to mitigate those impacts. At this workshop, the OPDC outlined the findings of the study and worked with local businesses to prioritise the interventions.
| 18 MAY 2016 – THE SECOND PARK ROYAL INFRASTRUCTURE SUMMIT |
The PRBG Infrastructure Summit 2016 was a must-attend event for delegates wanting to keep their finger on the pulse of infrastructure developments in and around Park Royal and how changes will impact business in the area for the coming years. Topics included power supply, Crossrail, HS2, broadband, transport and broader planning issues. Victoria Hills, Chief Executive of OPDC closed the summit.
In the afternoon a small delegation visited the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) in Coventry – a UK centre of excellence. Information for Park Royal businesses wanting to work with the MTC is available in the Members’ Area of the website.
| 6 JULY 2016 – PRBG SUMMER BBQ |
Over 60 members and supporters of PRBG gathered for a relaxed and friendly summer BBQ at The Castle Pub near North Acton station.
| PARK ROYAL INFORMALS (2016-17) |
The Park Royal Informals took place every first Thursday of every month between September 2016 and June 2017. With around 50 business professionals from the Park Royal area typically in attendance.
At the first informal (2 Sept 2016) over 70 business people heard Kapil Wadhwani speak briefly about the impact of an Olympics site Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) on Wanis providing practical insights on how their business survived the transition. We were also joined by CPO and commercial property experts Keith Murray (Keith Murray Associates) and Elena Nicolaou (Nockolds Solicitors). CPO resources for businesses impacted by the HS2 CPOs are now available in the Members Area of the PRBG website.
Subsequent meetings focused on the issues that affect Park Royal, such as internet connectivity, business development, the circular economy, Intellectual Property, and Cyber Security. Dan Epstein, Head of Circular Economy, OPDC; Claire Hammond, Development Director, St George West London; Martin Kilbane, Deputy Area Corporate Director (Risk), HSBC; and John Jeffery, Managing Director, E-wire. This series of events will be replaced by the PRBG Breakfast Club in the second half of 2018.
| 23 MARCH 2017 – INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY WORKSHOP WITH BRIFFA |
Facilitated by Eamon Chawke, Partner at Briffa, this workshop aimed at giving attendees the necessary knowledge to make important decisions about the most valuable asset their business has: Intellectual Property.
| 29 JUNE 2017 – PARK ROYAL SUMMER BBQ |
For the second year in a row, over 60 members and supporters of PRBG gathered for a relaxed and friendly summer BBQ at The Castle Pub.
| 21 SEPTEMBER 2017 – THE THIRD PARK ROYAL INFRASTRUCTURE SUMMIT |
The PRBG Infrastructure Summit 2017 was a must-attend event for delegates wanting to keep their finger on the pulse of infrastructure developments in and around Park Royal and how changes will impact business in the area for the coming years. Topics included power supply, Crossrail, HS2, broadband, transport and broader planning issues. This year again, Victoria Hills, Chief Executive of OPDC closed the summit.
| 7 FEBRUARY 2018 – MEET THE BOROUGHS: EALING AND BRENT |
Over 80 business professionals from the Park Royal area came to the Brent Civic Centre to discuss their concerns on skills, employment, transport, planning, road, safety, power supply, etc. during 1;1s with officers from Brent and Ealing Councils. The event was opened by Cllr Julien Bell, Leader of Ealing Council, and closed by Cllr Shama Tatler, Lead Member for Regeneration, Growth, Employment and Skills at Brent Council. Cllr Mohammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council also joined us for a part of the evening.
| 24 APRIL 2018 – SYFTLIVE: FUTURE LOGISTICS WEST LONDON |
Syft, the UK’s largest online flexible staffing service, hosted a conference supported by PRBG and WLB for warehousing and logistics professionals to address the pressing challenges and opportunities the sector faces. Themes such as how to effectively bring about modernisation, exploiting technological innovation and increasing diversity with warehousing and logistics were covered. Key speakers and panel members from Macfarlane Packaging, Women in Logistics, David Harding-Brown from 1HQ Brand Agency and the Packaging Collective, Clare Woodcock from the OPDC and representatives from the Logistics and Food Manufacturing sector were in attendance.
| 12 JULY 2018 – PARK ROYAL SUMMER BBQ |
In summer 2018 the Park Royal Summer BBQ was hosted by The Common Restaurant at The Collective Old Oak, where guests enjoyed a barbecue dinner with views on the Grand Union Canal. Michael Mulhern, interim Chief Executive of OPDC shared the latest insights on OPDC’s work in Park Royal.
