Leading councillors in Hillingdon invited the investors and developers to get involved in the borough when scores attended a special conference in conjunction with UK Property Forums.

The SEGRO-sponsored one day Investor Conference at the Battle of Britain Bunker on February 13 heard from both Hillingdon Council leader Cllr Ian Edwards and Cllr Steve Tuckwell, cabinet member for planning, housing & growth.

In his opening address to the sold-out audience of more than 145 industry professionals, Cllr Edwards explained the multitude of global businesses in the borough, including many in the creative and TV sector.

And he pledged to delegates: “Being open for business is, for me, about being responsive.

“I can’t promise we will be able to approve everything or support every approach made, but what I can promise is that we will be responsive to you.”

Speaking in the first panel debate, chaired by Majeed Neky (pictured centre), assistant director for the West London Alliance,  Cllr Tuckwell said: “There’s so much to be had by investing in Hillingdon. We’ve got everything. We’ve got a housing strategy and we’ve got transport connectivity – we are looking to improve that and I think we will.

“We’ve got business acumen and we’ve got the goodwill of the local authority to have those conversations.

“We will certainly have high-quality, positive conversations about how we can work together in partnership for the good of your business, for the good of the borough and certainly for the good of the talent pipeline.”

He praised the work of local educators and added: “The final thought from me is Hillingdon is open for business.”

Earlier the panel session heard how issues around transport, housing and jobs are being tackled in the borough.

Christina Calderato, director of strategy for TfL, said half the journey’s made in the borough are by private vehicles.

She added: “What we need to do when we’re planning for the future is make sure the road network operates as smoothly and efficiently as we can.

“We have got people who are always going to have to make journeys by car, so we want to make sure that our road network works really well for them.

“But for anybody who can make their journey by more sustainable methods, we want to make sure we have options for them.”

Amy Simmons, head of the North West team for GLA, said Hillingdon had delivered 655 homes in GLA’s previous housing programme, supported by an allocation of £6.4m.

And Becky Coffin, communities and sustainability director for Heathrow Airport, highlighted the Heathrow Academy, an effective jobs brokerage service for locals to find work at the airport.

She said: “You could be anything at the airport – there’s every career imaginable.

“It’s so exciting but a lot of people don’t know how to get into it. It might seem like an impenetrable fortress and we really don’t want that so we want to work with other business partners in making those jobs available.”

And she had a message for those seeking business opportunities within Heathrow.

She said: “We spend at least a billion on our supply chain at Heathrow and many of those are small businesses. There are 750 SMEs in our supply chain. So don’t think that if you’re a small business that there is no opportunity because there absolutely is.”

See our reports from the second and third sessions of the conference.

Visit the council’s dedicated page for Hillingdon investment at https://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/Invest-in-Hillingdon

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