Kingston Council pledged to “make things easier and better for businesses” as it presented a new vision on how regeneration would shape the borough.

The Kingston Business Breakfast Briefing, the first under the new administration, kick-started a borough-wide discussion on what entrepreneurs required from the council and its partners, to make their enterprises a success.

Speakers, at the Kington University-hosted event that was organised and run by the White Label team, included small business owners, representatives from the borough’s major developers and landowners, and senior members of the council.

They urged delegates to share their ideas and presented their own. Support was overwhelming for the flexible, affordable workspace for start-ups at Kingston University and the forthcoming Royal Exchange.

Further suggestions to support businesses ranged from enhanced digital networking and mentoring, to drawing up a strategy to reverse the outflow of 40,000 people leaving the borough each day for work.

The breakfast also highlighted how physical development was important but would now take a different direction and needed to go hand in hand with an environment that fostered business growth.

Councillor John Sweeney said: “We want to bring together our business community in Kingston and starts to address the issues you have.

“We need to have many conversations, have them quickly and set some priorities. We need to understand, as a borough, what our role is and what we can do with our partners, how we can support them, how they can support us, and how we can support you. When we support you, Kingston rises.

“We want to try and make things easier and better for businesses here. It’s about providing space, hiring people, access to funding, access to guidance. It’s important to expand the discussion in Kingston when we talk about economic regeneration and business expansion.”

Councillor Liz Green, Leader, Kingston Council, agreed, saying: “We know we have got to look at helping homeworkers and small businesses which are essential to the wellbeing of this borough.”

She highlighted how the new start-up space would help this sector and, how greater partnership working across the whole community including residents, public sector, voluntary sector and businesses, was vital.

She urged businesses to support the community by encouraging staff to volunteer with local organisations and signing up to Time to Change, to challenge the stigma of mental health issues. Kingston Pound, a currency for local businesses, was also put forward as an initiative for businesses to commit too.

To help relieve the tension that can exist between developers’ proposals and residents’ interests, Cllr Green gave a direct message to developers. She urged partners to come forward at an early stage and said new schemes should have great design; suitable densities to retain the area’s unique character; truly affordable housing such as through shared ownership, rent-to-buy and London affordable rents; contribute something to infrastructure needs and present realistic profits in their viability statements.

The launch of the Local Plan consultations was an opportunity, she added, for the community and residents to have their say in how Kingston should develop.

Cllr Sweeney said: “For sure, we need development and we want to work with development partners on lovely spaces, housing, retail space. But I also think we need to be a business-friendly Kingston, particularly for businesses in Kingston. For those who live here, work here, raise their family here, we have a duty to make Kingston better and I think there are people who can help and there are people who need your help.”