News

Harlow Council have launched a new Harlow Business website, as part of the council’s priority to secure investment into Harlow. The new website has several features and can be accessed via the following www.harlowbusiness.org. Just some features include; Business support – Highlighting free support and funding opportunities. Recruitment and skills – Advice on upskilling and seeking the best local talent. Locate in Harlow – Showcasing Harlow’s unique features as prime business location. Harlow businesses – Insight into local businesses located in the town. Opportunities – Including tender and sponsorship opportunities. Business events – Upcoming networking events. Plus, a free to join Harlow Business Directory. For more information on the news story [...]

In August 2023 works began on demolishing Occasio House, located within Harlow Town Centre near the Playhouse theatre. The demolition signifies the first stage of delivering Harlow's £20m Arts and Cultural Quarter project. The scheme, which the council secured a £20million government grant for, will include: A new live performance/music venue Major upgrades to the Playhouse New pedestrian focused and engaging public square for events, outdoor performances, cinema, and outdoor dining Contemporary bar and café Artist and maker studio spaces High-quality residential apartments Flexible studios for creative and performing arts, rehearsal space, events, smaller and outdoor performances, and community uses Associated spaces for literary arts, spoken word, education events and visiting [...]

Elodie Gibby is an admin volunteer with local charity Accuro. Accuro support children, young people, and adults with a disability with Clubs and activities in West Essex including youth clubs, a holiday scheme and adult friendship scheme in Harlow. I am Elodie and I am an admin volunteer at the charity Accuro. I am 19 years old and having recently finished my journalism course at Harlow College, I wanted to document my volunteer experience, in the hopes of inspiring people who are thinking of volunteering. I started volunteering because I wanted to experience the working world before getting a full-time job and include volunteering on my CV. Accuro looked like a [...]

Jake Shepherd, a recently appointed Trustee of Parndon Mill, highlights the strengths of inter-generational decision making when it comes to charity governance and the quest for securing more impactful outcomes for all. Fewer than 3% of trustees are under 30. Despite charities enduring some of the most uncertain times in living memory, this desperate underrepresentation of young people may jeopardise the long-term future of our third sector. Thankfully, for both young people and the boards of trustees they’re seeking to serve, the Young Trustees Movement is working to double the number of trustees aged 30 and under on charity boards by 2024. As a secondary school and sixth-form teacher, charity trusteeship [...]

This month’s blog comes from Sammie Steele, Managing Director of Placemaking and Regeneration at Places for People, who is overseeing the Gilston Park Estate development.   I joined Places for People because I am passionate about creating new, vibrant places for people to live, work and enjoy. I believe in genuine placemaking and putting people at the centre of new developments, and am working with my team to create a sustainable and innovative new neighbourhood at the Gilston Park Estate, as part of the wider Harlow & Gilston Garden Town. Places for People is responsible for masterplanning the Gilston Park Estate development, which means that even if some of the land [...]

This month's blog comes from Ken Flockhart, the General Manager of Down Hall Hotel - one of England's most established country house hotels, located in Hatfield Heath. With the business community slowly coming out of lockdown, Down Hall is making preparations for a busy and exciting summer. I joined the hotel as the General Manager just before the pandemic hit in the spring of 2020 and am proud of how my team of local staff have worked tirelessly to maintain and improve the hotel, which is set within 110 acres of rolling parkland. During the lockdown, we have kept a focus on implementing an improvement programme to make the hotel an [...]