Story

We are seeking your help - please donate now - any funding you provide will be spent on providing hands-on support (not just advice) to help local Grenfell businesses to survive. We will use the funding to engage specific people with specific skills to meet the specific needs of business affected. We are seeking funding to support the businesses affected by the tragic events of the fire at Grenfell Tower. These businesses include self-employed survivors who've lost family members, the local business who've lost valued friends and customers as well as many other businesses who've seen their trade decimated by the loss of footfall and trade. What you won't have heard in the news is that these small local businesses were unable to trade for periods of up to 3 weeks. This was because of their close proximity to the tower or because their businesses were behind cordoned off areas or in closed off roads. In the main, these businesses are the small family run local traders - and as anyone who knows anything about enterprise will realise a forced closure of a small business for three weeks is devastating. These businesses have started to receive some compensation funding from RBKC and the GLA for loss of trade - (not funding from the millions of pounds of public donations, that rightly is for the victims) - it's funding that Portobello Business Centre had to go out an fight for and it isn't that big a sum either. But with so many people now decanted or moved out of the area the impact on the community and the business through lack of footfall continues beyond the immediate impact of the fire. Some businesses are witnessing a downturn of 70% of turnover- and this will continue while the tower is demolished and roads are closed. Family businesses are starting to fail and the loss of a new community - the business community is starting to bite.