MINISO has arrived in Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre, the first and the only store in the UK, but one of 2,600 stores worldwide.

MINISO is a Japanese designer brand focusing on providing excellent products and customer experience. Advocating a philosophy of quality life and in the brand spirit of “respecting consumers”, MINISO dedicates itself to providing customers with products of “high quality, competitive price and creativity”, that are fun, stylish and on-trend. www.miniso.com

The Ealing Christmas Market has got off to a flying start with Make It Ealing Businesses who are embracing the challenge of meeting new customers. We have the market cabin for 28 days, 22 of which have been booked by Make It Ealing businesses, with the remainder dedicated to ‘Decorating a Christmas Bauble’, ‘Writing a Letter to Santa’ and raising money for the children’s Log Cabin Charity. www.logcabin.org.uk

Please be aware that there is a new scam operating in Ealing, with customers issuing themselves refunds when they are handed a card terminal to put in their PIN.

They can do this because most card terminals have the same factory set PIN. Scammers pick up the terminal to key their number to pay for goods and with a very quick sleight of hand tap ‘menu’, then ‘refund’ and put in the factory set PIN to authorise the payment.

Clever scammers keep the sum exactly as the payment required as most people only look at the total on the tear-off slip. However, one business narrowly escaped refunding a fraudster £3,000 when their bank queried the disproportionate size of the refund compared to the average sale.

We urge all businesses to immediately change the factory set PIN as this is a new type of scam which could have devastating consequences for a business.

We are celebrating Small Business Saturday and Shop Local from our Make It Ealing cabin at the Christmas Market from Saturday, December 7th - December 24th. We are giving away shop local carrier bags and balloons, filled with local businesses leaflets and flyers. Contact the BID office if you would like your flyers or brochures to be included.
We are also increasing our social media activity and signposting our ‘Find Out More’ message with our banner displays on Lampposts and on the rooftop of Buckingham Mortgage Services Ltd, The Broadway.

Ealing Council is excited to announce its brand-new free recruitment service as part of their Ealing Work West offer. Ealing Work West are working with Make It Ealing to support businesses across various sectors with their recruitment needs and skill shortages.

Ealing Work West can help you to fill your vacancies with local people who are looking for local jobs. Their streamlined FREE recruitment service can save your company time and money by:

- Offering free advertising platforms to promote your vacancies.
- Identifying and screening the most suitable applicants.
- Scheduling interviews on your behalf.
- Offering accredited work-related training to applicants.
- Handling applicant job offers, rejections and feedback.
- Setting up apprenticeships for new and existing roles.
To find out more call 020 8825 8486 or email WEST@ealing.gov.uk or visit the website  www.ealingworkwest.com

The feedback for the overnight closure survey for Spring Bridge Road Car Park indicated a majority vote for the overnight closure to be implemented. It is widely acknowledged that there are ongoing anti-social behaviour issues at night in the car park, which has led to many complaints from daytime users who feel uncomfortable and unsafe. However, the BID office has noted that if the overnight closure was permanent, it might have an impact on the night-time and visitor economy. Spring Bridge Road Car Park is within walking distance of four hotels, with two more in planning, who all have minimal on-site parking facilities. If demand dictates, the opening and closing hours of the car park will be revisited.