Policies in depth:
Greens mean business
As Mayor, Siân would help small, local and sustainable business grow in London.
Siân says: “Smaller businesses put more of their profits back into their community, building economic as well as environmental sustainability. And we all prefer having a wide range of unique businesses, instead of empty ghost-town high streets and big-box retail parks. So it's about time our community did more to help these businesses compete against the multinationals.
“I would use the Mayor's planning powers to require all new large business developments to provide affordable premises for small enterprises, amounting to at least 50% of the total trading space.”
Siân is also planning a raft of other policies to boost sustainable business in London, including:
- Increasing the advertising space on the Underground, and giving priority to local business and free space to community groups.
- Closing London City Airport and using the land as a new Green Industries Park to encourage new enterprise in the growing environmental sector, especially manufacturing.
- Free insulation for every home that needs it and low-cost loans for the installation of green energy technologies, massively expanding the market for manufacturing and fitting.
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Green business news:
- On 18th April, the Greens launched a new website Greens Mean Business, which includes a directory of green businesses in London.
- Siân marked the launch with a South-North tour of green businesses in London on to talk to entrepreneurs about her plans to boost small, local and green businesses.
- Read more about the launch
- Greens Mean Business website
On 21st April, the Federation of Small Businesses' London Policy Unit has praised Siân's policies as the most sympathetic to the needs of small enterprise in London.
In a mailing to all of the FSB members in the capital, the Federation said:
"There is a strong case for saying that the Green candidate Siân Berry is most "on message" with what we are saying, followed by Boris Johnson for the Conservatives, with Lib Dem Brian Paddick trailing in third place ahead of current Mayor Ken Livingstone."
Ken Livingstone is described as being "more engaged with large business and the multinationals," while the document predicts that FSB members will be "disappointed" with both Boris Johnson and Brian Paddick.
