The Pitlake Arms. pic: Ruddhi Abhyankar

The Pitlake Arms pub on Wadden New Road was closed by Croydon Council this week, following a series of complaints made to police about the way the pub is run. Terry Jelley, 68, who has run the pub since 1995, has lost the licence. Jelley, who will not appeal the decision, is now set to sell the pub.

According to police, a large number of serious assaults have taken place at the pub over the last year. A series of complaints have also been made about the venue, including trading after permitted hours, smoking inside, drug use, and fights.

At a licensing sub-committee meeting last week, barrister Matt Butt, representing the Met, claimed that Jelley tried to hide the fact that an assault had taken place on numerous occasions.

“Over 12 months four people seriously assaulted have been allowed to leave [the pub], and most seriously, on no occasion had the police or ambulance been called. There is a significant risk someone in that condition could come to further harm and we fear a fatality could occur”, Butt said.

At the same meeting, Jelley freely admitted to holding lock-ins at the Pitlake Arms. He said: “Back street pubs like me all have lock-ins. It’s been going on back to the 17^th Century.”

The pub, which stands very close to Croydon town centre, was established over 160 years ago and is now up for sale.

pic: Adelle Kalakouti

Residents are split over a plan to resurface Brick Lane with tarmac in preparation for this year’s Olympics.

The controversial face-lift will include new lighting and the complete resurfacing of its famous underfoot bricks.

Tower Hamlets cabinet member for the environment Shahed Ali said: “The new asphalt surface on Brick Lane will be smarter, easier and cheaper to maintain and will help distinguish space for pedestrians from traffic.”

But Brick Lane businesses have greeted the council’s decision with mixed feelings.

Anna Sims of Heba vintage clothes shop told EastLondonLines: “It is a good thing, it needs modernising and repairing. Brick Lane has its history but it is renowned for being grubby. It will still pull the vintage crowds, a road is just a road at the end of the day.”

But Mohammed Maksudul Kabir, owner of the Banoful Cake House, disagrees: “Before, when the road was made of brick it was nicer. Now it is going to lose its character and tradition, it’s going to be like a normal road. There is no need to waste money on that.”

Local supermarket owner Junel Khalikue said:  “The bricks go perfectly with the name Brick Lane. We like it.”

Restaurant and shop owners have welcomed the regeneration but say the works have had a negative effect on business since they began this week.

Others expressed satisfaction with their efficiency, saying works in the past had taken too long.

The resurfacing project, taking place over the next five weeks, will cost about £300,000. It is funded by Transport from London and developer contributions.

UBS Building Pic: Koos Couvee

Kweku Adoboli, the former UBS AG trader who is accused of causing the largest loss from unauthorized trading in British history, pleaded not guilty of fraud and false accounting today at Southwark Crown Court.

Adoboli, from Clark Street, Tower Hamlets, has been in custody since September 15 when UBS, the Swiss global financial services company, asked London police to arrest him for causing an approximate £1.5 billion loss.

He told bank officials that he falsified counterparties in transactions after they questioned several trades. He was charged on September 16 last year.

The 31-year-old worked for UBS’s global synthetic equities division, buying and selling exchange traded funds, which track different types of stocks, bonds or commodities such as metals.

He is accused of abusing his position for personal gain and causing UBS losses or exposing the bank to the risk of loss.

City watchdog the Financial Services Authority and its Swiss counterpart have launched an investigation into why UBS failed to spot allegedly fraudulent trading.

Charges relate to the period between October 2008 and September 2011. Prosecutors allege he gambled away the cash while buying and selling exchange traded funds.

Judge Alistair McCreath set a provisional trial date of September 3, 2012.

The judge remanded Adoboli in custody. A pre-trial management hearing will take place on 9 April.

Bill Gates Pic: OnInnovation

Pupils at Deptford Green school in Lewisham were thrilled when an unexpected guest speaker arrived on Wednesday – Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

Gates’ visit was arranged after English teacher Keely Wilson applied to Speakers for Schools, a project founded by the BBC’s Robert Peston that aims to provide inspirational speakers for state schools.

Ian Pace, assistant headteacher at Deptford Green, said the school’s international links, which include a partnership with St Kizito School in Kampala, Uganda, had helped secure the visit.

“We couldn’t believe it,” he said. “The students were incredibly excited – [they’re] all still really buzzing about it.”

Listed by Forbes as the world’s second richest man in 2011, the billionaire told students about his early career and the path that took him from Harvard drop-out to world-renowned software magnate.

He went on to discuss his current philanthropic work through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the charity set up by Gates and his wife. The foundation has committed over $25 billion in funding for a range of projects, focusing on fighting disease and alleviating poverty in the developing world.

“The goal is equity,” said Gates on his work to combat diseases like polio that have been eradicated in the western world. “If we don’t have these diseases, why should people in Africa or Asia?”

He then took part in a special edition of the BBC’s ‘World Have Your Say’ podcast with pupils from Deptford Green and schools in Uganda, Russia, Kenya and Libya, who asked questions via video link.

Gates said diseases like HIV, malaria, tuberculosis and diarrhoea disproportionately affect the world’s poor, but real progress has been made in fighting them.

Speaking about the foundation’s work fighting HIV, he said: “HIV has really gotten people to think about the world as one place. Why should people in our country get [antiretroviral] drugs, and just because you were born in another country not get those drugs?

“We want to make sure that everybody who needs them gets those drugs, and then over time we want to get less people to be infected – we need to invent a vaccine so that we can stop this disease.”

He spoke about his optimism for the future, saying: “We have this economic crisis that creates some real budget challenges, but every year things are getting better – less malaria deaths, new vaccines, new drugs. The world is getting richer.”

Vince Cable Pic: Heidi Gao

Business executives’ pay was under scrutiny today as Vince Cable proposed new powers for shareholders.

Salaries and bonuses of executives in some of the biggest businesses in the UK have shocked a recession-hit nation.

Business Secretary Vince Cable explained in a speech to the Social Market Foundation today that shareholders should be given more power to take the lead in curbing failing executives’ pay,

In 2010 there was a 49 per cent rise in executive pay at companies in the FTSE 100 companies, which includes Tower Hamlets-based Barclays and HSBC.

Cable was forced to reveal his proposals a day early in the House of Commons yesterday by Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna.

Following his announcement, the TUC criticised the proposal for not pledging the involvement of company workers on executive pay boards.

Instead his plan asks that companies prove to their shareholders that employee pay and opinion has been take into account when setting executive pay benchmarks and bonuses.

Most significantly, shareholders will be given a binding vote on company pay policy, enabling them to veto excessive executive pay.

When asked by East London Lines if the hundreds of thousands of pounds of share options the executives get each year would be non-voting, the Business Secretary could not say. Should their shares be voting, the executives may be able to vote on their own pay.

Also Cable accepted that most shares are held by very rich investors who could be unwilling to cut executive pay.

He stressed that these plans are not aimed at dealing with the wider issue of fairness and that they alone won’t bring about a more desired ‘responsible’ capitalism. That change of culture, he claimed, needs to be made from within the companies.

John Springford, Senior Reseracher at the Social Market Foundation, told East London Lines that though helpful and necessary, the proposals are no substitute for increased market competition to change the culture;

EastLondonLines spoke with a number of people from the small business sector.

StartUp Britain’s campaign director Farid Haque questioned the impact that the proposals would have;

Independent bookseller Tom Usher was pessimistic about shareholders chances of making a difference;

By Alex Bishop

Pic: Jimmy Mizen Foundation

A local coffee shop set up by the parents of a murdered teenager has recieved an award for excellence in social enterprise from the Mayor of Lewisham.

Sir Steve Bullock presented the ‘Mayor of Lewisham Business Award’ to the Cafe of Good Hope, which is run by the Jimmy Mizen Foundation.

The Foundation was set up by the parents of the murdered schoolboy in his memory. Jimmy Mizen was 16 when he was killed in the Three Cooks Bakery in Lee in May 2008 around the corner from his family home.

Jake Fahri, 19, of Lee, was later convicted of his murder and sentenced to life in prison, of which he will serve at least 14 years.

Billy Mizen, Jimmy’s father, said: ”We are very happy that our hard work is recognised by Lewisham in the social enterprise category. We believe the reason our cafe won this award is the relationship we built between local communities and people.

“This is not only a cafe but also a safe environment for socialising. It is open for everybody but especially for parents with children, young people. We always have different events for our local community. It really is about Hither Green.’

Pic: Duygu Saykan

The cafe aims to help young people play a positive role in their community and supports a number of community projects that run in the area. The Mizens recently invited Street Souls, a local scheme that aims to help the homeless, to operate from their venue.

Street Souls volunteers give out hot food and drinks, clothes and sleeping bags to homeless people throughout London. The project is run by the Coombe Trust children’s charity.

David Coombe, owner of the Coombe Trust, said: “I started doing this five years ago, along with my five sons. Starting from 7am in the morning till 7pm in the evening we distributed sandwiches, soup and sleeping bags all around London. Day by day friends, relatives and other people started to get involved with what we are doing. Just being here with us is the whole motivation.”

The Foundation is currently trying to raise finance to support local scouting organisations and arrange apprenticeship placements with Leathermarket JMB, a tenant management organisation. They have also set up the Awareness Project, which aims to address the consequences of violent crime.

Central Parade, New Addington Pic: Stacey Harris

Plans that aim to breathe new life into New Addington’s Central Parade have been unveiled.

The improvements will be funded by a £516,000 grant from the Mayor of London’s ‘Outer London Fund’.

This funding scheme is part of a package of investment that aims to boost local high streets and their surrounding areas.

Assemble, the design team behind the plans, narrowed down their proposal after collecting feedback from local residents following a consultation held before Christmas last year.

A number of possible changes, including a stage area and an outdoor cinema, were temporarily installed in the parade.

Residents have now been invited to give their views on the revised proposals. So far over 100 locals have viewed the plans.

Video by Ruddhi Abhyankar and Neeraj Shrivastava

New scheme for Lee Green Residents, Pic: Albert Steinberger

Aspiring entrepeneurs in Lee Green will have the opportunity to sharpen their business acumen and hone their skills with a free course that starts in February.

The business enterprise programme is aimed at helping people of all ages from the area to start or develop a business.

The 8-week pilot course will run twice a week on Thursdays and Fridays and will train amateur entrepreneurs in all aspects of business including first steps, registration with Inland Revenue and acquiring premises. The scheme will Initially cater to a small batch of around 14-16 participants.

Funded by Lewisham Council, the sessions will be delivered by Elevating Success UK, a not-for-profit company designed to promote charitable causes.

Andrew Brown, the managing director of Elevating Success is to teach the course. Speaking about the benefits of the scheme for participants, he said: “It will definitely boost peoples’ confidence to a large extent. In fact, people have benefitted a lot from our similar initiatives before. For example, we have had few single mothers on our programs who now are very confident after seeing their dreams come true.”

He said that the company would apply for more funding if the course proves to be a success.

To make the locals aware of the program, which is specifically for peole living in the Lee Green area, Elevating Success and Lewisham council are distributing leaflets and visiting libraries, local shops, job centres and other public areas.

The Lee Green local assembly is another source of funding for the scheme, for which it has proided £4,500. It is one of 18 such assemblies throughout the borough that residents can attend to discuss local matters and consider how funding available in the ward is to be spent.

The course will begin on February 2. If you are interested or wish to book a place call Elevating Success on 020 7993 8411

Cooking on gas. Pic: Adem Djemil

Tower Hamlets council is to look into the creation of an ‘energy co-operative’ in a drive to lower energy bills and reduce fuel poverty in the borough.

The council’s plans involve assembling potential sponsors and partners to collaborate with suggestions on how to produce a large-scale domestic power purchase. This would enable the council to supply cheaper energy throughout its wards, aimed specifically at council housing tenants and those living in poverty.

The council believes this could reduce ‘fuel poverty’ in the area.

Lutfur Rahman, Mayor of Tower Hamlets, said: “I am a great supporter of the co-operative movement and believe that we can use it to bring about mutual benefit to the community.

“I want to see if we can set up a cooperative in Tower Hamlets that coordinates the collective buying power for all our residents, giving them access to cheaper electricity and gas.

“At a time when family budgets are being squeezed by rapid increases to living costs, this would help residents to keep their hard earned money in their pockets.”

Nowadays fuel poverty is one the most concerning issues in the country. While an average household spends 3.3 per cent of its income on energy, for poorer families this is closer to 7 per cent.

This can be exacerbated by poor insulation and in cases of under-occupation, resulting in an inefficient use of energy for heating.

Kate Hands, from Friends of the Earth in Tower Hamlets, welcomed the move. She said: “We always support sustainable measures and I am totally supportive of the Tower Hamlets idea to reduce fuel poverty in the borough.

“Such processes involve not only helping people to save money and to increase social justice, but they also have environmental gains such as reducing energy consumption in the area”.

Shopfronts still damaged from the riots pic: Rosie Thompson

Damage to shops following the riots last August has driven Croydon Council to review the planning guidance for security measures shop owners can take to protect their premises.

Councillor Jason Perry, cabinet member for transport and sustainability said: ‘The wanton vandalism caused by those hooligans in August made us think that a review of guidance was required to prevent our borough becoming an unwelcoming urban environment.”

A consultation period is due to take place, between the 16 January and 27 February where locals will be given the opportunity to voice their opinions as to how far retailers and businesses will be able to secure their property.

There is a view amongst some residents that shop front security measures fail to respect Croydon’s character and make the exterior of the borough unattractive.

The council’s proposal comes five months after this summer’s riots. This has led some shop owners to question why the issue has not been addressed sooner.

Ms Patel, the owner of the shop Top Trendz on Church Street said: “We applied for planning permission so we could have protective shutters to be placed on the outside of our shop, but the council denied us this right. We applied again and the council again prevented us. So we ended up putting the shutters inside the shop behind our glass windows.

“The Council have not done enough for shop owners. It is our lively hood and we should be able to protect our shops any way we want.”

It is rumoured, that a neighbouring shop installed protective shutters on the exterior of their store despite being denied planning permission. The Council is now taking them to court.

A spokesperson for Croydon Council was unable to confirm this.