Not only has Fashion Enter experienced the wrath of the squandering council to assist the journeys of our not for profit organisation, the hundreds upon hundreds of designers we support and showcase, to assist their ascent up the enterprise ladder will be directly affected. The pupils at the local schools we have engaged with to integrate industry into education offering a real industry experience could miss out on such a unique, exciting and relative opportunity. Croydon are literally stabbing themselves in the foot by reducing the disposable income of residents featuring products and trading in the centre only furthering the vicious circle of increasing unemployment due to lack of availability as propensity to buy and consumer confidence is so low. Fashion Enter aim to fully equip school leavers and graduates with the essential tools to progress from education into the fashion industry with ease, however children lacking in such abilities are increasingly more likely to follow the unfortunate gang culture present in Croydon with an increasing female population, however we can help stop such dreadful occurrences by providing ulterior routes from education and potential revenue streams and training.

Not for Profit status companies, as such is Fashion Enter act in a charitable manner whilst regurgitating funds generated back into enterprising activities, as the status suggests, making no profit. Therefore in conjunction with Discretionary Rates Relief, our listed valuable causes to continue the growth and expansion of up and coming designers and their businesses provided below would seem as an opportunity not to be missed out on.

 
1) ASOS.COM – with turnover 108% above plan, underpin The Fashion Enter Workshop at Haringey and our work with young designers. They buy designers collections from us so the designers earn a real income stream. We hold a strong and ongoing relationship with the e-tail giant. We have also held an account and strong relationship with Topshop to again present new designers to the Concessions department.

2) GIVING MONEY BACK TO DESIGNERS – The sale of goods via our two retail boutiques and online outlet by not acting as the principle seller in the boutique however as the agent – when there is a purchase made we write on the receipt where the sale has derived from i.e. Thank you for your purchase! You have bought a garment from designer xxxx. This is clearly documented with other Government Statutory bodies.

3) B&D COUNCIL – B&D Council have been outstanding in their support for our work. They do understand our business model and they provided funding which paid directly for the rate and also for training. In turn this meant that we could conduct seminars and workshops there which have generated outputs and outcomes. In addition, due to the success of our initiatives, additional finance was made available to buy two sewing machines and computers to reach out more to the boroughs' residents from the retail premises. To attract the general public, a position on a high street where your target audience walks past regularly is vital. To date a substantial amount of business rates has been paid for Fashion Enter to continue at Barking by B&D Council. The decision regarding DRR is indeed still pending from the rates department at B&D.

4) CROYDON SCHOOLS The use of the retail shop is used in conjunction with our work with schools in the Croydon area. Such as:  Addington High  https://www.fashioncapital.co.uk/content/view/8766/227/; Virgo Fidelis https://www.fashioncapital.co.uk/content/view/8789/1/TheFashionCapitalChallenge; Westwood Language School https://www.fashioncapital.co.uk/Learning/Westwood_Language_School.html. and much more besides. The retail unit can showcase the work and sell the products made by the children to generate money back to the schools. Please see the additional comment below regarding Croydon schools.

5) TOPSHOP ENGAGMENT – We organised Topshop to sponsor the Croydon ECO BAG project for Croydon Council. Here we showcased all the eco bag drawing entries in the front window of our retail shop to support the ECO bag message, the pupil, the school and of course bring a sense of borough pride to the local community.

6) KNIFE CRIME – We are engaging with a resident of Croydon to display and sell her Knife Crime T-shirts in our boutique so she can again earn money and assist the progression of the evidently struggling local economy.

7) MENTAL HEALTH – We are currently in discussions with various organisations to conduct seminars and workshops with people suffering from mental health problems to create their own garments to again sell in the boutique to earn a revenue stream. It's a different way of putting enterprise into charity so there is  hope and a future for disadvantaged people.

8) FACE OF CROYDON – with this competition we engaged with over 140 would be female models to educate on deportment, self development seminars and generic business advice regarding opening their own business and then Centrale Management sponsored the winning model to the Profile fashion show in New York September 08. The event was the hook to engage with the residents; the seminars were the resulting outputs. This event could have had regional heats and a finale at Centrale Croydon dispersed with seminars and engagement with other Business Support Organisations. Again this event was run in B&D and the Council has ring fenced £15,000 for this event to take place "properly" in B&D this summer.

Fashion Enter have been approached by Croydon Council to undertake training and development for Croydon schools with regards to the Diploma for Retail due in 2011. It has already been agreed that Fashion Enter is more than happy to provide this support and use the retail site for training and development. Therefore one part of Croydon Council recognises the work we undertake however the other fails to cooperate. This reflects adversely on communication within the Croydon Council itself. Your last paragraph specifies that The Council is simply not able to use local tax payers money to fund any organisation, through rate relief on their premises, where this mainly operates as a retail establishment.  The above clearly shows that we are not just operating as a retail establishment and money that is generated is fed back to the recipient of our training schemes and mentoring.

Drapers Record has caught wind of the outrage and contacted the Council last week for comments and will be running an article about Fashion Enter in Croydon. In addition one of the local papers is also running an article too. This is not a desirable action for either the council or Fashion Enter and was totally unnecessary if communication could have been effective. If some one from the Council had taken the time visit Unit 2 and conduct a meeting with Jenny Holloway, Director or the staff, possibly even contacted the schools above, the designers from Croydon that we have helped or even contacted asos.com itself this could have all been averted.

Croydon has many empty retail units and there will be more besides. Such an autocratic system will result in Croydon being a ghost town for the independent trader. We have clearly demonstrated our work is truly not for profit and engagement with the residents of businesses of Croydon is clear for all to see. In the past we have even offered to populate the units along St. George's Walk with our own designers to turn this area into a fashion and creative cluster. Again we have received no response and no decision to date with an unpromising outlook.  Croydon had a tremendous opportunity to make a difference with the original LEGI funding and make Croydon a true third city for England. How very disappointing all this has turned out to be and perhaps explains why B&D is ranked a four star borough by the Audit Commissions report on Council Services compared to Croydon's three star rating.

Naturally we are disappointed that our work has not been recognised correctly by Croydon Council and we also understand that the council can not be seen to be setting precedents too. We will continue to fight for recognition of what our company undertakes each and every day in Croydon too and to continue providing a frequent revenue stream for our members.