The North London Chamber of Commerce is an independent business membership organisation and we support the stand being taken as in our daily conversations with business the issue of recruiting staff with the right numeracy, literacy and employability skills is one of their biggest issues. We should be working alongside initiatives that support this agenda and encourage career and job opportunities with local business from the local community. 


Regards,

Huw

Huw Jones
Chief Executive
North London Chamber of Commerce
201 Hertford Road
Enfield  EN3 5JH

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Property within a quarter-mile of a professionally-staffed library is worth on average 8.8% more than an equivalent home not near a library, accounting for all other variables. 

Source: University of Pennsylvania

According to Zoopla's average values, the loss of East Finchley Library alone could wipe off £4 billion off property value.

​SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORTS OUR LIBRARIES 


​We the undersigned are small business owners of Barnet and the North London Chamber of Commerce.

As businesspeople we know what it's like to struggle in tough times and have all had to make sacrifices and difficult choices. We therefore oppose Barnet's plans to close or reduce the five libraries  -- East Finchley, Mill Hill, Child’s Hill, Osidge and South Friern -- that are showing the best growth of engagement with children and teens because it doesn't make good strategic business sense.

None of these libraries costs more than £150,000 a year to run - which isn’t even 10% what Barnet is spending this year on CCTV to give out parking fines. Each of these libraries serves thousands of people.  Each of these libraries costs less to run than the £200,000 the Council spent on a 'Library Review' to close them. These libraries represent 0.27% of the Council's budget. We believe they are an investment worth making in our children, in our community, in literacy and in the prosperity of local businesses.

 Please consider the following carefully:

  • Libraries are attractive features to our high streets.  They are especially appealing to parents and children.  They make families feel safe and want to come to our community and patronise our shops, cafes and businesses, rather than go out of town.


  •  Libraries are key to helping secure the literacy skills and well-spoken English we need for our workforce.


  •  For those of us in the property, personal finance, home security, refurbishment, homewares, gardening and construction businesses, we profit from the average of 8.8% value a local library adds to nearby property.  Home-owners who feel more confident in their property values give us more business if they know their houses won't lose the billions of pounds of value that removing nearby local libraries could cause.  In East Finchley alone, £4billion could be wiped off the value of local properties if its library is shut -- that will not help our businesses.


  • We want students to have safe, public places to go where they can strive to get ahead rather than loiter in the streets.



These libraries add significant value to our community and our economy and are a low-cost investment for a better future. We need them.

Small business stands with Save Barnet Libraries.

Please do not close or damage them.

Yours,