Media release
17th July 2013 For immediate release
West London Business welcomes Heathrow expansion plan
The Chamber of Commerce for West London, West London Business (WLB), which represents some 800 businesses in the area, has welcomed the latest plans published today (July 17) by Heathrow for expansion of the existing airport.
“We’ve been consistent in our support for expansion at Heathrow,” said WLB Chief Executive, Frank Wingate. “It represents the most sensible solution to the UK’s lack of hub airport capacity – on both transport and cost grounds.”
He said WLB was not convinced by the Mayor’s alternative options for siting a newly built hub airport in the Thames Estuary or Stansted.
He pointed out the damage that would be done to the West London and Thames Valley economies by closing down Heathrow. It would mean the loss or relocation of some 176,000 jobs on, or related to, the airport and significantly harm business investment prospects.
“This is a major portion of West London’s 700,000 jobs and it seems to us that the negative impact of closing Heathrow on one the most dynamic business regions in the UK has not been thought through, and it appears naïve to think that you can simply rebuild a new community on the empty site when jobs and investment are stripped away,” added Wingate.
“The alternatives championed by the Mayor just don’t fit with the economic geography of the UK, nor do they stack up financially”, he said. “They wouldn’t suit passengers and would be prohibitively expensive at a time of economic uncertainty for the UK.”
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About West London Business
West London Business works to ensure West London stays the best place to do business. West London is the UK’s second largest economic powerhouse with £50 billion GVA and 70,000+ businesses. We are a business-led organisation with a blue-chip board that includes corporations such as GSK, SEGRO and PwC, as well as key regional firms such as Fullers and Brompton Bicycles. We have a membership of many hundreds, 9000+ supporters and 30+ events per annum, including the West London Business Awards.
Our commitment is to raise West London’s global economic competitiveness, whilst pursuing social and environmental sustainability. We work towards these goals by providing insight, voice and connections to our members and the wider business community. Through this programme we inform and influence the work of local, regional and national government policymakers and promote inward investment.
To find out more, visit
PR Contact:
Simon Wade, MCIPR, PR Consultant for West London Business
M: 07802 440246
E: