Up the stairs of number 57, award-winning Elements of Teddington have expanded their range of services to boutique beauty and holistic therapy. Having only been open eight weeks, the salon’s growing client base is a testament to the quality of treatments and service available.

Simply Me Boutique Beauty is aided in its service by Lucie and Dee; therapists who have worked together over 7 years, supported by a great knowledge of both treatments and products. They both recommend the Guinot facials, particularly the hydradermie, a major innovation in skin care treatment.

Lasting just over an hour, this treatment enables fast and deep penetration of active ingredients, resulting in exceptional effectiveness and radiant skin.

As well as offering waxing, tinting, and a varying range of other new treatments, including the Jessica GELeration range in gel manicures and pedicures, Simply Me offers the new “genie” treatment, the worlds only ten minute facelift.

This service alone has made the salon a unique experience for the beauty lovers of Teddington. Feel free to pop in to take a look around and pick up a price list, or give Simply Me a call on 0208 150 7229.

Work is underway at other locations for refurbishment – Red Peppers is closed for this reason and should be open in mid-May (3 weeks from 23rd April), The Loft is also undergoing a major renovation but will re-open soon. Work has also begun transforming the former tattoo shop on Stanley Road into new Italian “Cafe Toscana”. Caffee Teddington (near Sorrento) should open next week.

The Fish Bar on Kingston Road has successfully applied for permission to open for longer hours – now 7am-10pm Monday to Saturday and 8am-9pm Sunday and bank holidays. Nearby the application for change to use from office space to cafe on Kingston Road refused – possibly because this would have led to too high a concentration of cafe’s in this parade of shops.

The Cavan Bakery has launched a new range of sandwiches with eye-catching names including Poultry in Motion, Colonel Mustard and The Full Money. The Nearest Cafe are now open until 5pm every Wednesday and now offer a new text coffee-ordering service. *See comment under the article for more Nearest Cafe news.

After last year’s sold out talk by Teddington Cheese, the library will be hosting a ‘From Bean to Cup‘ talk by everyone’s favourite coffee roaster Astrora Coffee – including the origins of coffee, harvesting, processing, roasting, tasting and how to brew the best coffee at home. Tickets including refreshments are £2 for the talk on Wednesday 16 May 6-7pm.

Teddington Travelodge is now open and nearby businesses have already started to notice the effects of this – spotting customers visiting their shops with suitcases trailing behind them.

Mela Mela celebrated their four-year anniversary recently with a celebratory pink bubbly day, attendees were encouraged to wear their favourite vintage outfit and the wearer of the winning outfit was crowned Miss Mela received a sash and shop vouchers.

Nutritious Delicious chocolate truffles (74% dark chocolate) are a creation of Teddington resident Carey and are manufactured by Montezuma’s. The Healthy Chocolate range in additional to being very delicious are packed with vitamins, zinc, magnesium and high in anti-oxidant values, and currently available at Cook which itself has recently launched its home delivery service.

Recent studies have shown that UK retailers are abandoning the high street in increasing numbers in favour of moving to out-of-town locations – this effect adds empty units to towns that are already suffering from closing businesses so it’s never been a better time to support your local high street by using it first before you consider shopping elsewhere!

There has been lots of talk about a potential farmers market in Teddington again – if anyone is interested in taking part in discussions and potentially going forward with this idea then email the local go-to lady for cakes, Trudi Harrison (CakesByTrudi) at info@cakesbytrudi.co.uk.

Just as the warm weather is appearing, river visitors will be glad to hear that the Flying Cloud Cafe by the Lock is re-opening from next weekend (31st March). From 10am until 5pm daily you will again be able to enjoy the river view as well as homemade cakes, ice-creams and hot and cold drinks.

Mothers Day saw a big boost for local retailers – many restaurants were filled with well-wishing famililes on the day, flower shops such as newly opened Jo Butler Flowers did brisk business and La Casa Del Habano in particular almost ran out of chocolate supplies! They are re-stocked now and shelves are also filled with high-quality Easter eggs and treats.

The empty unit that was previously Elli’s Fine Foods is to now be taken up by a solicitors – the landlord wasn’t keen on having another food outlet in this space after a string of these. Work still continues on Teddington Cafe (previously 130 Litho printers) – expected to open in about a month.

Retro Bistrot is now offering Sunday roasts on their a la carte menu with beef and lamb roasts available. The Wharf new fresh spring menu that includes seasonal dishes is now being enjoyed by diners at the popular river-side restaurant.

A family party day will be held in Hamptons International this Saturday, 24th March To celebrate the opening of this new office – from 11am to 4pm there will be face painting, balloons, tea and cake. This Sunday, The Orange Clinic (above KC Pharmacy) have an open day 11am-4pm with 20% off all treatments.

There is a real buzz about the new restaurant moving into the space left after the departure of Scarpetta. Owners of Moiduls currently operate several popular restaurants in Hampton Wick and Twickenham and will be opening this new Indian tapas venture in Teddington within a few weeks (latest estimate is for 26th April but may be slightly earlier).

Every shopping area in Teddington seems to be getting a new cafe – former football coaching club at 192 Kingston Road and rumours of new cafes on both Waldegrave and Stanley Road have been circulating.

Permission to change the shop at 150 Stanley Road to residential has been granted for so one less shop will be available here.

As well as grooms Wear, Highland Wear, Evening Wear and Top Hat and Tails, Jo McLaren Formal Wear, Waldegrave Road, have new stylish slim fit ‘Prom’ suits in stock which can be hired for the increasingly popular American-style school Proms.

They also have an outfit builder app on their website where you can browse the full hire range and apply it to a virtual model.

Sadly though, Hair Associates opposite on The Causeway will be closing after many years serving their clients in Teddington due to issues with their lease agreement. The salon will close this Wednesday, 29th February and most team members will be transferring to the Twickenham branch.

This comes as many local businesses are bracing themselves for the 5.6% increase in business rates this April.

As It Is stock is currently all on offer to clear all stock – owners will soon be changing to sell exclusively shoes under the new name “Heels for Leather“.

Canta Napoli has lost its appeal to overturn their refused planning permission for the altered shop-front and have now been told by Richmond Council to put shop front back how it was previously.

After a long absence following the fire that destroyed the shop and customer items in Pearl dry cleaners, this unit is currently being refurbishment to re-open again soon as the same dry cleaning business.

Hamptons International is now open for business (where Field Goulding was situated previously) and are offering a free bespoke marketing package for new instructions before the 31st March.

“Caffe Teddington” will be opening in 4 weeks in the empty site (previously Litho 130 printers) and not replacing Elli’s Fine Foods as previously reported.

Marks & Spencer has applied for extended licensing hours which will probably equate to longer general opening hours – until 11pm most days and 10:30pm on a Sunday.

Work still continues on the new Travelodge – latest estimates are that it will be opening in mid-April with the restaurant/apartments being ready for June. The Council decision to deny the change of use for this block from office space to apartments was overturned and billboards advertising the nine luxury apartments area ready displayed on site. There are currently three restaurants interested in taking on the restaurant space.

Johnsons Shoes are celebrating their 60th anniversary this year! This small family owned chain of nine stores started in Teddington in 1952 and has been going strong ever since.

The company is currently recruiting to fill a variety of positions for the new restaurant. As with all Carluccio’s, management positions include incentives such as trips to Italy as part of the package!

The reasons for the closure of Belmont Bakery have recently become clear – the owner has been fined £10,000 for hygiene breaches and ordered to pay £6,000 in costs for the case. The bakeries in this small chain have now been closed after a bankruptcy notice was served in November. Food hygiene regulations were found to be seriously breached after surprise inspection following a tip-off by a resident.

Ellis’s has left the high street and are now concentrating on private catering and cakes for special occasions. This newly launched business will launch in February. This unit won’t be empty for long though because in it’s place “Teddington Cafe” will be opening in 6 weeks.

The lawn-mower shop on Stanley Road has now disappeared as mysteriously as it opened and Midnight Movies on Kingston Road is now also closed. Oakleys furniture store looks like it now has new owners and has been rebranded “Furniture Outlet” – with mostly the same stock on sale.

“Higher Space” has opened in one of Teddington’s oldest buildings, above BoHo boutique, offering various treatments and classes including yoga, meditation, reiki healing, chakra balancing, acupuncture and various types of massages. Contact higherspace@rocketmail.com for more info or to book any treatments.

If you haven’t yet done so, you can visit the Teddington Constitutional Club as a guest. The club is a hidden gem on Stanley Road, just off Broad Street. The private club has many amenities include a large bar, lounge area, function room (for hire), pool table, dart board and three full-size snooker tables. Various events are held regular including DJ Ann Taylor’s Northern Soul Nites on Thursdays.

Restaurant sites are being snapped up by companies including Brasserie Blanc. It is believed however that talks have been underway with Carluccios to take on this premises – more news once this is confirmed.

On Kingston Road, the ever-increasing threat of online movie streaming and rental by post has almost certainly been the cause of Moonlight Movies closing down – a sale is currently helping owners sell any remaining stock of movies and fireworks. On Stanley Road a lawnmower seller has taken residence in the ex-tattoo shop so head over there if you are looking to get the lawn in order for spring.

The latest estimates from Travelodge for the opening date of their new hotel is May 2012 – recently the building changed hands £9.4 million on the basis of Travelodge’s 25 year lease and income from roof-mounted phone masts.

Fielding Gould has now closed to pave the way for Hamptons International to move in. In pub news, the leasehold for The Hogarth is currently up for sale by owners Fullers. Coffee-lovers with kids will be happy to learn that Teeney Weenies ‘kids play cafe’ will be opening on the 23rd January at Teddington Baptist Church.

The January Sales are well upon us – every other shop seems to have a sale sign in the window and big discounts are available. This comes amidst news of supermarkets biggest ever store opening plans in history (could be 50% more trading space created) will only increase the threat to our high streets in the UK.

Richmond has however been named one of the most likely borough’s to bounce back from the recession due to support for local businesses.

Councillor Fleming (cabinet member for community, business and culture) has praised recent initiatives including the creation of the business and retail champion post, Christmas lights investing and help with parking from the RichmondCard and removal of yellow lines in town centres. Although Richmond is in a better position than some, we should all keep supporting our local businesses to help them in these difficult economic times.

Local retail specialist Philip Downer has posted his thoughts on Mary Portas’s high street report here with his take on the recommendations.

Starting this Saturday 3rd December with Stanley Primary Schools Christmas Bazaar (12-3pm), St Mary and St Peter’s Schools Christmas Fair (1-4pm) that will include tombolas, raffle, Santa’s grotto, bucking bronco Rudolph and many Christmas present stalls and finally Collis School international Christmas Fair (2-5pm) with steel band, Santa’s Grotto and tastes from around the world.

This weekend also sees the return of the unusual sight of a multitude of Santa’s running through Bushy Park for the Princess Alice Hospice Santa Fun Run. On Sunday 4th December there will be a morning and afternoon run as well as Christmas activities and treats for the whole family.

If you’re itching to get the decorations up, you can also pick-up a Christmas Tree On Sunday at Collis School 10am-12pm or from the at Diana car park in Bushy Park every day now from now until Christmas Eve 9am-6:45pm.

Late night shopping and 15% discounts will be available at The Loft on Tuesday 6th December from 6pm onwards. The following weekend on Saturday 10th December two local schools will also be selling Christmas trees – St Mary and St Peter’s School (9am-12) and Stanley Primary School (10:30am-1pm).

Finally if you’re out and about on the 17th December you might chance across a sea of red Christmas hats in local pubs – the 5th annual Christmas Crawl will be making its way across the area via 20 pubs in 12 hours whilst collecting donations for Shooting Star Children’s Hospice.

Last year saw road problems with a bus and a car break down by the main roundabout, this year didn’t start well either after traffic was diverted after a bad accident that closed Kingston Road and required the driver to be cut from their car.

The festivities in Teddington were however mostly unaffected and the unseasonably warm weather helped pack out the streets and Elmfield Gardens for the switch on.

Eastenders star Kellie Shirley took to the mic and after some words was joined by Mayor Clare Head in leading the countdown. The lights came on along the whole length of the high street some time after due to a technical hitch (all despite last-minute fixes due to earlier vandalism).

The Mayor and Kellie with the chosen children’s Lights-Up poster designs

An amusing Santa entertained the crowds in the RNLI lifeboat outside of the Kings Head whilst at the other end of the high street Santa’s grotto at Play Inside Out there were huge queues waiting to give present ideas as early as 4pm!

On Church Road Diner’s Delight soon sold out of their supply of Mezes and soup and the spit roast pig at Nearest Cafe was all gone in 90 minutes! Thankfully it wasn’t so cold that the nearby indoor Christmas Fayre was needed to warm up, but it was none-the-less crammed with shoppers checking out the 30 stalls inside.

Music sounded from many venues – the school band outside of Boots, live music at Vidatherapy and Boho Boutique

Lights sparkle after the switch-on. Photo: Brian Holder, Teddington Society

As well as celebrating the lights switch on it was also an evening of celebration for Teds (21 years) and Bottega (1st anniversary).

Comments via Twitter after the event summed up the whole vibe of the evening:

Kindle Stoves: Thank you so much Teddington for your wonderful community spirit and making #Teddington Lights Up such a success! Have a good weekend!

Astrora Coffee: Hope everyone had a lovely evening in #Teddington yesterday. Thank you all who came to say hi. Seems we’ve found some new coffee converts

Milestone Commercial: Huge turn out in Teddington, well done to all involved. Please support your local shops and businesses this Xmas. Use them or lose them!

Miss_Manful: Walked through teddington today as the christmas lights were being put on and the sense of community there is just amazing

Sandi Wood: had such a lovely time at Teddington light’s up. Amazing sense of community, so glad we moved here.

MrTomBaker: Love how #Teddington makes a big deal about turning on it’s Christmas Lights. Makes me feel festive every year.

See also some video highlights from BestOfRichmond.

Switching on the lights this time will be the Mayor, Santa and Kellie Shirley (Eastenders Carly Wicks) as Cindarella – currently in rehearsals to play this festive role at Richmond Theatre.

The main programme of events will include:
5.30pm Carol Singing outside Elmfield House, led by the Landmark Choir
6.00pm Switching on of the Christmas Tree Lights at Elmfield House
6.30pm Churches Together in Teddington sing festive songs with Santa in his sleigh helped by the Lions Club elves

Then in each area of the town centre starting with The High Street, for the kids there will be a high street treasure hunt from 4pm (for children up to 16 years old) – pick up your entry forms from La Casa Del Habano, 76 High Street. Santa and his second-favourite mode of transport (a RNLI lifeboat) will be in residence outside the Kings Head from 6:30pm.

VIA will be offering discounts, canapes and champagnes, William Curley will be giving book signings and giving offering chocolate tasting at La Casa Del Habano. Mulled wine, mine pies, competitions, practice tours and dog treats will be available at Vet4life. Teds will be continuing their 21st birthday celebrations with wine, nibbles, sweets and discounts all Thursday/Friday.

In Broad Street Santa’s Grotto will be at Play Inside Out who will also be selling glow-toys for the evening. Hot Christmas drinks will be on sale at Costa Coffee and Teddington School Jazz band will be entertaining the crowds outside Boots. Coffee tasters and have home-baked cookies will be available from Astrora Coffee.

The Causeway will be closed to traffic – Sims Opticians will be offering mince pies and sweets, reindeer rides will be provided by Park Lane Stables from 4-7pm. “Sounds Familiar” will be playing live music in the Causeway too.

Church Road will also host live music from independent musicians and local schools. There will be complimentary wine and Italian appetizers from Al Borgo, homemade mezes, flat bread and traditional soup from Diners Delight, boozy hot drinks and Christmas nibbles from the Nearest Cafe and £5 mini-manicures and live music at Vidatherapy.

This year for the first time there will also be an indoor Fayre inside Teddington Baptist Church 6-9pm which will be decorated with Christmas drawings by Teddington’s children. Dog walkers will be happy to note that dogs will be allowed inside to visit the fayre!

There will be a lot of local businesses packed into the hall including: Best of Richmond, Cakes by Trudi, Cooper Faure, Desi Fontaine (Photographer), Image Happy, Jo Magdalena Jewellery, LBN Interiors, McDonald plumbing, Messy Mittens, Millie Mac, Miss Captain Clothes, Mumpreneurs, Nargis Ahmad Osteopath, Richmond Birth Preparation Services, Simply Skin, Synchronicity, Teddington Business Community, Teddington Midwives, Teddnet, Toto 4 organic, Vie at Home, Teddington Womens Institute.

Full programme of events can be found here.

[Update 22/11/2011] Waterstone’s will be hosting local Children’s author Karen Inglis in store between 5pm and 7pm. She will be reading from and talking about her book ‘The Secret Lake‘, a magical time slip mystery inspired by the Isabella Plantation at Richmond Park. Her book will enchant adventure loving 8-11 year-olds.

As you might have already noticed another charity shop will be joining the long list already situated the high street – Barnados Children’s store will be open soon next door to Cafe Nero, which is also currently undergoing a refurbishment of its garden area.

For any bride-to-be’s who need to visit Gillion Million but are too busy with their wedding arrangements will be glad to hear that Skype appointments are also now available.

Teddington’s famous Teddies were previously found at Pinnochios (next to Shambles) are now being sold at the Teds. A new addition to the high street is another White Brasserie plaque – the headquarters of Brasserie Blanc has moved into an office opposite The Kings Head. Green Health has however recently closed.

A new menswear shop (the first on the high street for many years) will be opening on Saturday 5th November. Studio 148 is taking the place of Selwyn-smith Studio (at 148 High Street).

This exclusive menswear boutique will be offering contemporary casual clothes and accessories including coloured chinos, knitwear, jeans, jackets, shirts, T-shirts and polo shirts. On the opening day there will be lots of goodies available – complimentary champagne or wine, a prize draw for jeans/shoes and a special 20% introductory discount on your first purchase.

Don’t forget to help support your local high street and local charities at the same time by buying a Peel2Save card!

Richmond Council and traders will be hoping that lots of residents will be taking advantage of the new Richmond Card – this enables parking discounts and free 30 minutes of parking at meter bays and Council car parks.

Finally dog walkers might want to know that there are a surprising number of shops on the high street that allow well-behaved dogs inside so instead of leaving your beloved pup at home or shivering outside during winter, they can accompany you into the following:
As It Is, Astrora Coffee, Boho Boutique, Escape, Teddington Hardware, Jones The Bootmaker, Kitchen Sync, Kindle Stoves, Mela Mela, Nova Fortuny, Play Inside Out, Studio 148, Teddington Essentials, Waterstones (front carpet area) and Via.