Trader bookings still available for Taste Cumbria Maryport, make use of our free business assets, FSB support LGBT+ entrepreneurs and find out about upcoming business events

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Latest news for businesses in Allerdale

Taste Sea Dogs

Taste Cumbria heads back to the seaside in Maryport!

The county’s favourite food festival returns to Maryport this summer for a two-day extravaganza of local flavours and family fun.

Trader pitches are still available for the Producers’ Market and hot food court. For more information, email ellie.jones@allerdale.gov.uk. Priority will be given to Allerdale and other Cumbrian producers but we welcome enquiries from other areas.

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More on Taste Cumbria in Maryport

The Taste Cumbria event takes place in the pretty harbour town on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 August 2022 and its main sponsor this year is Maryport Town Council.

Over both days, there will be a producers’ market at the top of Senhouse Street and, down on the harbourside, there will be a hot food court, drinks tent, live music and a picnic field next to the Shiver Me Timbers play area. That area will also be used to promote fish and seafood from Maryport and other harbour towns in the area, and the young entrepreneurs’ market.

There will also be chefs’ demonstrations and a children’s fairground and face painters, with Rainbow Wishes Foundation putting on extra activities, as well as a new treasure hunt, with clues created by the primary and junior schools with thanks to 'Little Pictures' workshops. Throughout the town, pubs and eateries will be getting involved with entertainment during the day and evening.

Maryport Rugby Club will host a comedy night on Saturday, with tickets being announced shortly. There will also be a Cake Off Competition for budding bakers to show off their skills.

Maryport Town Council is the main sponsor of this year’s Taste Maryport festival. Maryport’s Mayor Peter Kendall said: “We loved seeing the streets thronged with smiling people last year and we hope that this event is even bigger and better. We want everyone to see what a beautiful place this is and keep them coming back, time after time.

“We hope that Maryport’s businesses will really get behind it too. This is an exciting time for the town, with lots of investment starting to make its mark on our attractions and landscape. Come and see what we have to offer.”

Councillor Mike Johnson, leader of Allerdale Borough Council, the organisers of the event, said: “We held a Taste Cumbria festival in Maryport for the first time last year and it was an amazing success. Independent research showed it brought more than half a million pounds into the local economy and it brought people together after a year of lockdowns.

“We put our festivals in the heart of our towns so that our businesses can benefit from the additional footfall. We add in family entertainment that everyone can enjoy. And we make sure they are a showcase for the county through the wealth of fabulous food and drink on offer.”

Maryport’s Taste of the Sea event will be followed by the flagship Taste Cumbria festival in Cockermouth on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 September then the Taste Cumbria Christmas Festival on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 December.

If you are aged between 16 and 25 and want to book a place in the entrepreneurs market, email ellie.jones@allerdale.gov.uk.

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Shop Local 

Shop Local still

We have developed a range of tools for Allerdale retailers to use and share with their customers, to encourage residents to shop local.

They include posters which you can download and display in your window here:

Poster

and a shop local video to share on your social media channels here: 

Watch


Join our Allerdale Business Community Facebook Group

Keep up to date with the latest news, and join a network local business people. Click the image to join.

Business facebook group

Making the most from your email list

redmayne

Using your customer’s email addresses to keep in touch with them is a proven way of growing sales. 

Claire Mahon of Redmayne 1860 bespoke tailors, Wigton said: “We use Mailchimp to send out an email regularly to our customers to keep them informed of what we are up to, to let them know about new fabrics that are out, to try and incentivise them to pick out the next suit in advance of us getting there.”

Check out our handy factsheet to get started. 

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Federation of Small Businesses – Supporting LGBT+ business owner 

FSB LGBT

To celebrate FSB’s LGBT+ networking events going UK-wide, FSB launched a new LGBT+ business hub to support LGBT+ entrepreneurs:

  • Hear stories from LGBT+ small business owners and discover advice for starting a business 
  • Explore insightful resources and interviews with experts including Iain Anderson, the UK Government’s former LGBT+ Business Champion 
  • Discover tips for LGBT+ workplace inclusion and ways to show you’re an LGBT+ friendly business 

Making your business inclusive  

Promote LGBT+ inclusivity in your business for your customers and your team with our range of resources for small business owners.  

Download free posters and graphics - Show your customers and employees that you're an LGBT+ friendly small business and workplace with our free downloadable posters and social media graphics. 

Make your pledge - Whether you’re an LGBT+ business owner or you want to show your support for the LGBT+ community, make your pledge and receive your free FSB LGBT+ badge. 


Add your business to our business directory

Business Directory

Messages from Cumbria Tourism 

Cumbria Tourism

Access funding for your business 

Three new funding opportunities have been announced this week: 

Powering our Communities Fund - Electricity North West’s fund, worth £75,000, is now available to groups and organisations throughout the North West. It focusses on any community-led projects or initiatives which reduce, manage, generate or purchase energy and focus on engagement and benefits to the local area and its communities. Application deadline: 19 July  

Museum Estate and Development Fund (MEND) - Expressions of interest have opened for the second round of MEND, with a deadline of 12pm (midday) on 17 June. 

Cultural Development Fund - The third round of this fund will open for expressions of interest on at 9am on. 6 June. The deadline for submitting Expressions of Interest is 12pm (midday) on 29 July.   

Accessible Zone at Keswick Mountain Festival Extended  

Did you know that Keswick Mountain Festival (20-22 May) has expanded its dedicated area and attractions for visitors with disabilities?  The festival’s Accessible Adventure Zone is sponsored by our Patron United Utilities, with new activities run through specialist provider and CT member Anyone Can. 

Plan ahead for summer 

This month we have a food and drink database newsletter scheduled alongside our full database newsletter in June, with a special rate available. We also have availability for social media posts to give you that extra boost! Email elishman@cumbriatourism.org for more information. 


Upcoming events

CLEP LOGO

Cumbria LEP Decarbonisation Summit, Milnthorpe - 26 May 2022, 09:30 – 13:00 

Find out from other businesses how they are de - carboninsing their businesses. There will be presentations by Iggesund, First Milk, Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Playdale and numerous other companies, with the intention being to demonstrate how this is being taken forward in every size and sector of businesses in Cumbria. More details and register here:

Book Now

Cumbria Tourism

Cumbria Tourism 

Working together for a leaner, greener future  

Don’t miss our Annual General Meeting on Thursday 16 June at Kendal’s Castle Green Hotel.  This year’s AGM theme will be ‘Working together for a leaner, greener future’ and we are welcoming three special guest speakers.  

Jonny Sadler, the Strategic Decarbonisation Manager at Electricity North West, will be discussing electric vehicle charging made simple and other energy saving tips for businesses. 

We’re also very excited to welcome Tim Narey from Eden Project who will be giving a fascinating update on Eden Project North and what it means for Cumbria.  

Meanwhile, the CEO of the Lake District Foundation Sarah Swindley will be guiding business through the latest low carbon grant case studies, trends and future opportunities.  

You can also hear more about the latest appointments to Cumbria Tourism’s Executive Board, as well as a Q&A panel, a CT roundup from our MD Gill Haigh and plenty of networking over lunch. 

University of Cumbria

EVENT: Manage the staffing challenges in Cumbria 

Join our Head of Partnerships & Projects Rachel Tyson who will one of the key speakers at a half day workshop hosted by our Strategic Partners at the University of Cumbria next week. 
 
This face-to-face session will share experiences, ideas and good practice for managing the staffing challenges in Cumbria’s visitor economy. 
 
Taking place at their Ambleside campus from 9.30am on Wednesday 18 May, participants also will hear from CT members including the Westmorland Group, the Lakeside Hotel & Spa, and Simon Rogan's Umbel Restaurant Group about how they are tackling this ongoing issue.  

Book Now

CLIC academy

Cumbria Learning and Improvement Collaborative 

Lets Talk Bereavement 

There are a range of online sessions across June and July to help business owners and staff to development their understanding how of grief and feel more comfortable and confident about talking to others about death and bereavement 

Book Now