Essex High Street Business Summit is around the corner, now with a sustainable exhibition
 Date: Wednesday 24 November
Time: 10am - 4pm
Venue: Hylands House, Chelmsford (and also livestreamed)
Essex County Council’s (ECC) first ever High Street Business Summit is just days away, with a wide range of speakers and presentations covering an array of topics around the high streets and town centres, targeted at building back better post pandemic.
To tie into ECC’s ambitions of lowering carbon emission in the county, and the transition to greener public transport, Equipmake will be exhibiting their fully electric bus at the summit.
The Jewel E double decker bus has been specifically developed for demanding daily usage cycles and is one of the first buses to operate in London to TfL 2024 bus safety standards, with a large rechargeable battery option that offers up to 300 miles.
Register here
To encourage the use of a more sustainable mode of transport, regular shuttle service will be available on the day, from Chelmsford train station. For more information on the Ugobus shuttle service to the summit, please contact: Harry.Moxham@essex.gov.uk
60 Second Pitch – Women in Business workshop
 Date: Thursday 25 November
Time: 10am-4pm
If you haven’t got a clear 60-second pitch, you could be missing out on opportunities to grow your business every day.
The BEST Growth Hub and NatWest are hosting a free 60 Second Pitch – Women in Business workshop on 25 November from 10-11am. Join the team as we break the 60-second or ‘elevator’ pitch down into its component parts. You’ll come away with a clear understand around what to put in and leave out for maximum impact.
Sign up here
Ambitious Women Wednesdays
Essex County Council (ECC) is launching a series of videos, to support and celebrate its local women in business
Ambitious Women Wednesdays is a new initiative from ECC and will be hosted on the Ambitious Women in Essex LinkedIn page. The first video commences with an interview with Cllr Louise McKinlay, Essex County Council’s current deputy leader, and the first woman to hold this position.
Cllr McKinlay, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Community, Equality, Partnerships and Performance, commented “I am proud to launch this series of videos, which are a great opportunity to promote local business and to celebrate and support local women, who are playing a key role in building the Essex economy.”
Women from around the county will be encouraged to promote their business, discuss their career paths, and any inequalities that they might have faced on the way.
If you would be interested in submitting a video for inclusion, then please email eve.calderbank@essex.gov.uk.
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Group2Grow peer network
 Backing Essex Business’s Group2Grow peer groups bring together cohorts of business professionals to learn, grow, and solve common problems using each other’s knowledge and experience, with the support, guidance, and mentoring of a Business Coach.
Over 8 x 2 hr group sessions and 3 hours of individual 1.2.1 sessions with an expert mentor we will through discussion and discovery, uncover the challenges faced by your business and work together to find logical and practical solutions.
Register your interest
Important - a statement from Dr Mike Gogarty, Director of Public Health, Essex County Council
Dear Business owner,
We want all businesses to stay open; retail and hospitality have been badly affected during the past 18 months. To ensure this can happen we are asking you to consider – if you haven’t already – what measures you are putting in place this winter to protect your staff and make sure your business can continue to run at full capacity.
We are in a unique position heading into winter this year because we have no legal restrictions in place, but we still have Covid-19 circulating in the community, on top of the usual coughs, colds and flu. We want to avoid putting extra pressure on the NHS which is already dealing with a backlog of procedures that have been cancelled as a result of multiple lockdowns.
Therefore, we would strongly recommend that you ask your employees to test themselves at least twice a week using rapid lateral flow tests. These can be ordered online or you can collect from Essex libraries.
The tests will pick up a positive case even if you don’t have any symptoms, which will prevent the virus being spread unknowingly amongst staff and customers. One in three people who test positive for Covid-19 do not show any symptoms and so rapid lateral flow testing is the only way to identify these hidden cases.
We would also strongly encourage staff to continue to wear face masks as they move around the workplace, ensure spaces are well ventilated and to maintain a distance of at least two metres from others, wherever possible. I appreciate that due to the nature of some businesses, this will not always be achievable and so following other preventative measures becomes even more important. It is vital that your employees feel supported and encouraged to stay at home if they feel unwell. This includes self-isolating if they develop symptoms of Covid-19 or test positive for the virus.
Getting vaccinated against flu and Covid-19 will provide protection for staff and customers against both these serious illnesses. Employees can protect themselves by making sure they are double vaccinated and have their booster jab against Covid-19. You and your teams can find out when it’s your turn to book via the NHS.
As we head further into the colder months, we must all do everything we can to minimise the spread of the virus in the wider population. Regular testing, getting vaccinated and taking up the flu jab really will make a difference in protecting your business and reducing pressure on local NHS services. Remember, there is local support available for you and your business if you need it. Please find out more about how you can protect yourself, your customers and your business this winter.
We’re all relying on each other to stay safe and by continuing to do these simple actions we can Keep Covid in Check. Thank you for your continued support.
Dr Mike Gogarty
Director for Public Health, Essex County Council
Support from Brentwood Borough Council
The Council's Economic Development team is here to help you with any queries.
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