Weekly Business Update - 5th August

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5th August 2021

Business News, Support Training and Skills


Final round of SEISS now open

The final round of the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) is now open to applications.

The grant will cover the period May 2021 to September 2021. The amount of the fifth grant received will be determined by how much your turnover has been reduced in the year April 2020 to April 2021.

The fifth grant will be worth:

  • 80% of 3 months’ average trading profits, capped at £7,500, for those with a turnover reduction of 30% or more.
  • 30% of 3 months’ average trading profits, capped at £2,850, for those with a turnover reduction of less than 30%.

Applications must be made on or before 30th September 2021.

For more information and to apply for the final SEISS grant, click 'Support For Business' below.

Support For Business


furlough new June 21

Furlough has changed from August

The Coronavirus Job Retention (Furlough) scheme has seen further changes implemented to those in July, and businesses must further contribute to the cost of furloughed employee wages.

Employees will continue to receive up to 80% of their wages for hours not worked, where they are furloughed 100% of the time.

From 1st August, employers will:

  • Continue to pay furloughed employees 80% of their wages, but the Government's contribution for hours not worked will reduce from 70%, down to 60%.
  • This means, under the scheme employers must contribute at least 20% of employee wages (capped at £625 per month), for hours not worked.

The Government contribution will not reduce below the current 60% mark now, until the point where the Furlough scheme officially closes in September.

For more information about the Furlough scheme please click 'Support For Business' below.

Support For Business


Skills Access Hub

Skills Access Hub

Businesses can now access free impartial advice from experienced Skills Advisors and develop action plans to close skills gaps within the workforce.

The plan could focus on upskilling the existing team, or look at ways to bring new skills and capacity into the business via apprenticeships, Kickstart, internships and/or graduate placements.

The dedicated team of Skills Advisers work with businesses on a one-to-one basis, to ensure support it tailored and responsive to business needs.

For more info and to access, click 'Skills Hub' below.

Skills Hub

The Skills Access Hub is a 3-year project, part-funded by the European Social Fund, that offers skills advice and brokerage support to small and medium sized businesses based across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire (D2N2).


Handshake Image

Winning business and building resilience with ISO 

Business of all shapes and sizes are frequently being asked to demonstrate their compliance with standards such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 when either tendering for new business opportunities or looking to grow the work they do with existing customers.

But what are these standards, why are they being asked for and what benefits do they bring to your business?

In this session, BSI, the UK’s leading ISO certification body with over 115 years of experience of working with Standards, will run through some of the key standards you are likely to be asked for, the concepts behind them and the steps required for achieving the necessary certification to demonstrate your excellence when bidding for work.

ISO Standards are designed to be suitable for organisations of all sizes across all industries. Whether you are looking to win construction work from HS2, or provide digital services to the NHS, they are bound to be relevant.

For all the detail and to reserve your place please click 'More Info' below.

More Info


Grant to help businesses tackle domestic abuse

Employers across Beeston and Chilwell can access help to support workers affected by domestic abuse thanks to a grant awarded to Broxtowe Women's Project (BWP) from The Rotary Club of Beeston.

With the grant of £1,000, BWP, which works across the Borough and beyond to support people affected by domestic abuse, will help local businesses focus on what they can do to address the problem.

How can my business support?

If you’d like your businesses to be part of the project contact: chris@broxtowewp.org at BWP, or secretary@beestonrotary.org

Find out more about:

BWP

R.C Beeston


Clean and Green

Call-out for litter-pick volunteers

Discarded litter across the Borough continues to be a challenge for us all to deal with and many of us are disappointed to see branded (and non-branded) takeaway items discarded without thought on streets in our towns, parks and other public places.

As part of the Council’s ‘Clean and Green’ campaign, we actively encourage volunteers to come forward and litter-pick in their local communities and offer people the tools and kit to support this.

How businesses can help

In a bid to keep our town centres clean, we now are extending the scheme to local businesses. Could you or some of your workforce spare some time each week to tidy up outside your premises or surrounding streets?

You may be a business that has a food or drink offer and suffer from littering around your premises. Or perhaps you just want to give some time to smarten up the community you serve.

How the Council will help

The Council can supply rubbish bags and litter-picking equipment. All we ask is that you leave the collected rubbish next to a designated Council bin for us to collect.

We really hope you can support us with this and we’d be happy to publicise your efforts if you can supply some photos.

To register your interest, please email refuse@broxtowe.gov.uk


The search is on for Nottinghamshire’s Hidden Gems

Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) feedback shows that post-lockdown some areas of England are heavily saturated with visitors/tourists, whilst other areas of the country – mainly cities including Nottingham – are seeing low visitor numbers. Simply put, some areas of the country are struggling to cope with high demand, whilst other areas are seeing low demand – making the latter particularly vulnerable.

The search is on!

 To tackle these variations, FSB’s England regions will run a #myhiddengems social media campaign. The aim is to encourage the general public to share their hospitality and tourism hidden gems on social media, whether retail, a walk, a museum, anything they love under the tourism / visitor economy umbrella.  

 To kickstart the campaign FSB are asking their networks to share their hidden gems, which will be promoted and celebrated on FSB’s social media channels from Monday 19 July to early September 2021.

How can my business get involved? 

If you consider yourself a hidden gem or know one, please contact Natalie Gasson-McKinley by email natalie.gasson@fsb.org.uk before Monday 26th July to stand the best chance of being featured in the campaign.

Growth Hub

D2N2 Growth Hub - New Business Events Added

The D2N2 Growth Hub continue to offer valuable help and advice to businesses in Broxtowe. This includes various events delivered online due to the pandemic.

For a full programme of future events, click 'Business Events' below.

Business Events


Council services during the COVID-19 pandemic

We have a Open For Business page on our website which has lots of useful information about how can businesses continue to operate safely during the pandemic. Employers still have a legal duty to manage risks to those affected by their business, which includes Coronavirus. 

Businesses should also closely monitor official communications from the Council and relevant industry bodies.

Open For Business

We are also sharing regular updates about affected Council services at https://www.broxtowe.gov.uk/coronavirus

You can also get updates on our social media accounts.