The Welsh Government has issued details of a new temporary business rate relief scheme under which retail, leisure and hospitality properties will benefit from April 2023.

The 2023/24 scheme offers a discount of 75% on non-domestic rate bills for eligible occupied properties but the relief is subject to a £110,000 cap on the amount each business can claim across properties occupied by the same business in Wales.

Maxime Cinema is the independent movie theatre located on Blackwood High Street that has been in operation since 2007.

The cinema caters for all age demographics with an excellent variety of food and beverages available, including a licenced bar, making it a great setting for entertainment of the whole community. It is also a large employer for the area employing over 10 full time and 12 part time staff.

Find out about the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) for non-domestic customers.

The Energy Bills Discount Scheme will run for 12 months from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.

This scheme replaces the Energy Bill Relief Scheme which supported businesses and organisations between 1 October 2022 and 31 March 2023.

Caerphilly Council Leader, Cllr Sean Morgan recently visited Transport for Wales’ (TFW’s) train simulator in Cardiff.

The visit comes days before the official launch of brand-new South Wales Metro Trains on the Rhymney Valley lines.

The UK cost-of-living crisis is affecting people across the UK.  

Rising inflation, in particular for critical commodities (such as energy, food and fuel), is pushing households into poverty and financial hardship, including those in employment. It also stretches the community organisations that help these households to breaking point.

Business in the Community (BITC) have launched a new Cost-of-Living Action Plan for Businesses that details 12 calls to action to support you to be faster, braver and bolder in your response to the ongoing crisis.

For further information please select the following links:

• Cost-of-living crisis: helping businesses respond - Business in the Community (bitc.org.uk)
• Employment and Skills - Business in the Community (bitc.org.uk)

The owners of Cwmni Caws Caerffili, Huw Rowlands and Deian Thomas, are bringing back the production of Caerphilly Cheese to Caerphilly Town Centre.

Huw and Deian have worked hard over the last 3 years sourcing local ingredients, perfecting their recipes and processes to get to a stage where they can start producing and selling Caerphilly Cheese.

Saturday, the 25^th of March, saw Ystrad Town Centre transform for the second Spring Fair of 2023.

The town centre welcomed an outstanding 8,247 visitors with 1,302 being the peak attendance at 1pm. There were 6,511 more visitors in town compared to the previous Saturday, making it the busiest day of the year so far. This year’s Spring Fair also beat the footfall of 2022’s Spring event.

Kinetic Pixel is a business based in Caerphilly that designs and builds entertainment technology systems that power interactive studio graphics, trigger the lights and sounds, manage the scores and content, and enable real time interaction for both virtual and live audiences, contestants, and presenters across the globes.

The Green Business Loan Scheme is delivered in partnership with the Development Bank of Wales to help Welsh business go green. 

The scheme provides:

• Access to fully funded and part funded consultancy support that helps businesses understand their own path to decarbonisation 
• Discounted fixed interest rates for energy efficiency measures and low carbon heat installations 
• Patient capital, with upfront capital repayment holidays and a loan term linked to project payback

For further information please select the link below..

Acorns Bakery has been in business for over 20 years and moved to Caerphilly in 2020 after originally being based in Newport.

The bakery provides food wholesalers and hospitality businesses with fresh baked goods and has secured contracts to supply Wimbledon, The Grand National and Cheltenham races, which alone orders over 16,000 scones per event

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has launched two new security tools aimed at small businesses, microbusinesses, organisations and sole traders that lack the resources to address cyber issues. 

The National Cyber Security Centre – a part of Government Communications Headquarters – unveiled the services to coincide with the latest phase of its Cyber Aware campaign.