Friday 18 November 2022
As business operational costs continue to rise, local business owners across Devon, Somerset, Plymouth and Torbay are being urged to find out how they can benefit from free support to boost their resilience and help with the recent rises in the cost of living.
Businesses can find out what help is available by attending a free Business Resilience event in Yeovil on 23 November, which is being hosted by our Heart of the South West Growth Hub Thrive programme, in partnership with South Somerset District Council.
Those who cannot attend can still sign up to other events and access support through the Heart of the South West Thrive project. The project offers business planning to build resilience, along with workshops, webinars and 1-to-1s available from partners and sign up to the fortnightly newsletter to hear about future events.
An online self-assessment tool called the Digital Maturity Index is now available as part of the Digital Enablement for SMEs (DESME) project. It enables businesses to gain an understanding of their digital strengths and weaknesses and offers insights into digital tools that may help them develop and grow.
The DESME project, which is funded by the European Social Fund (ESF), offers bespoke training to enable businesses to make the most of readily available digital tools.
The project also offers a Digital Course Finder, an extensive online database of digital skills training courses delivered by training providers across the county, as well as online digital skills courses.
Find out more about DESME, the Digital Maturity Index and Digital Course Finder.
Skills Bootcamps are funded digital and technical skills programmes that aim to upskill and reskill learners, with the guarantee of an interview on completion. Find out more about the current Skills Bootcamp programmes.
We're submitting a proposal for a fourth year of Skills Bootcamps, funded by the Department for Education.
To support the proposal, we are asking training providers and employers with an in-house training provision to outline any Skills Bootcamps they are interested in delivering between March 2023 and April 2024.
The programmes must adhere to the following requirements:
- Have support through curriculum design and endorsement of employers
- Be for adults aged 19 and above in Devon and/or Cornwall
- Contain at least 60 hours of guided learning hours delivered over a maximum of 16 weeks, and equate to learning at Level 3 or above or Level 2 in Green Skills and Construction
- Support adults to secure a positive outcome; move into work, secure a new job role with increased responsibilities, or deliver new services as self-employed individuals
- Consider how to support learners who need to learn around work or care commitments
- Consider innovative approaches to supporting inclusion and diversity
Expressions of interest to deliver a Skills Bootcamp need to be received by 5pm on Friday 25 November. If you are interested and wish to find out more, or have questions, please email train4tomorrow@devon.gov.uk.
Please note submitting an Expression of Interest does not constitute delivery acceptance but is the method we use to gauge interest and consult with providers.
We have submitted the Strategic Outline Business Case for the reopening of the Tavistock to Plymouth rail line. The submission to the Government’s Restoring Your Railway programme sets out the rationale for reopening the line between Bere Alston and Tavistock.
The scheme would reinstate approximately five miles of track and deliver a new single platform station at Tavistock, which would serve around 21,000 residents of Tavistock, Horrabridge, Lamerton, and Mary Tavy.
An hourly Tavistock-Plymouth service would stop at Bere Alston, Bere Ferrers and the west Plymouth stations, while maintaining the existing two-hourly service between Plymouth and Gunnislake.
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