Mayor tours businesses on Small Business Saturday
To celebrate this month’s Small Business Saturday, the Mayor spent the day visiting some cherished local businesses accompanied by the Chair of Newham Chamber of Commerce, Lloyd Johnson.
These were Woodgrange Market, Tracks and Giovanna's Deli & Wine (all in Forest Gate), Stratford’s Discovery Children’s Story Centre and Auntie Nana’s in Canning Town.
Daniel Amoah of Auntie Nana’s (pictured left in the top right hand picture) said that the day was fantastic, with local residents actively supporting local businesses and getting a chance to engage with the Mayor. He went on to say: “It’s imperative for local residents to support local businesses so that they can continue to give back to the community.”
We encourage local residents to continue to shop local especially with the planned postal strikes. Just visit our high streets or take a look at our Business Directory to see what’s on offer. Also, don’t forget to share your shopping experiences on social media!
Supporting Local Business bidding opens
In Issue 54 we shared information regarding the UK-wide funding allocations for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and its three investment priorities: Community and Place, Supporting Local Business, People and Skills.
The GLA has now launched its first open and competitive bidding round for this and is inviting bids from organisations wishing to deliver activities under the Supporting Local Business investment priority.
There are eight programmes organisations could apply to support, and these include:
- Innovation.
- Supplier-readiness.
- Supporting SMEs to bridge the digital divide.
- Growing the local, social economy.
- Property advice service for SMEs.
- Low carbon.
- Support for fast growing diverse founders.
- Investment-readiness support for diverse founders/SMEs.
For the Support Local Business prospectus, application form package and associated guidance:
Applicants can apply to deliver one or more of the eight programmes. Applications will close on 13 February at 23:59.
Prospectus Information Event
An online information event for prospective applicants will be held on Monday 16 January at 14:00. If you’re interested:
Please be aware that this funding is to deliver large business support projects across the capital. The application process will be time consuming and very competitive so please take these considerations into account before committing any resource to applying.
We’re looking for more catering suppliers
The Council wants to expand its Food Business Directory list of approved catering suppliers for the smaller events which we organise.
To be considered, caterers must:
- Be based in Newham.
- Pay real London Living Wage to all staff (currently £11.05 and increasing to £11.95 in May 2023).
- Have a Food Standards Agency four or five star rating.
- Offer high quality food which is healthy and sustainable.
- Invest in skills training for themselves and their staff.
If you meet all these criteria, please apply:
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Sustainable Transport Strategy
Our colleagues in Planning & Development are working on a boroughwide Sustainable Transport Strategy to help with the delivery of environmentally friendly transport schemes.
This is an opportunity for you to tell them what you think as they take a closer look that will inform the strategy at each of the vital transport-related issues that will inform it.
This survey is intended for anyone who represents a business or employer in Newham. If you are also a Newham resident, or work or travel in the borough, then you can complete our separate set of survey questions for these groups which can be accessed here.
The survey will take approximately 10 minutes and as a thank you from Planning & Development you can enter a prize draw for one of three prizes of £100 shopping vouchers. The survey closes on 8 January 2023.
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 Free three month pop-up retail space opportunity
If you're a small local creative or business which is interested in setting up temporary residence at Brunel Street in Canning Town, then Projekt would love to hear from you.
Projekt is an accredited Our Newham Pledge Partner and is offering a three month rotating pop-up retail space free of charge. By doing this they are supporting and helping local businesses to grow and therefore championing community wealth building.
For more information:
 £20,000 prizes available in Mayor of London’s competition
Applications have opened for the 2023 Mayor's Entrepreneur Programme and will close on 12 February 2023.
This aims to create growth that makes London cleaner, greener and ready for the future. It also aims to ensure that students see entrepreneurship as a viable career path and get the skills they need to succeed.
There are four awards in the competition, with each of the winners receiving £20,000 to start up their business along with expert mentoring from staff at City Hall to get their idea to market. The award categories are:
- Creative Industries
- Environment
- Health
- Tech.
We encourage recent graduates or current students from either college or university to apply. Group applications are welcome.
For more information and to submit an application:
Need to be more digitally competitive?
We have partnered with Newham College to launch a new programme that will support 550 SMEs in the borough to capitalise on emerging digital and e-commerce technologies to drive their long-term growth.
Called the Local London E-business programme, it provides a menu of support and training to develop skills and knowledge of digital technology and applications across all sectors.
If you have been trading for a minimum of six months and would like to simply improve your online presence, increase turnover by creating content that converts into actual sales or just want to introduce new efficient CRM technologies that will help you save time and money in the long-term, then this e-business programme is for you. It will give you access to expert digital business advisors who can help you to organically grow your business. The programme will tailor the support and provide sessions that work around your availability.
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Helpful advice from the HSE
As winter takes hold, you can find helpful advice from the HSE on keeping your teams as comfortable as possible when working in a cold environment.
Remember, the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations require employers to provide a reasonable indoor temperature in the workplace.
Where the workplace is outdoors you must provide protection from adverse weather. Rest facilities must also be maintained at an appropriate temperature.
There is a workplace temperature checklist to help you carry out a basic risk assessment.
For more information:
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 Business rates change on 1 April
Business rates will change on 1 April following the Valuation Office Agency’s Revaluation 2023 programme.
Revaluations are carried out to reflect changes in the non-domestic property market so that business rate calculations are based on up-to-date information. Revaluations often lead to changes in business ratepayers’ bills and lots of questions.
To see an estimate of what your next bill might be:
 Enterprise Nation, which specialises in small business support, is running the Small Business Goes Big competition for small businesses to pitch their products to high street retailers.
Winners will have the opportunity to pitch live on stage at the StartUp Show in London in January 2023. There's also a prize pool of £10,000 up for grabs, which the judges will distribute on the day.
Applications close on 8 January.
Stamping down on businesses’ fake, illicit and unsafe products
As we work to keep Newham safe, we’re stamping down on fake, illicit and unsafe products sold in our borough.
Over the last 12 months Newham’s Trading Standards Team have seized approximately £250,000 worth of non-compliant vapes and illicit tobacco products that were potentially destined for young people in Newham.
These products are often cheaper and more attractive to young people. As a result, there are also wider concerns relating to anti-social behaviour due to the scale of illicit trade and product availability.
Recently, Trading Standards took part in two days of focused action in Plaistow led by the Community Safety Team – 17 businesses were visited, with 10 non-compliance notices issued and over 700 non-compliant nicotine inhaling products seized.
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Newham praised for its approach to net zero
At an event hosted by E.ON and the Evening Standard last week, Newham Council was praised for its progressive approach to net zero. Mike Wake, Director of City Energy Solutions and Generation at E.ON, said: “We see Newham as being progressive and demanding in its drive to be cleaner and greener.”
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 Help to Grow: Digital to close
Help to Grow: Digital will close to new business applications for discounts on 2 February. Discounts available for eligible businesses can get 50% off (up to £5,000) in approved digital accounting, customer relationship management and e-commerce software.
Creative project funding opportunities
The Royal Docks Team are looking to fund compelling creative projects, across any artform, that respond to the climate emergency as part of its programme next year. Projects must capture audience imaginations and resonate with local Royal Docks and wider Newham communities.
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Deadline for applications: 20 January
Events and exhibitions
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StartUp Show
28 January – 09:30-16:30 King's College London, London WC2R
This event is a must for aspiring or existing entrepreneurs. It’s your chance to not only discover everything you need to know about starting a business but also to connect with advisers and business experts who’ll help you take your enterprise to the next level.
To find out more and to buy early bird tickets:
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