Expressions of Interest now open for Rural Business Grant

Expressions of interest can now be made for a capital grant scheme aimed at supporting rural businesses in North Kesteven.

The Rural Business Grant (RBG) will support rural businesses to invest in sustainable growth across the District.

It will specifically be aimed at supporting new and existing rural businesses to develop products, services and facilities of wider benefit to the local economy, such as farm businesses looking to diversify income streams, growth in the visitor economy including visitor accommodation and investments in power and energy efficiency which will make a positive contribution to the District reaching net zero.

The grant is being delivered by North Kesteven District Council for DEFRA under the Rural England Prosperity Fund.

The first window for Expressions of Interest is now open, and will remain open until Thursday 1 June. The digital Expression of Interest form is available on the Council’s website HERE. The first call for full applications will take place when the EOI window has closed.

The minimum grant available through the Rural Business Grant is £5,000, and depending on the project and investment needed applicants may be required to provide match funding. All projects must be deliverable before 31 March 2025. Full details on eligibility criteria will be available to view on the BusinessNK website.

Expressions of Interest will allow the Council’s Grants Team to make early assessments of project eligibility, and ensure applicants are given the time and support where necessary to refine and develop investments in line with the objectives of the Rural England Prosperity Fund and meet the various requirements for evidence.

It will also help ensure that proper consideration is given to projects that may require planning permission, or any additional funding or legal matters which need to be concluded within the time frame set out for the delivery of projects. The Rural Business Grant (RBG) will run until March 2025 and has £450,000 allocated in total.

North Kesteven’s Rural England Prosperity Fund allocation is an addendum to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, in order to support rural areas in England and the two Levelling Up Fund missions of improving living standards and growing pride of place.

Kickstart your sustainability journey

We’re looking for 300 SMEs in North Kesteven to join the Get Zero Get Zellar project and discover how going green could benefit your business, whilst also saving you money.

North Kesteven District Council is the latest to join the project to boost local net zero progress, and is offering free access to Zellar, an online sustainability tool that helps you cut your carbon footprint and energy bills.

Zellar guides you through the process of calculating and understanding your carbon emissions and then building an achievable plan to reduce them, based on the size and sector of your company. Businesses using the Zellar app and website can reduce emissions and save up to £4,100 in energy bills.

To qualify for a free one-year Zellar licence a business must be a micro-SME (up to 10 employees) or SME (under 250 employees) with a base in North Kesteven. The offer is available to the first 300 qualifying enterprises that apply before 31 March 2024.

You can claim your free access to Zellar HERE.

Find out more information and see how much your business could save using Zellar's energy saving calculator here.

This Council-led programme is part-funded by SSE's Sustainable Business Communities project with Zellar.

Social media and digital skills training

Businesses in North Kesteven can now get funded access to expert digital skills training and social media tools.

You can access it now, by signing up HERE.

It's aimed at improving use of social media, and in turn driving increased sales, and is delivered by the team of experts at Maybe*. You can find out more information about Maybe* here.

The training and tools include everything from where to get started with social media to advanced strategies about how to use Facebook ads to deliver winning sales tactics. It's been funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. 

Webinars for the week ahead

16/05/2023 10:00-11:30 LinkedIn for Business

18/05/2023-26/05/2023 9:30-15:30 NBV Growing Enterprise

18/05/2023 10:00-11:30 Social Media Trends for Businesses

Free support for North Kesteven businesses

The Council offers the service of a Business Support Adviser, Phil Means. Phil can provide a whole range of bespoke advice and support.

If you are in business and feel you could benefit from free business advice, please do go ahead and contact him.

You can either call Phil on 07920 472671 or email
phil_means
@nkesteven.gov.uk

Is your business on social media?

If so, join our Business NK Facebook group HERE or follow us on Twitter.

We share information, support and advice on each platform.

UKREiiF event

The UKREiiF Annual Event is next week, a three-day event from Tuesday 16 May to Thursday 18 May.

Over 6,000 event attendees are expected with over 500 speakers and 150 exhibitors.

You can find out more and book your tickets HERE.

This event will gather key players, influencers and decision makers, to highlight investment and development opportunities, whilst connecting and facilitating new relationships to drive economic growth through development and regeneration.

Local elections

Local elections took place in North Kesteven on May 4 – the first with the national requirement for voters to show photo ID.

The results can be found on our website HERE. 

You can also look back on our social media @northkestevendc to see the elections coverage including elected candidates for the contested wards

Businesses celebrate the Coronation

We were pleased to see so many local businesses celebrating the Coronation, including decorating their window displays as shown below.

Please do share your pictures of the Coronation celebrations locally, including any window display or decorations, by emailing them to communications@n-kesteven.gov.uk or via social media @northkestevendc