Plymouth’s shopping heartland is to get a new look as the city gears up for a new wave of visitors to come flocking in. Exciting plans to transform Old Town Street and the upper end of New George Street have now been given the green light by the city’s planners as Plymouth gets ready for the opening of not one, but two, major developments.

The countdown is now on for the opening of the £50 million Barcode complex with a 12 screen Cineworld cinema, 15 restaurants and bars, while next year, the Box, Plymouth’s epic new cultural attraction, which will house art galleries as well as museum exhibitions and archives collections will open. To find out more click here

Phase 2 of Oceansgate, Plymouth’s new marine Enterprise Zone, will now begin to take shape following a ground breaking ceremony on 1st October. Councillor Tudor Evans, Leader of Plymouth City Council, dug the first turf to mark the start of the build. Oceansgate is a key part of Plymouth’s plans to grow its flourishing marine sector and Phase 2 will see the creation of a new three story office building and 15 light industrial units, potentially creating up to 130 new jobs. To find out more click here

Do you have an idea and want to take it to the next level? Do you want to learn how to start a business? Plymouth Startup Weekend is back! Bringing together like-minded, entrepreneurial individuals and immersing them in a weekend of creativity and collaboration. This weekend is part of the exciting iMayflower Project and has been supported by The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, who fund the Cultural Development Fund, which is administered by Arts Council England. To find out more click here  

Would you like to attend an exciting event with The New Western Frontier to find out how the regional business community can create growth and deliver positive change? Find out about proven commercial opportunities, discussion and insight from business models, compelling case studies from startups, SMEs and information about the achievements of the Social Enterprise & Innovation Programme and individuals and enterprises it has supported. To register your place please click here 

Tech Nation are delighted to launch applications for three of their most established and renowned growth programmes: Rising Stars, Upscale and Future Fifty.  Rising Stars provides a prize package to significantly raise the profile and awareness of the winning companies on both a national and international level, you’ll also be given the opportunity to connect with top investors, influencers and corporates along the way. Upscale 5.0 supports the UK’s fastest-growing tech companies to scale faster, together. Future Fifty: aims to deliver a programme that enables you to develop your leadership skills, learn from others in the Future Fifty community, and apply those learnings in your workplace straight away.

Following the success of our Summer In Plymouth campaign, we are pleased to announce that we will be launching our Christmas in Plymouth campaign which will run from 1 November to 31 December 2019. The cost of taking part in this campaign activity is £500+ vat. As we only have a limited number of campaign slots available please contact Alison@destinationplymouth.org.uk as soon as possible to find out more and to reserve your place, so we can ensure your business gets maximum coverage from the launch of the campaign.

As many traders as possible will be automatically allocated an EORI number to enable them to trade smoothly once the UK leaves the EU on 31 October. Every business will need an EORI number to move goods into or out of the EU after Brexit. HMRC is sending letters to all possible VAT-registered businesses over the next two weeks to advise them of their assigned UK EORI number. If your business is not VAT-registered, you still need to register for an EORI number. Getting an EORI number is an easy process that takes 5-10 minutes. Get started here

On 31st October 2019 the UK will leave the European Union. Businesses will have to apply the same customs rules to goods moving between the EU and UK as they would for the rest of the world.  As a result, HMRC is investing a further £16 million in its grant programme to fund employee training and IT improvements for customs intermediaries, traders and hauliers that make customs declarations. Businesses based in, or with a branch in, the UK can apply for one or both grants.

From 1st October Wave 3 of the Customs Grant Schemes will open, which sees an additional £10 million being invested to help customs intermediaries with the costs associated with recruitment of key personnel in preparation for Brexit. Applications will close on 31st January 2020 (or earlier if funding is fully allocated). To find out more click here

An exciting opportunity to get involved with the exciting iMayflower Project has come up. Creative England are recruiting for a Project and Engagement Manager to deliver their Business Support Programme, working with creative and immersive businesses to deliver business growth. It’s a great time to be involved in this interesting sector and be part of something which will have a lasting legacy.  To find out more about Creative England click here. For job description and to apply please contact  jobs@creativeengland.co.uk . Deadline for applications is on 16 October, so please do forward your CV and cover letter asap!

In the Festival of Research our final year foundation degree students will be showcasing their ideas, research and designs for the autonomous power boats that will be raced in a series of challenges at the end of the academic year. To find out more and to book a place click here

Mayflower 400 workshop will help businesses creatively  identify ways to engage and connect with the Mayflower 400 programme for the benefit of their organisation.  Workshop will take place on Thursday 21 November 2019 at Boringdon Park Golf Club, Plymouth. To find out more click here

The event will take place on Friday 1 November 2019, 9.30am to 4.30pm, at Rolle Marquee, University of Plymouth. DATA Play is about working with local talent and tech companies to explore how open data and technology can be used to help us deliver services in new ways. You can play with data as a team, meet people on the day or experiment on your own – whatever works for you! It's free to join, so whatever you're good at - coding, analysis, mapping, graphics, thinking – come along and join in the fun! To find out more and to book click here

Are you looking for new business premises? Have you outgrown your current premises? PCC’s Economic Development Team has access to a property search tool and is able to produce property reports based on your search criteria. This can give you an insight into market availability and costs and provides contact details for you to follow up with the relevant agent. Contact the team at invest@plymouth.gov.uk for more information. 

We have a lot of useful information on our Invest Plymouth website to guide you in preparing for EU Exit. There is a helpful Government toolkit and latest publications. HMRC latest letter and sector factsheets.

We also have advice from the Growth Hub and EEF - The Manufacturers organisation.To find out more click here

A wealth of fully funded (yes free!), specialist support is available to businesses in Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay with aspirations to become the ScaleUp businesses of tomorrow.

We have categorised this support by the main challenges facing ScaleUp and aspiring ScaleUp businesses. To find out more click here

Attending overseas trade shows can promote your business overseas. Exporters can attend TAP's selected events, and get financial support to offset some costs. To find out more click here.

The voucher scheme has been changed from £3,000 to £2,500. If you are a small or medium sized business, you may be able to get a gigabit voucher worth up to £2500 to upgrade your business broadband to a fast and reliable connection over gigabit capable infrastructure. Deadline: March 2021. Find out more click here.

Please visit our Invest Plymouth website for some more exciting business news articles here.

Did you know we are on Linkedin? Join us here for more regular updates.

To find out more about the exciting business events coming up soon click here

Find out more about all the funding options available to your business click here

Winning one of these prestigious awards in front of your industry peers can be a major boost for your company's profile. To find out more click here

To make the process of finding appropriate support easier for businesses in the city, Plymouth City Council Economic Development Service produce and maintain two booklets focussed on helping start ups and existing businesses to find support locally available. Please click here for Existing businesses and click here for Start-ups.

Business help, advice and guidance in growing and exporting your business. To find out more, click here

Free Adult Cycle Training, cycle groups and Walk and Talk. Plymotion is working with companies to promote sustainable travel and encourage staff to be more active on their journey to work. Have a look at our web pages and our latest business newsletter which you can find here.

Please follow this link to find Plymouth City Council owned land and property to rent or buy click here

Address: 34 Mutley Plain, Plymouth, PL4 6LD. Size available: 984 sq ft, rent £14,504.16 per annum.

To find out more contact the agents: Stratton Creber Commercial - Gavin Sagar 01752 907512 Gavins@sccplymouth.co.uk