|
Welcome to our last newsletter of 2021. We wish all our subscribers a Happy Holidays and New Year.
Please find below an overview of the latest business advice and guidance. In today's newsletter you will find news and updates including:
- £1 billion in support for businesses most impacted by Omicron across the UK
- Evaluation report showcases success of Plymouth’s Mayflower 400 programme
- New initiative offers employees the chance to join Plymouth’s digital revolution
- Plymouth Pavilions invests £500,000 to upgrade Arena facilities
- Precious Plastic, Precious Plymouth! Crowdfunder
- Solar Hour: Shedding some light on solar panels for businesses
- Resurgam Charter successes
- Workplace travel grants – deadline extended
- Latest Plymouth Science Park tenant launches a business with charity at its heart
- £1,000 grant opportunity for SMEs
- Learn with On Course South West
- Latest COVID news
- Events
- Funding streams
If you have any specific concerns or are in need of support, please contact us.
Businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors in England will be eligible for one-off grants of up to £6,000 per premises, plus more than £100 million discretionary funding will be made available for local authorities to support other businesses.
To support other businesses impacted by Omicron – such as those who supply the hospitality and leisure sectors – the government is also giving a more than £100 million boost to the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) fund for local authorities in England.
Government will also cover the cost of Statutory Sick Pay for Covid-related absences for small and medium-sized employers across the UK
£30 million further funding will be made available through the Culture Recovery Fund, enabling more cultural organisations in England to apply for support during the winter.
As soon as guidance is issued, we will let you know more about how the grants will be delivered.
Find out more here
The Plymouth Mayflower 400 commemorative programme had an impressive impact despite the impact of the pandemic, reaching millions of people, attracting visitors and engaging local residents in new activities.
A final report produced by the University of Plymouth’s evaluation experts, SERIO, has been published and highlights the positive rewards of the hard work carried out by individuals, groups, communities and organisations in the city.
The Plymouth Mayflower 400 programme engaged with over 1.3 million people, both in-person and digitally. It helped to bring more than 5.3 million visitors to Plymouth before the pandemic’s impact was felt, and led to media coverage worth over £280 million.
Over 400 locals also signed up to volunteer as Mayflower Makers and contributed around 7,000 hours of their time to support the commemorative activities.
Find out more here
Employees across Plymouth – and those looking to enter the labour market – will be able to secure new and increasingly sought-after skills thanks to an initiative placing the city at the heart of the UK’s digital revolution.
The University of Plymouth is working with Babcock International, Plymouth Manufacturers Group, and the Real Ideas Organisation to develop two new short courses for the design engineering sector.
They will teach skills in digital design, digital fabrication, 3D modelling, design simulation and optimisation, and offer access to state-of-the-art facilities within the University’s Digital Fabrication and Immersive Media Laboratories.
Developed directly with industries and their employees, the project will allow city businesses to upskill their workforce with technical expertise and resources that would otherwise be out of reach.
The new 15-week courses will welcome their first students in September 2022, with additional intake dates currently scheduled during the 2022/23 academic year.
Find out more here
New seating, lighting, flooring and fresh decor is planned for Plymouth Pavilions as part of a £500,000 renovations project to mark the venue’s 30th anniversary and 10th year of independent ownership.
The renovations form part of a major investment in the venue totalling more than £1.7 million over the last two years, designed to upgrade and improve the region’s largest indoor area and ensure it offers a modern, welcoming environment for visitors.
Plymouth Pavilions is an unusually large-scale independent venue and hosts international entertainment acts for Plymouth and the wider South West area, including live music, comedy and dance productions, as well as numerous community events, conferences and sporting fixtures, such as the Plymouth City Patriots basketball games.
To celebrate its 10th year of independent ownership and its 30th anniversary, the Pavilions is delivering a £500,000 renovations project to improve the Arena and venue for visitors.
Find out more here
Precious Plastic Plymouth and Tavistock – an open source, open hardware artisan plastic recycling project founded on the ethos of the wonderful Precious Plastic movement (preciousplastic.com). They take waste plastic, shred it and re-mould it into a range of wonderful products. Currently they make soap dishes, pots and buttons, and are in the process of expanding they product range.
They are crowdfunding in order to expand their enterprise, not only to increase their turnover of plastic recycling, but also engage wider communities in their mission.
Help raise £20,000 to grow the Precious Plastic, Precious Plymouth movement and their mission to create an amazing carbon neutral plastic recycling community in Plymouth!
Find out more here
This is a unique opportunity to understand your options for installing solar energy on your business premises.
Solar energy will reduce your carbon footprint, energy bills and is a great way to demonstrate that you are taking climate action.
You’ll have the opportunity to find out about the different installation options available from Plymouth Energy Community, Olympus Power and SunGift Solar, including whether you can benefit from free installation and maintenance.
The event will take place virtually on Wednesday 26 January between 1.30pm to 2.30pm.
Sign up here
If you have any further questions please contact Beth Whittaker: beth.whittaker@plymouth.gov.uk
This event is part of the delivery programme for the Interreg-funded C-Care Programme, in conjunction with the Resurgam Charter Environment Theme, supporting businesses in Plymouth to recover strongly from the recent economic crisis. Signatories to the Resurgam Charter have committed to a fairer, greener future for Plymouth, benefiting from being part of an exclusive network which helps business growth and allows the sharing of best practice. If you want to get involved with the Resurgam Charter, please contact resurgamcharter@plymouth.gov.uk.
The Resurgam Charter's aim is to ‘build back better’ growing a prosperous economy that reduces inequality, is sustainable and truly serves the wellbeing of all the people of Plymouth.
The Charter has now reached over 150 signatories! It's great to see that the Charter is being supported by businesses in Plymouth.
You can find out more about the Charter and how your business can sign up, here.
Revolution Recruitment are the latest tenant to join the thriving business community at Plymouth Science Park. Set up as a social enterprise, Revolution Recruitment aims to give back to the local community through their work.
The newly formed business which specialises in recruitment for engineering, building services, and facilities management, both locally and nationwide, has a dedicated division for delivering the social enterprise element of the business, and supports the local community by offering any Plymouth-based company an automatic 25% reduction on their standard terms of business.
Find out more here
Are you an SME or start up business looking for financial support? Not sure exactly what you need?
If you are looking for new ways to develop and grow your business, then ‘Meet The Expert’ Business Support Programme is for you.
The support available is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and is completely free to SMEs across Devon.
‘Meet The Expert’ offers a bespoke service – access £1,000 fixed sum grant for external consultancy support which could be used to access a variety of advice.
View the flyer here
Limited availability, for appointments in 2022 please contact Kate Whitta at Kate.Whitta@plymouth.gov.uk
Find out more here
As part of the Council’s Productive Plymouth Transforming Cities Fund programme, funded by the Department for Transport, the Council is providing workplace travel grants of up to £25,000 per site to local businesses to help them introduce measures to enable more trips to be made by sustainable transport.
The grants are match-funded grants with the Council investing up to £25,000, per site, in a scheme. The Council’s contribution is a maximum of 75% of the pre-VAT scheme cost.
The deadline to apply for the 2021/22 workplace travel grants has been extended to 31 January 2022. You can find the guidance and application form via the link below.
Find out more here
Maths and English Functional Skills Qualifications
The Functional Skills qualifications for maths and English are starting in February 2022 – enrol today to secure your place!
Qualifications range from Entry Level to Level 2 – whatever your ability they have a course to suit you.
Download the flyer
Level 2 Accounting
Whether you are new to accounting or already have some experience, On Course South West's Level 2 Foundation Certificate in Accounting is perfect for improving your knowledge and skills.
Holding an AAT qualification is desirable by employers as it is a worldwide recognised qualification and demonstrates your competency in the accounting field.
Download the flyer
For more information:
Call: 01752 660713
Email:info@oncoursesouthwest.co.uk
Visit: oncoursesouthwest.co.uk
England has moved Plan B in response to the risks of the Omicron variant. Here's a reminder of the the most recent changes:
15 December
People aged 18 or over can pre-book a booster dose appointment 2 months after their second vaccine dose. You can get your booster dose 3 months after your second vaccine dose. Book your booster vaccination appointment or find a walk-in vaccination site.
All 11 countries were removed from the travel red list at 4am.
You need to show your NHS COVID Pass at nightclubs, some venues and large events to show you’re fully vaccinated, have had a negative test result in the last 48 hours, or you have an exemption.
14 December
Fully vaccinated contacts of someone with COVID-19 should take rapid lateral flow tests every day for 7 days. If you test positive or develop symptoms, you need to self-isolate for 10 days.
13 December
You should work from home if you can.
10 December
You must wear a face covering in most indoor public places, at large venues and events, and on public transport.
Find out more here
For further information on the latest events, visit Invest Plymouth's event page.
If you have a Plymouth event you'd like promoted, you can submit your own events here
Female Creatives Networking Event
Established By Her Marketing | Millfields Trust, PL1 3HQ | Wed 12 Jan, 7pm to 9pm
In-person networking event for female creatives In Plymouth, Devon with a focus on goal setting. Goal setting is essential in all facets of life and business but making a plan on how to achieve them is really important. It’s how we track our progress and reach the targets we set out in our plans.
Find out more here
Property, Investment, Construction and Trade Networking Event
Your Partnerships | Boringdon Park Golf Club, PL7 4QG | Mon 10 Jan, 8am to 10.30am
Welcome to a targeted approach to get all these great businesses together: Property; Construction; Investment and Tradespersons.
This is the chance to meet and discuss the issues in your industry. You will have the chance to talk about challenges in the industries and find ways to share resources and meet goals together.
Find out more here
Digital Boost Plymouth
Cosmic | Online | Multiple dates
Digital Boost Plymouth offers free, fully funded digital skills training to all businesses based in the Plymouth City Council area, until March 31 2022.
A broad range of high-quality, digital skills training is available right now.
Future workshops include:
- 13 Jan – Making the most of Microsoft 365
- 19 Jan – Making the most of Microsoft 365 Plymouth Manufacturing Group
- 27 Jan – Introduction to Paid Online Advertising
- 10 Feb – Facebook & Instagram Ads
- 1 Mar – Understanding GDPR & Cyber Security
- 17 Mar – Instagram: Next Steps
- 23 Mar – Facebook: Next Steps
Find out more here
Explore Your Partnerships Networking Event
Your Partnerships | Boringdon Park Golf Club, PL7 4QG | Mon 17 Jan, 10am to 11.30am
You are invited to attend and Explore Your Partnerships at this event. Your Partnerships has over 1,000 members and guest working together to build a community of helping each other
Find out more here
Solar Hour: Shedding some light on solar panels for businesses
Plymouth City Council | Online | Wed 26 Jan, 1.30pm to 2.30pm
This is a unique opportunity to understand your options for installing solar energy on your business premises.
Solar energy will reduce your carbon footprint, energy bills and is a great way to demonstrate that you are taking climate action.
You’ll have the opportunity to find out about the different installation options available from Plymouth Energy Community, Olympus Power and SunGift Solar, including whether you can benefit from free installation and maintenance.
Find out more here
FREE Workshop – Intro to Metal Additive Manufacturing
University of Plymouth | Roland Levinsky Building, PL4 8AA | Fri 28 Jan, 9am to 5pm
The University of Plymouth Digital Fabrication and Immersive Media Labs are hosting “Breaking Ground: Metal Additive Manufacturing”, a full-day event which will provide an introduction into this rapidly developing and disruptive landscape of technologies for the Plymouth business community.
Find out more here
Applications Open for Bethnal Green Ventures' Spring 2022 Accelerator
The aim of Bethnal Green Ventures Tech for Good Programme is to find and support the most talented start-up founders and help them create technology-based solutions to the world’s most pressing social and environmental problems.
The programme offers:
- Investment: £30,000 cash in return for 7% equity in the venture.
- Learning: A tailored programme of workshops, talks and 1:1 mentoring.
- Life-long support: Coupled with the opportunity for follow-on funding.
- Peer support: Support from other start-ups and a community of Tech for Good founders.
- Mentoring: Regular connections with a network of mentors and advisors.
- Connections: Introductions and 1:1 meetings with investors and industry experts.
The deadline for applications is 9 January 2022 (11.59pm).
Find out more here
Grants for Black-owned Restaurant Businesses to Aid Post-Covid Recovery
Responding to the negative impact the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had on the UK’s restaurant trade, the Black Business Fund has been created to empower a recovery within the industry amongst black-owned businesses.
The scheme has a budget of £50,000. Ten black-owned restaurants will each receive £5,000 and access to mentoring from Enterprise Nation and Be Inclusive Hospitality to help boost their businesses.
The deadline for applications is 12 January 2022.
Find out more here
Commercialising Quantum Technologies - IUK Announces Round 3 Feasibility Studies Competition
The aim of this Innovate UK (IUK) competition is to advance the commercialisation of quantum technologies in the UK and to address one or more of these technical challenges:
- Connectivity: techniques for securing data in storage and in flight.
- Seeing the invisible: imaging, sensors and detectors for the environment, transport, autonomous systems, infrastructure, and healthcare.
- Positioning, navigation and timing: developing resilience and precision for situational awareness and time dissemination.
- Computing: advancing quantum computing for addressing intractable problems through modelling & simulation, machine learning and optimisation.
IUK has allocated up to £6 million to fund feasibility projects and industrial research projects in this competition. Each project’s total eligible costs can be up to £500,000. Funding for research organisations will be capped at £250,000, for larger projects that have been given permission to apply.
The competition opens on Monday 17 January 2022. The deadline for applications will be Wednesday 9 March 2022 at 11am.
Find out more here
SailGP is returning to Britain's Ocean City in 2022
SailGP will host its Great Britain Sail Grand Prix in Plymouth for the second year running, following a bumper event in 2021, which saw an estimated 27,500 spectators enjoying the spectacle that brought £6.9 million into the local economy.
Find out more here
|
Latest news from iMayflower
Check out the latest iMayflower digest, which features topics on sustainability and innovation, immersive experiences and extra seasonal celebrations.
Find out more here
|
Plymouth Boost: the free digital upskilling programme for SMEs run Cosmic
Digital Boost Plymouth offers free, fully funded digital skills training to all businesses based in the Plymouth City Council area, until March 31 2022.
Find out more here
|
Did you know we are on Linkedin? Join us here for more regular updates.
|
Know someone who isn't receiving our newsletters but would like to stay in touch?
Sign up for our newsletter here
|
