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Please find below an overview of the latest business advice and guidance, as well as events and funding streams. In today's newsletter you will find news and updates including:
- Reminder to apply for Omicron Hospitality and Leisure business grant
- England returns to Plan A as regulations on face coverings and COVID Passes change
- Free fully funded digital skills training with Plymouth Boost
- City thanks Mayflower 400 Chief Executive
- Princess Yachts hosting exclusive event in Royal William Yard
- Green Tech Boat Show returning to Plymouth
- Take part in the Freeport survey
- Last chance to apply for Workplace Travel Grants
- Don’t miss out on up to £2,000 towards childcare costs
- Last chance to book your stand for the University of Plymouth Careers Fair
- Events
- Funding streams
If you have any specific concerns or are in need of support, please contact us.
Plymouth hospitality, leisure and accommodation businesses that have been impacted by Covid-19 can apply for financial support through Plymouth City Council.
The Government announced the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure grant on 21 December to support businesses in the sector in recognition of the impact that the Omicron variant has had over the Christmas and New Year period.
The primary purpose of this grant scheme is to support businesses that offer in-person services, where the main service and activity takes place in fixed rate-paying premises in the hospitality, leisure or accommodation sector.
See the Government eligibility criteria on the GOV.UK website.
Eligible businesses can claim the following grants, based on their rateable value:
- Properties with a rateable value of £15,000 or under on 30 December 2021 will receive a one-off grant of £2,667
- Properties with a rateable value over £15,000 and less than £51,000 on 30 December 2021 will receive a one-off grant of £4,000
- Properties with a rateable value of exactly £51,000 or over on 30 December 2021 will receive a one-off grant of £6,000
Businesses can apply through the Plymouth City Council website.
Applications for this grant scheme will close on 18 March 2022 and eligible businesses are encouraged to apply as early as possible.
Details of the second, discretionary grant scheme, known as the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) will be shared shortly.
From yesterday (Thursday 27 January), England will fully return to Plan A thanks to the success of the booster programme.
This means:
- Face coverings are no longer required by law in any setting. However, Public health guidance recommends that individuals should continue to wear a face covering in crowded and enclosed spaces, where you may come into contact with people you do not normally meet.
- Venues and events will no longer be required by law to use the NHS COVID Pass.
As of Wednesday 19 January, the government no longer asked people to work from home
Find out more here
Do you want more customers on your website and to make more sales?
If the answer is yes (and how could it not be!) then you need to learn how to create profitable online advertising campaigns.
Our experienced Digital Trainers can show you how, for free!
This is not a gimmick or a sales pitch. Cosmic is working in partnership with Plymouth City Council to deliver free fully funded digital training, through workshops and 1:1’s, designed specifically for small and micro businesses.
This free digital training is only available until March 31 2022, places are limited, so sign up now:
To learn more, explore other available topics and secure your place visit Cosmic’s Eventbrite page. Alternatively email the Support team on planning@cosmic.org.uk or call 0330 088 3005
Digital Boost is being delivered in partnership with Plymouth City Council. Designed with small and micro businesses in mind, the programme offers a series of free digital training workshops and one-to-one sessions, presented in a friendly and collaborative way, to help your business reach new customers, increase online sales, promote its brand digitally and gain a competitive advantage in 2022.
Please note: this initiative is only available until March 31 2022 and is open to any business based in Plymouth.
The board of Destination Plymouth, chaired by Adrian Vinken CBE, has expressed their thanks and appreciation to outgoing Chief Executive Charles Hackett as he steps down from his role.
Charles joined Mayflower 400 and Destination Plymouth in late 2016 and over the past five years has worked tirelessly to lead the organisation, bringing together a strong partnership to deliver the Mayflower 400 programme, and creating a lasting legacy of partnership working within the city.
Mr Hackett will be stepping down from his role as Chief Executive of Mayflower 400 and Destination Plymouth in March following the finalisation of the five year transformative programme for Plymouth.
Despite being impacted by the pandemic, under Charles’ leadership the 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.
Find out more here
Princess Yachts, the UK’s leading luxury yacht manufacturer, has been hosting a unique event, The Princess Exclusive, at Royal William Yard marina in the brand's home of Plymouth from 22 to 30 January.
In the absence of boot Düsseldorf, cancelled due to Covid-19 regulations, this invitation-only event will provide customers the opportunity to experience the yachts that were originally due to feature at the show in Düsseldorf.
The impressive eight yacht line-up includes the global launch of the Princess X80 and the all-new V50 – plus the award-winning Princess X95 and Y72. The Princess F55 and V55 will also feature in the Royal William Yard marina, in addition to the Princess V40 and Princess S62 situated at the nearby Mayflower Marina.
Find out more here
Following the success of MDL’s first Green Tech Boat Show last year, the show will take place again this year at its Queen Anne’s Battery marina, Plymouth, 16-18 June 2022.
Designed specifically for boat owners wishing to make their boating experience as environmentally friendly and sustainable as possible, the scope of the Green Tech Boat Show has expanded to incorporate a new and exciting trade element.
Owing to collaboration between MDL and Maritime UK South West, the first day of this year’s show will feature the Clean Marine Innovation Showcase, a unique forum for government, researchers and businesses working towards a cleaner marine environment to come together to exchange ideas, highlight new innovations and network with likeminded organisations.
Find out more here
The Freeport Team would like to invite you to fill in a questionnaire of 15 questions. It will take no more than 5-10 minutes to complete, and you will assist an academic research project on understanding the container movements in Devon and Cornwall.
The project is developed by a joint partnership of University of Plymouth, UK, the South West Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, Port of Plymouth and Plymouth and South Devon Freeport.
The aim of this survey is, with a focus on container movements in Devon and Cornwall to explore how many businesses located in Devon and Cornwall containers and or would be willing to move their container traffic from other UK ports (e.g. Felixstowe, Southampton, etc.) to the port of Plymouth on the assumption that a port became capable of receiving containers in Plymouth and reduce business environmental footprint.
All the individual information will be STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL and we will only make anonymised data public, so readers will not be able to identify individual responses.
If you have any queries or questions, please do not hesitate to contact the research team. Please note that you could withdraw your participation from our research at any point.
Take part in the survey
As part of Plymouth City Council’s Productive Plymouth Transforming Cities Fund programme, funded by the Department for Transport, we are 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 is 31 January 2022.
You can find the guidance and application form via the link below.
Find out more here
Thousands of working families in the South West could be missing out on an opportunity to get up to £2,000 a year to help with the cost of childcare, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is reminding parents, ahead of February half term.
Tax-Free Childcare – the 20% childcare top-up – provides eligible working families with up to £500 every three months (or £1,000 if their child is disabled) towards the cost of holiday clubs, before and after-school clubs, childminders and nurseries, and other accredited childcare schemes.
More than 26,600 working families used the scheme in September 2021, in the South West. Overall, HMRC paid out more than £35 million in top-up payments, which was shared between nearly 316,000 families across the UK – an increase of about 90,000 families compared to September 2020.
Tax-Free Childcare is available for children aged up to 11, or 17 if the child has a disability. For every £8 deposited into an account, families will receive an additional £2 in government top-up.
Find out more here
The University of Plymouth’s Careers Service are pleased to invite regional organisations, particularly SMEs, to our inaugural South West Local Opportunities Fair to showcase internship, placement and graduate roles.
This event is most suitable to:
- SMEs (Small or Medium-sized Enterprises) based within the South West, or
- Larger/national organisations that will have opportunities based within the South West
Please note that for the purposes of this event we are defining the South West to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Bristol, Dorset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.
Spaces are limited and a small fee (starting from £60+VAT) is required to secure you space. Booking deadline date is 9 February 2022.
Find out more here
For information on how to book and for further details, please contact the University’s Employer Engagement Team on 01752 587729 or employers.careers@plymouth.ac.uk
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
Creative Coalition Festival 2022
Creative Coalition | Online | 1 to 3 February
Creative UK’s flagship virtual festival. Set over 3 days, with 50+ sessions and over 200 creative speakers, the festival celebrates achievements and addresses the most important questions facing the UK’s creative industries.
Plymouth will be hosting two sessions on 3 February:
Session 1: How can culture engineer the levelling-up agenda?
11.10am to 12.05pm
What interventions, partnerships and investments are required to lay the ground for a thriving cultural centre in regional towns and cities?
Session 2: Creating cultural centres: from grassroots and through the ground-up
2.10pm to 3.05pm
What opportunities are there for the creative community to get involved at local level in national initiatives like the Cultural Development Fund. What does this mean for creative practitioners, freelancers and creative SMEs.
Find out more here
How SMEs Can Utilise Social Media
Resurgam Charter (PCC) | Online | 15 February
Delivered by Scott Grenney of Eddystone Media, this workshop will offer practical advice and tools to boost your online business presence. There will be opportunities to ask questions and receive bespoke advice during the sessions.
Find out more here
Spillover
The Bridge | Online | 17 February
As part of the iMayflower programme, bringing together key stakeholders from the creative and cultural industries and Higher Education, the University of Plymouth have launched the second edition of Spillover, an event exploring the opportunities and challenges of working across traditional boundaries to tackle the climate crisis.
The speakers will reflect on a broad range of contemporary issues; from creative community
responses to climate change, to generating older active lives through digital innovation.
It is a day set to be full of creative disruptions, innovation and inspiration!
If you are a creative freelancer, climate activist, entrepreneur or simply looking for some insights into the latest thinking in the Creative Economy and Creative Disruptions into the Climate Crisis, then join us for this free online event hosted by The Bridge as part of the iMayflower project.
Find out more here
SWMAS - Make it Net Zero
SWMAS | Online | Multiple dates
SWMAS design, deliver, and support Net Zero events, workshops, and training opportunities that are tailored to meet the needs of manufacturers - and for small and medium-sized manufacturers across the South West, the cost can be fully funded through their range of support programmes.
Find out more here
Hip Hop Antidote
Street Factory CIC | Multiple dates
Free 23-week programme of mentoring and workshops to rebuild yourself, confidence and life, which will help;
- Advance equity
- Develop confidence and motivation
- Provide educational & employment opportunities
- Support people to feel more connected with their families, friends and the wider community
Find out more here
Outset Business Support workshops
Outset | Online | Multiple dates
Outset Enterprise Coaching delivers a full support programme combining modular business workshops, rich online learning resources and 1:1 support. It’s open to all Plymouth residents, and fully funded by Plymouth City Council and the European Regional Development Fund.
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:
- 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
Launch of Help to Grow: Digital Scheme to Boost the Growth of Tech SMEs
The Government’s Help to Grow: Digital scheme has been launched to support smaller businesses in adopting digital technologies so they can grow.
Through the scheme, eligible firms will receive discounts of up to £5,000 off the retail price of approved Digital Accounting and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software from leading technology suppliers. This software will help them effectively manage their finances and build customer relationships, enabling them to scale up their operations.
Applications can be made at any time.
Find out more here
Launch of the 2022 Deutsche Bank Awards for Creative Entrepreneurs
The Deutsche Bank Awards for Creative Enterprise (DBACE) help young, creative entrepreneurs turn their ideas into reality. Aspiring individuals who want to go into business in the creative industries and require practical and financial support are being targeted. Applicants will be able to explore, develop and establish their creative ideas into sustainable ventures – through business planning training, mentoring and capital funding for starting-up.
The programme aims to find the best young talent with the ability to drive positive social impact through their creative enterprise. The programme aims to enable and celebrate creative entrepreneurship for social good, led by 18-30-year olds in the UK today.
The deadline for applications to be received is 31 March 2022
Find out more here
Innovate UK Opens New Round of Smart Grants
The Smart Grants programme is an Innovate UK (IUK) 'open grant funding' initiative. Through the programme, IUK is investing in commercially viable, business-focused, innovative or disruptive ideas that have potential to boost the UK’s economy.
IUK will fund innovative research and development (R&D) projects across a variety of technologies, markets and research categories, including feasibility projects, industrial research projects, and experimental development projects.
The deadline for applications to be submitted is 13 April 2022.
Find out more here
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