A modified design for the Armada Way regeneration project has now been published, as promised, on our website.
This follows a decision by the City Council on 21 November 2022 to pause the Armada Way project to allow concerns regarding the removal of the existing trees to be considered.
The modified scheme now proposes the retention of 24 existing trees and a total of 150 new semi-mature trees of various native and ornamental species more appropriate to a city centre setting. This brings the total of trees in the Armada Way scheme to 174.
A new directory will showcase the Plymouth people, businesses and organisations doing vital work to reduce their plastic use.
The Plymouth Plastic Free Directory will list all those working to reduce single use plastics to help the environment in Plymouth and beyond.
The directory is part of the city-wide partnership that is tackling single use plastics in Plymouth - including the Plymouth Plan for Plastics, the Preventing Plastic Pollution project and the work of the Britain’s Ocean City Plastic Free Taskforce, which is made up of public, private and voluntary sector organisations including the Council and Environment Plymouth.
Plymouth City Council is continuing to deliver its key priorities for Plymouth at pace despite having to manage unprecedented financial challenges caused by national economic issues, Council leader Richard Bingley says.
The Council has been grappling with a £15 million shortfall in resources for this financial year due to rising energy costs, inflation and increased demand for social care services – factors which mean it also has to save £37.6 million before it can set a balanced budget for next year.
Councillor Bingley says while the budget shortfall has been a huge challenge, the latest progress report to Cabinet shows strong progress in the administration’s priorities set out earlier in the year.
Plymouth City Council's Digital Team are in the process of redesigning the content and information on the Plymouth City Council website to make it easy to navigate, accessible and our information clear and easy to understand.
We are currently working on the Business Rates section and we would like to hear from local businesses about their experiences of using this area of the website.
We have added a pop up survey to our website to gather your feedback which should take no more than 5 minutes to complete.
By completing the survey you will be helping us to make improvements to our website.
Plymouth Marjon University will welcome a new Vice-Chancellor to the city following the retirement of Professor Rob Warner in December.
Professor Claire Taylor will join the University in May 2023, from her current position as Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Education at Wrexham Glyndwr University in North Wales.
Like Marjon, Glyndwr is a values-based university, rooted in a background of social inclusion and with similarly outstanding student satisfaction ratings.
Professor Taylor will join Marjon as Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive, responsible for the day-to-day leadership of the University and driving the long-term vision; developing new academic provisions, expanding into international markets, building research and taking the University to carbon net zero by 2030.
Plans for a new multi-million pound district shopping centre on the edge of Plymouth are moving a step closer. Planning permission has been granted to transform the former Seaton Barracks Parade Ground site at Derriford into a new district centre.
Three big-name brands have already been secured for the site. Marks and Spencer (M&S) which hopes to build a new Foodhall, supermarket Aldi and Costa, which will operate a café and drive-through.
The development will also include a gym, pet shop, a further, smaller retail unit and 12 rapid EV charging points. Pure Gym and Pets Corner have previously been named in documents as the tenants for the gym and pet shop units
Plymouth City Council planners under delegated powers gave the scheme planning permission last summer. Now, plans for a new access road for buses, cyclists and pedestrians as part of the development have been put forward.
Plymouth’s Athenaeum is to get a facelift that could help the historic institution open its doors to the public once more, thanks to a grant of £86,194 from Historic England.
The Council has been liaising with the charity to help them apply to Historic England for funding under their High Street Heritage Action Zone scheme. And they have just learned that their bid to restore the front façade of the building has been successful.
The Athenaeum is an historically important post-war building within the City Centre Conservation Area. The Plymouth Athenaeum charitable society moved to its current building in June 1961, on almost the exact location of its pre-Blitz home.
Plymouth Science Park IT consultancy Acronyms has opened its latest office in Roche, expanding its service offering to Plymouth, Bristol and Cornwall.
IT support and consultancy company Acronyms have been based at Plymouth Science Park since 2013, and have recently opened a third site in the South West at the Victoria Offices and Conference Centre in Roche, Cornwall to accommodate their recent growth.
Since launching in 2003, Acronyms have been supporting clients across the region with tailored IT and unified communications, including internet connectivity, Cloud services, collaboration tools and IT support.
Get around by bus for £2
More than 130 bus operators across England have signed up to cap single bus fares at £2 from 1 January to 31 March 2023, thanks to £60 million in government funding. The cap could save people almost a third of the average bus fare outside London (£2.80), while in some rural areas bus tickets can reach over £5 for a single journey.
Visit your local bus operator website for more information about the £2 cap in your area. Further information on the cap and participating operators can be found here.
Traveline.info can also be used to plan journeys and find more information on £2 routes.
Save 1/3rd on rail journeys
You can get up to a third off train fares with a railcard in Great Britain, saving up to £142 a year on average.
Save one third on rail journeys with a railcard
50% off travel if you’re on Universal Credit
You may be eligible for a Jobcentre Plus Travel Discount Card if you’re on Universal Credit.
Find out more information on the National Rail website
Cutting fuel duty
Fuel duty for petrol and diesel has been cut by 5 pence per litre across the whole of the UK until March 2023. It saves £100 for the average car driver, £200 for the average van driver and £1,500 for the average haulier.
Bus passes
In England you can get a bus pass for free travel when you reach the State Pension age.
Apply for an older person’s bus pass
If you’re disabled then you may be eligible for a disabled person’s pass if you live in England.
Apply for a disabled person’s bus pass
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
Delivering Sustainability and Social Value in Plymouth with SDS
The Plymouth Charter | HQ Building, PL1 3HQ | 27 Jan
You are invited to attend The Plymouth Charter's free workshop, in collaboration with SDS (Services Design Solution), where you can benefit from learning their approach to sustainability and social value and how to successfully implement, track and report on it.
Mental Health in Marketing
Building Brands | Portland Square Building, University of Plymouth, PL4 8AA | 26 Jan
The workshop will arm you with advice and help to deal with the challenges we all face in our lives both professionally and personally.
Meet the Bid Writing Expert
Meet the Expert/Oceansgate | Oceansgate, Endeavour House, PL1 4RW, 1 & 2 Feb
This 2-day (12-hour) workshop will be delivered by Naomi Fox-Smith who is an experienced and successful Bid Writer, winning millions of pounds of contracts and grant funding through her mastery of the art of bid writing.
Empowering Women in Business
Nash & Co Solicitors | The Treasury, PL1 2AD | 2 Feb
A monthly meet-up with networking and a guest speaker for fabulous women in and around the Plymouth area!
Business Resilience Event and Networking Lunch
HotSW Growth Hub | Plymouth Science Park, PL6 8BX | 8 Feb
Help your business THRIVE! Workshops on business resilience & grant funding, business health check, guest speakers and free networking lunch.
EuroSWAC Public Event at Brixham Laboratory
University of Plymouth | Brixham Laboratory, TQ5 8BA | 10 Feb
The EuroSWAC Project team invite you to their final UK event with the potential opportunity to see the SWAC installation at Brixham Laboratory.
Meet the Business Growth Strategy Expert
Meet the Expert/Oceansgate | Oceansgate, Endeavour House, PL1 4RW, 23 Feb
In this workshop, work with the organisers to imagine your business in 5-years’ time and create your forward plan using the Bamboo-Growth ‘Business One System’ tool.
Google Global Goals Call for Applications for AI-based Solutions to Societal Challenges
Google.org is inviting funding applications from organisations around the world that are using artificial intelligence to create new, innovative solutions to existing societal problems and to make progress against the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
The call is open to any non-profit organisation, public charity, research institution or for-profit business from around the world, provided that they apply for a project that has a charitable purpose. The organisation must have a registered office in its country of residence. Only one organisation may be the applicant of record, but Google.org welcomes and encourages collaboration.
Selected organisations will benefit from customised support to help bring their ideas to life. They will also receive funding from a U$25 million fund. Google expects individual grants may range from US$500,000 to US$2 million, and that funding will be spent over the course of 12 to 36 months.
Applications may be made at any time and will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The application window will remain open until all selections are made.
Launch of £7m Innovation Fund to Decarbonise Freight
The Freight Innovation Fund has been established to help freight deliveries across the UK become more efficient by supporting innovative new ideas and technology across the industry.
The Fund will support small and medium businesses (SMEs) working with industry-leading companies to develop innovations to make freight greener and more resilient, such as ways to improve how freight moves between rail, road and maritime transport.
£7 million has been allocated to the programme to support businesses until 2024. The Accelerator will select up to 36 SMEs over three open calls until 2024. Successful firms will join a six-month programme, where they will each have the opportunity to access up to £150,000 of grant funding to trial their solutions with industry partners.
Applications for the first open call are being accepted until 5 February 2023.
International Programme Invites Applications for Sustainable Fashion and Textiles R&D Projects
Following a successful pilot programme in 2022, the next round of the New Landscapes: Catalyst Research & Development Grant Scheme is inviting applications.
The scheme, which has a total value of £120,000, will provide five collaborative grants of up to £6,000 cash and up to £15,000 in-kind support to proposals.
The second round of applications is open to designers, design entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises from UK and Official Development Assistance (ODA) countries.
The deadline for proposal submissions is 6 February 2023.
Net Zero Technology Centre Launches 2023 Open Innovation Programme
The Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC) has launched its 2023 Open Innovation Programme aimed at developing and deploying data and digital technologies that will reduce offshore emissions, accelerate clean energy production, and enable delivery of the UK’s net zero ambitions.
Businesses can apply for funding to support their technology development and deployment projects. Projects must support the transition towards net zero with an obligation of trialling and deploying technology within the UK continental shelf.
Each grant request can be from £50,000 up to £500,000. As well as funding, supported projects will gain access to data, facilities, and technical expertise from industry.
The deadline for applications is 17 February 2023.
Launch of IUK’s Innovative Technologies for Intracellular Drug Delivery Competition
Through this competition, Innovate UK (IUK) will invest in innovation projects to develop solutions in product formulations for intracellular drug delivery.
The aim is to stimulate the development and manufacturing of a range of innovative formulations to improve the efficiency and results of DNA and RNA based medicines, reducing the dose, associated manufacturing raw material and energy consumption.
Up to £5 million has been allocated to fund feasibility, and industrial research projects. Each project’s total grant funding request must be between £100,000 and £1 million.
The deadline for applications is 22 February 2023.
Advancing Precision Medicine - New IUK Competition Now Open
The Innovate UK (IUK) Advancing Precision Medicine Competition will fund industry-led collaborative projects which aim to:
- More accurately diagnose conditions and stratify patients to the most appropriate treatments.
- Increase the application of integrated and multi-modal approaches to determine risk and diagnosis and to predict prognostic outcomes.
Up to £10 million has been allocated to this round of the competition, to fund industrial research and experimental development projects. Each project’s total costs must be between £500,000 and £1 million. Funded proposals can include experimental evaluation, within a clinical environment, prototyping, product development planning, IP protection, and regulatory planning.
The deadline for applications is Wednesday 8 March 2023.
IUK Launches Final Round of Innovation Loans Future Economy Competition
Innovate UK (IUK) is offering loans to help micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) overcome barriers to their innovations becoming a successful, commercial reality. The aim is to make a considerable economic impact which results in significant, sustainable business growth.
IUK allocated up to £25 million to fund projects across several rounds of this competition. This is the final round. Loans of between £100,000 and £2 million are available, based on project proposals and IUK’s judgement of the suitability and affordability of a loan for the business.
IUK will fund experimental development projects that can include prototyping, demonstrating, piloting, testing and validation.
Deadline for applications is 8 March 2023.
Made Smarter Innovation - Launch of IUK’s Industry Ready Robotics and Automation Competition
Through this Made Smarter Innovation competition, Innovate UK (IUK) is investing in innovation projects focused on late-stage robotics and automation to increase productivity, sustainability and resilience within manufacturing processes.
Proposals must deliver an innovative digital development or significantly novel application of robotics and automation, and overcome a technical barrier within manufacturing processes in a factory production area.
Up to £6 million has been allocated to fund industrial research and experimental development projects. Each project’s total costs must be between £200,000 and £4 million. The total grant funding request for a project must not exceed 50% of the total project costs.
The deadline for applications is 5 April 2023.
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