 The Queens Hotel is preparing for Southsea Food Festival on 16 and 17 July. Head of Pastry Chloe Barter loves the alchemy that results from mixing simple ingredients to create mouth-watering teatime treats. Visitors to Portsmouth's ultimate food event will be able to sample her "afternoon tea in a box".
Chloe Barter, Head of Pastry at the Queens Hotel said
“We want to give visitors to the Southsea Food Festival a taster of what our afternoon tea is all about and I’m hoping to spend some time on the stand too.”
Her passion for pastry is palpable - and when you ask her to explain, the reason becomes clear.
“I love the fact you can take simple ingredients like milk, butter and flour and depending on the way you mix them you can create so many different things - I love the variables.
“To me choux pastry is a beautiful thing - and then there’s a macaron. Simple ingredients and together they make something incredible,” she declared.
Since she joined the team at the Queens Hotel, her afternoon tea has earned multiple plaudits and ecstatic reviews on Favourite Table and Tripadvisor. Every element of the tea is created from scratch, with only the clotted cream and jam being bought in.
 The Southsea Beach Café has been listed in The Guardian's UK top 20 best seaside restaurants, cafes and shacks and is the best in Hampshire. All entries were judged for their fresh seafood with spectacular sea views.
Described as a "buzzy beach café" and a "great spot for families", children enjoy "the dig-a-saurus ice-cream, complete with chocolate dinosaur pieces" while parents can enjoy "scallop and chorizo baps, chimichurri prawns or classic fish and chips"
This praise for a Southsea business follows on from the recent Which? tourist survey that named Southsea as a top seaside destination.
 Solent LEP is planning to distribute at least £1m of loan funding to SMEs, ranging from £15,000 to £99,000. They are looking to support a minimum of ten projects with the money available.
Loan funding can provide a variety of benefits that include
- No interest paid on loan funds. Please note that all loans will be subject to an administration fee of 2.5% of the loan value.
- Up to a 12 month re-payment holiday.
To apply, the loan amount you seek must not exceed 80% of the total cost of your project, and at least 20% of the total project costs will need to have come from your own funds or confirmed third-party funding.
Projects must be able to demonstrate how they can achieve one or more of the following fund goals:
- Support the growth of our primary industries (see below)
- Create direct jobs
- Provide new training or skills opportunities
- Support the Solent’s transition to Net Zero
Applications close 18 July 2022
 The Outset Start and Grow programme, which has been helping pre-start, start-up and early-stage companies since February this year, has been granted an extra three-month delivery period till September with a further funding round running up to the 15 July.
Funded by UK Government & Portsmouth City Council and delivered by YTKO, this extension will enable more people and businesses to benefit from the free support available during the summer months.
To date, over 100 Portsmouth individuals have been assisted towards starting up, launching their own business. In addition, over 50 fledgling businesses have benefitted from the fully funded business strategy and planning support, learning how to build their customer base and operate more efficiently. Over the coming year, the programme’s impact will be measured in increased business turnover and profitability and the creation of new jobs in the city.
The mix of business skills workshops, one-to-one support, internships, and grants has been well received. The generous grants are also already making a difference, launching new businesses in the city and helping to grow our small business community.
 Plans to install a large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage system at Lakeside North Harbour have been unveiled.
The ground-breaking project will include roof-mounted solar PV arrays across five buildings, one of the largest solar parking canopy arrays in the UK, and a large battery storage system. It is anticipated that works will start in the autumn at the Portsmouth City Council owned site.
Across the UK, both businesses and residents are seeing steep increases in energy bills, however, this project will see commercial tenants of the Lakeside North Harbour offices protected from increasing electricity costs.
The plans include:
- 1,900 roof-mounted solar PV panels will be installed across the five buildings at Lakeside North Harbour
- An additional 8,000 solar PV panels will be installed above existing car parking spaces, forming solar canopies. These combined projects will have a total renewable electricity generation capacity of 4.5 megawatts (MW) and are set to save 992 tonnes of carbon dioxide from being emitted each year.
- Installation of a number of electric vehicle (EV) charging points alongside the solar PV and battery project, along with the infrastructure to install additional charging points as onsite demand increases.
- 2MW battery installation to enable excess electricity to be stored and used during peak periods of demand.
 The University of Portsmouth is looking for local companies to help final year student teams develop valuable employment skills; including team working, project management, and presentation skills under an initiative called 'Business Development Projects'.
The team are seeking a range of business focussed projects such as competitor analysis, research into the viability of a new product or service, strategic review of social media, etc. The range is extensive, and all projects will be considered.
There is no financial cost, but businesses should be prepared to meet with their team weekly from October to December 2022. Ideally, the University is looking for businesses who have more than five employees within an hours drivetime of the campus (using public transport).
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