A Shropshire-based homemade garlic confit provider, Bella’s Garlic, has secured £7,500 in funding from First Enterprise – Enterprise Loans under the British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans programme to kickstart the business.

Bella's Garlic, claims to be the first business to produce garlic confit in England, offers hand-crafted confectioned garlic that can be used to add flavour to a variety of dishes such as meat, pasta or salads. It serves as a practical substitute for fresh garlic, without the need for peeling or dealing with garlic smell on the fingers.

Mary Ann Republica, Founder of Bella's Garlic, has a decade of experience in the food and hospitality industry. After escaping domestic violence with her daughter, she is motivated to utilise her skills and business degree to establish her own start up, with an aim to become financially independent. Mary Ann recently completed an online course on Food Safety and Hygiene for Manufacturing and Food Labelling Regulations, furthering her knowledge in the field.

The funding from First Enterprise – Enterprise Loans will be used for purchasing essential equipment such as cookers, sterilisers, acquiring ingredients to produce garlic confit, and investing in marketing collaterals such as labels, banners and stands.

First Enterprise – Enterprise Loans provides government-backed business loans ranging from £500 - £250,000 for start-ups and SMEs that are unable to borrow from traditional high-street lenders. The not-for-profit organisation reinvests any surplus into loan funds to further support economic growth and job creation in the local communities.

If you have further questions about the scheme or want to apply
for a Start Up Loan with us, please contact us by calling 0345 602
7355 or emailing us at reception@first-enterprise.co.uk.
For more information,
please go to our website: https://www.first-enterprise.co.uk

A four-week public consultation gets underway today on the Smithfield Riverside regeneration project in Shrewsbury town centre.

Led by the Council and its development manager, RivingtonHark, Smithfield Riverside is the ambitious regeneration project set to transform the area between the River Severn, Darwin Centre, Roushill and Raven Meadows in Shrewsbury town centre.

Earlier this year, Shropshire Council, supported by the Shrewsbury Big Town Plan Partnership, secured almost £19 million of Levelling Up funding from Government to further support the regeneration of Shrewsbury town centre – kickstarting design work on the Smithfield Riverside masterplan.

Designed by FaulknerBrowns Architects, the overarching masterplan will be split into four key zones, aiming to improve connectivity between the town centre and the northern section of the town’s river loop. Crucially, the masterplan’s phased, flexible design will ensure key amenities like the Darwin Centre and Premier Inn can continue business as usual throughout any future construction.

This first public consultation will focus on zone one, located to the west and northwest of the Darwin Centre. Delivered through four separate planning applications, proposals would see the demolition of the Riverside shopping centre and former Riverside medical practice to create space for modern offices and homes, as well as an exciting new leisure offer including restaurants and a cinema.

These new developments, with west-facing terraces, would be interlinked by a series of accessible and vibrant new lanes and public spaces that help shape the area’s new identity.

Plans also include a landmark new public park adjacent to Roushill – designed by landscape architects Spacehub. The proposed park will breathe new life into area through the provision of open green space, trees and planting, while helping to improve biodiversity in the town centre.

Read the full article here: Consultation launches on major Shrewsbury town centre regeneration scheme – Invest in Shropshire

This initial stage of consultation will be open until Wednesday 15 November 2023 and we want to hear your views. Here are all the ways you can get involved:

Meet the project team

Come along to one of our drop-in events to learn more about the project, meet the team, and view our 3D model of the plans so far.

Find us at the Shropshire Local unit on the upper level of The Darwin Centre, at the following times:

 From Monday 30^th October, the information will be available to view in the Shropshire Local unit until 15 November 2023. You can drop by to look around any time Monday to Friday, 9:30am – 5:00pm.

Visit us Online

If you can’t visit in person, don’t worry. You’ll find all the information on our website, where you can also have your say: www.smithfieldriverside.com.

Online Reviews. Why they Matter & How to Get Them

We have always valued word-of-mouth recommendations rather than spin and clever marketing. Today, with the World Wide Web’s power, online recommendations, play a huge part in our purchasing decisions. This is all part of the Social Proof – one of the biggest drivers for improving your business profile.

A good online presence provides credibility, builds trust and leads to greater loyalty and good reviews send a strong signal that your business can be trusted.

This workshop is aimed at start-up businesses, sole traders and SMEs and covers:

Why Are Online Reviews Important?

• Which Online Reviews Matter Most
• How to Get More Online Reviews
• Dealing with Negative Reviews
• What to do Next

Online Reviews. Why they Matter & How to Get Them Tickets, Wed 22 Nov 2023 at 09:30 | Eventbrite

Pitching, networking and achieving business success are probably the three most stressful activities entrepreneurs undertake. But, success in all three requires a little bit of knowledge and some practice.

In this immersive and interactive session, you’ll be coached, as a group, to pitch any product, service, business or idea. You learn how to enter a room of strangers and know who to speak to and what to say. You’ll then be given a challenge, as a team, to set up your own virtual new business and compete to make the most profit.

This high-energy session will balance learning life-changing skills and knowledge with lots of fun and a great chance to meet new contacts from the local area.

What will be covered?

Effective Communication. How we use communication to influence the people we meet and the methods to more successfully communicate when meeting people for the first time, either as a presentation or private conversation.

Entrepreneurial Thinking. People who keep being successful in business are able to identify opportunities. What are these skills and can we develop them?

Why Businesses Succeed. Success in business, or any challenging task, is due to just six factors . We will learn what these are so you can identify if you have them in your business or business idea.

Mastering the Big Three: Pitching, Networking and Business Success Tickets, Wed 17 Jan 2024 at 12:00 | Eventbrite

Why is innovation vital to small business success?  Find out in these, not to be missed workshops.

Get the tools and resources you need to develop and launch successful new products and services

From Garage to Glory Tickets, Wed 31 Jan 2024 at 09:30 | Eventbrite

Are you looking to grow your small business?

Do you want to develop new products or services that will attract new customers and increase your sales?

Learn how to Innovate Your Business Model & Stay Ahead of the Competition Tickets, Wed 31 Jan 2024 at 13:00 | Eventbrite

Find out why innovation is critical for small businesses from innovation expert, Stuart Hartley in this interview with Carl Jones. 

Listen here: SBLTV S4E1 - Stuart Hartley (vimeo.com)