Small Business Saturday
 Join in on Small Business Saturday to promote your shop locally!
Small Business Saturday (SBS) is a campaign to celebrate the UK’s amazing small businesses. It encourages customers to shop locally and support small businesses in their communities.
This year it takes place on 2 December.
It is totally free to take part in and open to all small businesses, bringing a phenomenal opportunity to be in the spotlight.
Many small businesses take part in the campaign by hosting events and offering promotions.
SBS offers a daily programme of online events, including workshops, webinars, and mentoring, as well as highlighting entrepreneurial stories.
If you would like to sign up and join in, visit the Small Business Saturday website: https://smallbusinesssaturdayuk.com/
We will be promoting people to shop local in our residents magazine in support of our small independent businesses throughout the festive season!
Newbury Town Centre Events
 The Newbury Town Centre masterplan has been developed and areas of focus include holding events in the town centre. This has been brought to action by Newbury BID this winter with the team organising a range of activities throughout the festive season to attract visitors and offer activities for local residents alike!
There was a record breaking turnout at the Christmas light switch on this year. The day was full with activities and displays including Christmas Markets and Santa's Grotto. The transformation saw Newbury Town Centre lit up in a dazzling display, officially announcing the beginning of Christmas in Newbury!
There are more events and activities planned leading up Christmas with a full calendar of activities throughout November and December. Make sure you check out the list to see what floats your boat, or pulls your sledge should I say!
 Get ready for a jolly holiday season filled with free bus travel in West Berkshire! This year, we're again excited to announce a fantastic opportunity for residents to embrace the festive spirit without worrying about transport costs. Feel free to share this information with your customers and employees.
For a series of Saturdays in December, all bus journeys within West Berkshire will be FREE, providing an excellent chance to explore and enjoy various seasonal events and activities in the run up to Christmas!
Mark your calendars for these special days:
If you start your journey in West Berkshire, your return journey is also FREE! But you need to request a return ticket from the driver when boarding to take advantage of this offer. If you have members of staff who use the bus to get into work, this is great little saver for them.
For more information on the buses taking part, click here: https://www.westberks.gov.uk/article/42442/Festive-Cheer-with-Free-Bus-Travel-in-West-Berkshire-this-Christmas
Berkshire Film Office
 We work with the Berkshire Film Office to promote West Berkshire as a filming destination and upskill our residents in the creative industry. Recently, Berkshire Film Office has launched the Screen Berkshire programme looking at training young people and career changers to work in the TV and Film industry. From the programme, West Berkshire residents can attend workshops and apply for courses that are fully funded to give residents a gateway into the industry. You can see a list of all the programmes that’s available through their website.
Berkshire Growth Hub
 The Growth Hub is continuing to offer business support for start up and high growth businesses in Berkshire. You can sign up to one of their courses dependent on your needs. Courses offer skills on how to start your own business to existing business masterclasses on how to propel sales and look after your finances.
Check out what they have on from their website. Plus it’s fully sponsored by the local authorities across Berkshire so it’s completely FREE for businesses!
Visit Hungerford
 Hungerford has developed a Visit Hungerford website! This new website details all that Hungerford has to offer and should be the one stop shop for tourists and locals. This aligns with our Town Centre masterplan for Hungerford in terms of developing its independent shopping and tourism aspects. If you are a business in Hungerford, why not make contact through the website and see if you can get your business on there for more people to see!
Rural Business Forum
 We held our annual Rural business Forum on 6 November this year. This saw our essential rural sectors such as farming, estates, and sustainable partners, come together with the council to discuss issues around land development, employment and sustainable practices.
We had key speakers from Dyson Farming who talked about their vision and future of farming as well as land use and commercial opportunities. Reading University were our other key speaker who covered areas around sustainable land development and biodiversity along with their research and the work they do with businesses.
The session was useful for everyone to discuss issues they were experiencing face to face and understand different companies outlook and thoughts.
The day was a success that generated great feedback with all attendees finding the session useful who would like to see it happen again in the future. It is one of our key engagement sessions with our rural businesses throughout the year and we will be keeping up the engagement in the future. If you are a rural business and would like to attend the event in future, please reach out to our team on: economicdevelopment@westberks.gov.uk.
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