Celebrate Birmingham 2022!
Birmingham’s Commonwealth Games are off the starting blocks this week. Have you got your tickets for your favourite sporting events? Join one or many of the community celebrations and events planned over the coming weeks. Tickets are available for sporting events too.
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Town Hall transformation plans submitted
As part of the ongoing regeneration of Kidderminster town centre, Kidderminster Town Council has submitted a planning and Listed Building Application for the transformation of Kidderminster Town Hall. The plans reflect the proposals publicly consulted on earlier this year, incorporating many of the improvements suggested by consultees.
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Celebrate your tourism business – closing date for entries 7 August
The 2022/23 Visit Worcestershire Tourism Awards are open for applications until Sunday 7 August. Tourism and hospitality businesses can apply to any of 13 award categories across a range of different areas.
To enter, businesses need to answer four key questions and provide links to their online presence and images. After two rounds of judging, entrants are shortlisted, and all finalists go forward to the event itself where winners are announced.
All winners of the Visit Worcestershire Tourism Awards are forwarded for entry into the Visit England Awards for Excellence, for a chance to win on the national stage and represent Worcestershire as one of the best destinations in England.
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Clean Growth Grant
Is your business ready to take action to make your business’ products, processes, services and buildings more sustainable? Yes?
Do you want to achieve strategic results, including improved energy efficiency, business efficiency, lower costs, and zero-carbon? Yes? That’s great! Because the GBSLEP Growth Hub team have a new Clean Growth Grant opportunity of £10,000 (30% match funded) for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the GBSLEP area, which they want businesses to access and benefit from.
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Stoford reveals plans for next phase of Redditch Gateway
Leading commercial property developer, Stoford has announced plans for the next phase of development at a £200 million logistics and manufacturing scheme near Redditch.
A reserved matters planning application has been submitted for the speculative development of almost 450,000 sq ft of new industrial and logistics accommodation at Redditch Gateway, near Junction 3 of the M42.
Stoford plans to build two new warehouse units ranging in size from 160,208 sq ft – 286,328 sq ft, that will include an integral hub and office space, 15m clear eaves height, a secure yard and parking.
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LEP and BetaDen offer digital bootcamps
Worcestershire LEP and its partners are offering a range of courses designed to upskill employees in digital professions. If you or a member of your team would like to reskill or upskill in Networking, Network Security, HTML 5 Application Development, Software Development, Microsoft Office Specialist routeways or the Fundamentals of Digital Marketing then these routeways could be for you. Bootcamps are delivered across Worcestershire at a location to suit you. For more information get in touch with Ria Hale on 01905 845950 or via email rhale@worcestershire.gov.uk or contact the Growth Hub team for more information on 01905 677 888.
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Support to grow your business
Enterprising Worcestershire is delighted to announce that there are now a limited number of grants up to the value of £30,000 on offer to help start-up businesses in Worcestershire. The grant is designed to give eligible SMEs that are less than three years old a significant helping hand. Grant funding can cover multiple capital and revenue expenditure items such as, but not limited to, equipment, machinery, website construction and logo design.
As there are only a limited number of these matched funded grants available, eligible businesses will need to get their application in quickly.
Smaller grants of £1,000 to £15,000 will still be on offer to start-up businesses through Enterprising Worcestershire. For more information, and the full list of eligibility, click here.
We also have new contracts in place to deliver support for the business coaching and high growth which will offer: 12 hours of bespoke business coaching, to SMEs less than five years old, Consultancy support for high-growth Worcestershire SMEs, less than two years old through the High Growth Activate programme.
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North Worcestershire Business Awards – get your nomination in!
Take time this summer to get your nomination in for the North Worcestershire Business Awards organised by North Worcestershire Business Leaders (NWBL) and North Worcestershire Economic Development and Regeneration (NWedR).
There are nine award categories, the winners of which will be presented a gorgeous glass trophy at the glittering awards event at Hogarth’s Stone Manor Hotel near Kidderminster in November.
All businesses based in North Worcestershire – covering Bromsgrove, Redditch and Wyre Forest districts – are encouraged to view the nomination categories online and select which one is most appropriate for them to enter. This year there are also three Worcestershire wide awards which means they are open to businesses across the whole of the County.
View categories and enter here. Entries close on Friday 23 September 2022.
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Celebrating North Worcestershire Calendar July Feature
Our July calendar feature is Meraki Promotions. Here is what owner Michelle had to say when we asked for words for our newsletter: “Take time to think for a moment about that wonderful feeling you get when someone surprises you with a nice gift! Close your eyes if you need to, but really connect with those feelings! It makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside doesn’t it!
I’m Michelle Jones, my company is Meraki Promotions based in Worcestershire and I help businesses to engage more effectively with their target audiences through promotional merchandise. But not just any merchandise, we really dig down together into who your potential clients are, what are their interests and explore what will really resonate with them.
I want you to be positively memorable, so you are the first person they think of when they have a requirement, I want you to stand out head and shoulders above the rest and if you are exhibiting and in a sea of your competitors, I want you to be that flamingo in a flock of pigeons!”
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BetaDen Cohort 6 – last chance to apply
Would your business or idea benefit from tech support and investment? The BetaDen package is worth over £50,000 and includes: 6-month programme from September 2022 till March 2023 (Delivery days - Wednesdays and Thursdays at Malvern Hills Science Park
- Access to Proof of Concept grant worth £10,000
- Access to Marketing funding worth £2,000
- Access to Worcestershire's 5G testbed
- Dedicated free office space at Malvern Hills Science Park
- Access to BetaDen's technology industry expertise network, events and Tech Talks
- Access to mentors for advice in: Strategic Marketing, Raising Investment, Product Development, Intellectual Property, Accounting and Structure, Technology Stack, Mindset and much more.
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One-stop-shop for individuals and businesses to understand employment law
The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has published guidance on employment status for HR advisers, and to help individuals and businesses understand which employment rights apply to them.
A person’s employment status is what defines the rights and employment protections they are entitled to at work including pay, leave and working conditions, and therefore dictates the responsibilities that an employer owes to that worker.
The new guidance brings together employment status case law into one place for businesses and individuals to access. This will support workers by improving their understanding of what rights they are entitled to at work, enabling them to have informed discussions with their employer and take steps to claim or enforce them where necessary.
Crucially, the guidance also clarifies the rights that gig economy workers are entitled to – from the national minimum wage to paid leave – while offering them the same degree of flexibility to take on additional work to top up their income, if they choose.
The new guidance includes advice for micro businesses, start-ups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that have less capacity and legal expertise to understand the law.
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