RESTART: Webinars and 1:1s for business
 Businesses have been badly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, whilst some have been able to continue trading, albeit differently, many have had to either scale back or cease operations completely. As talk now turns to 'reigniting the economy', business owners face the challenge of 'restarting' their businesses from what feels like a standing stop. This represents a highly daunting task, especially as a certain amount of 'creativity' may be required in order to successfully trade whilst ensuring compliance with Government demands of continued social distancing.
RESTART is delivered by The Export Department. It has been very popular so far and will:
- Ensure businesses have tapped into all available Government support
- Help businesses navigate their way through the next few months, using their time productively to address any knowledge gaps, inefficiencies, or challenges within their operation
- Support businesses to explore alternative revenue streams that can serve to help boost resistance against future crises
- Support?businesses to apply learning from this crisis to feed into a tried and tested Business Continuity Plan (BCP) that will help safeguard the business against a potential second lockdown and/or future crises
- Support businesses to explore the potential for early revenue-generating opportunities and develop an effective stakeholder communications plan in preparation for COVID-19 restrictions being lifted
- Support businesses to plan to restart their operation in a manner that is compliant with Government social distancing measures
Discretionary Grant Scheme - coming soon
We'll be making an announcement about this new scheme as soon as we're able to, if you want to be one of the first to hear details, please follow us on Twitter and share the newsletter sign up link with your business contacts.
You can read an article about this fund, which has been set up to accommodate certain small businesses previously outside the scope of the business grant funds scheme,?on the Gov.UK website.
Building Business Resilience in the East Midlands
The Building Business Resilience Programme is a support package available to businesses across the East Midland which has been established by the East Midlands Growth Hubs.
At the moment the focus is very much on offering practical support and guidance around the COVID-19 crisis.
We are offering web-based business support and larger more formal webinars on key topics impacting on your business at the moment.
Once the crisis abates and the situation stabilises we will return to supporting businesses to be generally more resilient and to preparing for the EU Exit and we can then offer face to face seminars, workshops, company visits and support.
The focus of the support is on ensuring businesses across the East Midlands can:
- Manage the impact of the external changes
- Diversify to survive
- Work together and support each other
- Pull together as a community and spot opportunities?
The programme is being delivered by SFEDI the Sector Skills Organisation for Business Support and Enterprise.
Nottstopping Festival, this weekend!
This bank holiday 23 and 24 May, we can look forward to the Nottstopping Festival, a two day county wide digital festival extravaganza.
The festival will feature a line-up of entertainment?from huge names including The Worst Witch star Bella Ramsey, Michelin-starred chef Alex Bond, the band Do Nothing, the Kanneh-Mason sisters and many more, and is packed with great activities and events.
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Nottstopping Festival?will feature a multi stream programme of 150 hours of music, film, dance, comedy, theatre, poetry, food, art and design, fashion and family focused activities.?This festival is a vital opportunity to bring together Nottinghamshire?s brilliant cultural organisations and individuals to stage a weekend of positive, uplifting brilliance for everyone across the city?and county in this time of uncertainty and separation.
The festival programme will be packed with wide-ranging content from the region?s vibrant cultural sector including Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham Playhouse, Lakeside, Rough Trade, Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies and Metronome, Wigflex, Nottingham Castle, Broadway Cinema, BFI Network, Just The Tonic, Television Workshop, Dance4, University of Nottingham, Nottingham Music Hub, Nottingham Poetry Festival, Notts TV and Nottingham City of Literature. Brought together by Hockley Hustle and Circle of Light, the mammoth Bank Holiday extravaganza will be raising funds to provide treats, gifts and experiences for the county?s hardworking frontline key workers.
As well as artists responding with pieces from isolation, there will be performances taking place on some of the biggest stages that have fallen quiet during lockdown plus the chance to take part in live Q&As with leading lights across film, theatre and music and interactive workshops for all ages.?
To live stream the festival and view the online brochure with the full programme, please?click here.
The festival is being staged thanks to five main funders: Nottingham City Council, Creative Quarter, Nottingham BID, Marketing NG and Nottingham Culture Board with support from Inspire, One Nottingham, the Confetti Media Group and Notts TV.?
Report reveals what has been learnt from the Nottingham ULEV Experience
The ULEV Experience has released a summary report about some of the lessons learnt during the delivery of a two-year business and public sector support programme dedicated to helping Nottingham-based organisations to understand, trial and implement ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs).
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The ULEV Experience programme ran from April 2018 to March 2020 and offered businesses and the public sector within Nottingham City access to fully funded:
- Fleet Reviews, delivered by Cenex and the Energy Saving Trust, providing an independent assessment of the potential to integrate ultra-low emission cars and vans within a company fleet
- Low Emission Vehicle Loans, delivered by DriveElectric, with a range of different vehicle makes and models available for businesses to trial for up to one month
- Business Engagement and Events, delivered by CleanTech Business and RideWise, enabling businesses to network with peers and gain additional understanding of ULEVs
Councillor Sally Longford, Deputy Leader of Nottingham City Council and Portfolio Holder Energy, Environment and Democratic Services says "Working in partnership, the ULEV Experience, which is funded by Nottingham City Council?s Workplace Travel Service, has been very successful in supporting businesses to understand, trial and implement Ultra-Low Emission Vehicles (ULEVs).
"By encouraging and supporting local businesses and organisations to make the switch to ULEVs and more sustainable transport, it is hoped that it will help reduce carbon and nitrogen dioxide impacts which transport can significantly contribute to. This can not only improve air quality but will also support Nottingham City Council?s ambition to become Carbon Neutral by 2028."
You can download the ULEV Experience ?What We?ve Learnt? report at www.ulevexperience.co.uk
Do you have a positive story to tell about how your business is getting through the COVID-19 outbreak or how you are supporting your local community? I'd love to publish some of them here or on our twitter account.?
Thank you!
Andrew
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