A great place to live and work

East Herts is constantly rated as a great place to live due to its mixture of market towns, good schools and excellent connectivity but is sometimes overlooked as a place to do business in favour of its bigger neighbours –such Stevenage and Harlow – with their large business parks and clusters of industries.

However, the district has many fantastic businesses, and the Council is committed to supporting their growth whilst helping them plan for the future. This year we will be doing both through our ongoing grant support scheme as well as organising careers fairs, connecting employers to our local talent. With that in mind, we are delighted to have sponsored last month’s Chamber Annual Awards, recognising all the innovators and entrepreneurs across our District.

Helping businesses grow

Supporting the growth of local businesses is of paramount importance to us as a Council. Over the past year we have awarded over 20 “new premises” grants to local businesses to help them expand. This scheme runs until 31 March 2025, for anyone looking to set up new premises in East Herts or expand their existing premises. Successful applicants could receive up to £3,000 to make this happen.

Alongside this we also have our larger grant scheme aimed at supporting businesses with developing new products and services. Successful applicants could receive up to £50,000 to help them achieve this.

Ideally, this funding will result in the creation of more jobs in the district or creating more commercial space from older or disused infrastructure. So, if you are looking to do something similar in your business, please get in touch.

The deadline for applications closes 30 September and full details on the criteria and how to apply can be found here: www.eastherts.gov.uk/about-eastherts-0/improvement-projects-east-herts/ukshared-prosperity-fund

Hertford Cake Company moved to bigger premises in Hertford late last year as they weren’t able to expand in their existing unit and the grant helped with the fit out costs.

Connecting businesses with local talent

Business often tell us one of their biggest challenges is recruiting people with the right skills, and this has become even more acute as the jobs market has become more competitive in the last few years. This year the Council is planning to help address some of the underlying issues with recruitment.

In conjunction with Hertfordshire Futures (formerly the Herts Local Enterprise Partnership) and local secondary schools, we will be running two events, “Generation Hertford” and “Generation Stortford”, aimed at connecting secondary school students with local businesses. These will take place on Monday 21 October at BEAM in Hertford and Wednesday 4 December at the Herts and Essex High School in Bishop’s Stortford. Students from years 10 – 12 will be keen to learn about apprenticeship opportunities and other routes to employment. If your business would like to take part in this event then please get in touch with us. Contact Ben Wood, Head of Communications, Strategy & Policy Benjamin.wood@eastherts.gov.uk