BUSINESSNEWS
MINISTER PUTS CYBER SECURITY IN RANGE WITH VISIT TO NEW CENTRE FUNDING & ADVICE TO REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS AVAILABLE UNTIL MARCH Lowering your energy bills can make a big difference to your bottom line and the Business Energy Efficiency Programme (BEEP) can help. Eligible Worcestershire and Herefordshire businesses with under 250 staff can receive support to become more environmentally friendly, saving money on energy or other resource costs. The support on offer is twofold – firstly to assess your business premises (free of charge) to see what improvements can be made through energy and resource usage. Secondly, grants of up to £20,000 (or up to 40% of the project costs) for upgrades to lighting, compressors, heat systems and production equipment, that deliver energy or carbon dioxide savings either directly or indirectly. If you have a carbon saving project in mind contact BEEP now, a grant application could be fast-tracked. Other eligibility criteria apply including, turnover under £44million or balance sheet under £37million.
Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), visited the Hereford Enterprise Zone recently, finishing with a tour of the new £9 million Cyber Quarter – Midlands Centre for Cyber Security at Skylon Park. The Minister officially cut the ribbon on Hereford’s Shell Store, newly refurbished into a modern business incubation and innovation centre, before taking a tour of the Cyber Centre and meeting University of Wolverhampton academics and local business leaders who are taking advantage of the services on offer at the site. The centre is a joint venture between the University of Wolverhampton and Herefordshire Council and part-funded by the Government’s Local Growth Fund, via the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Welcoming them to the new building, which is due to officially open later this year, were members of the University Cyber Centre team – Professor Nazira Karodia, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Regional Engagement, Professor Amar Aggoun, Dean of the Faculty of Science & Engineering, Professor Prashant Pillai, Head of the School of Mathematics and Computer Science and Digital Project Manager, Hugo Russell.
Robert Jenrick MP, Secretary of State for MHCLG, said: “If you think back a decade ago, this was a derelict brownfields site. What has been achieved here is phenomenal. “We want to make sure we build back strongly from the pandemic, and the Enterprise Zone will play a part in that because it provides really high-quality space for businesses, conference spaces, and spaces for incubation of new businesses. I think the future is very bright for Herefordshire.” www.wlv.ac.uk
www.hwchamber.co.uk/support/advice/beep
SURVIVAL OF THE FLEXIBLE – BUSINESS IN A NEW ERA The Office for National Statistics is reporting an increase in businesses trading, from, 77% to 83%, in the last month. Meanwhile, Sage report 80% of small businesses expect profitability to return to normal in the months ahead. Despite a challenging year, this shows many businesses are thriving. Whether you are a new or established business, it is however essential to take advice in these coming months. Clare Lang, Partner at mfg Solicitors, has detailed the key areas that businesses should be considering:
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If you are diverging into new products, have you got supply agreements with suppliers and distributors; and is intellectual property protected?
These are just some key considerations businesses here in the two counties should be addressing. www.mfgsolicitors.com
If you have entered into a new venture, have you got an agreement setting out the terms? If you are vacating property in favour of homeworking, have you taken advice to ensure that you can terminate your lease without liability? Have you got employment contracts for new recruits?
July/August 2021
