Bedford Business News

Applications for the new Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant are now open on Bedford Borough Council’s website. The Government announced that further support will be provided to businesses affected by the Omicron wave through the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant.

The amount eligible local businesses will receive are:

– Qualifying businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or less on 30 December 2021, will receive a one-off grant of £2,667.

– Qualifying businesses with a rateable value over £15,000 and less than £51,000 on 30 December 2021, will receive a one-off grant of £4,000.

– Qualifying businesses with a rateable value of £51,000 or above on 30 December 2021, will receive a one-off grant of £6,000.

Business within Bedford Borough, which occupy a property they pay business rates on and fall within the hospitality, accommodation and leisure business sectors may be eligible for this grant.

This scheme follows on from the Council already stepping up to support businesses by issuing a final support grant from the remaining previous Additional Restrictions Grant Fund in December to 552 local businesses’ impacted by COVID-19.

Businesses that had been most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic have now received a final grant payment from this Fund. These businesses include those in the hospitality sector, indoor facilities, non-essential retail and leisure settings such as cinemas.

Businesses that operate from business premises received £880, while other qualifying businesses received £264.

In addition, the Council is awarding funding to three organisations which support local businesses to help them keep doing this vital work:

– £48,000 has been awarded to the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP) to support their small and medium size enterprise recovery support programme in Bedford Borough, for further details contact the semlepgrowthhub.com

– £40,000 has been awarded to the Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce towards their global trade business support programme to assist businesses in Bedford Borough to expand into export markets, to find out more check the link: chamber-business.com

– £50,000 has been awarded to BedfordBID to undertake activities to increase custom to town centre businesses and to encourage customers to feel safe to return to the town centre. lovebedford.co.uk

Visit www.bedford.gov.uk/BSG to find out more about eligibility, and how to apply for the Omicron grant.

Does your Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisation support your local area to eliminate barriers to employment and give opportunities for further training? If so, you may be eligible for a grant.

SEMLEP’s Community Grants programme opens for the final round of applications on 10th January 2022.

The programme provides grants between £10,000 – £20,000 to projects that help people increase self-confidence and esteem to give an individual the key employability skills needed to shape their career.

Find out more about the programme, including the eligibility of your business, the application process and attendance at one of SEMLEP’s information events:

– 12th January 2022

– 18th January 2022

Please find further details and a form to register your interest on the SEMLEP website:

SEMLEP/Community Grants

The UK now has its own robust regulatory framework for goods. Manufacturers need to start using the UK conformity assessment marking (UKCA) to place goods on the market in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales). The UKCA regime seeks to ensure consumers are protected from unsafe, and non-compliant goods.

There are different rules for Northern Ireland, and we will be running dedicated events to cover the requirements for placing goods on the market in Northern Ireland.

Find out more with these dedicated webinars starting on the 18^th Jan, giving an overview of the new responsibilities and regulations for businesses. For further details check the link: Webinars/UKCA marking/GOV.UK

Skills Bootcamps are flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with a local employer.

The courses are developed in partnership with employers, providers and local authorities, to help people gain skills that are in demand in their local area and get a better job.

There is a range of digital courses, technical skills courses like construction or engineering, and green skills courses. The most recent additions to this list is Skills Bootcamps in HGV driving.

There are over 200 Skills Bootcamps being delivered, supporting even more adults to build the sector-specific skills employers need and get ahead in work.

For more information on the offer, please visit: Find-a-skills-bootcamp/Gov.uk