Funding and useful resources
First meeting of Net Zero Council
The Net Zero Council, which was set up by the Government, has held its first meeting. The council identified construction, manufacturing, retail, and water and waste as priority sectors to support, alongside the university and R&D sectors. The key objectives of the council are to ensure sectors and companies have a pathway to net zero and identify key challenges that small and medium-sized businesses face when reducing their carbon footprints.
Click here to read more about the council.
Post-Brexit trade deals to come into force
The UK’s post-Brexit free trade deals with Australia and New Zealand will come into force from midnight on 31 May. The deals are expected to increase bilateral trade with Australia by 53% and with New Zealand by 59%.
Read more about the deals here.
2024 King’s Award for Enterprise
The King’s Awards for Enterprise are the most prestigious awards for businesses, recognising and celebrating business excellence across the UK. The recipients of the awards demonstrate outstanding success in their respective fields of innovation, international trade, sustainable development and promoting opportunity (through social mobility).
Award recipients often state that their achievement has opened new doors for them in terms of securing new contracts, venturing into new markets, and further developing their business. If successful in receiving a King’s Award for Enterprise, the organisation receives a Grant of Appointment, and is able to display the award emblem for up to 5 years, and access a thriving alumni network of previous award recipients!
The King’s Awards for Enterprise was previously known as The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, and the new name reflects His Majesty The King’s desire to continue the legacy of HM Queen Elizabeth II by recognising outstanding UK businesses. The Award programme, now in its 57th year, has awarded over 7,000 companies since its inception in 1965.
This year, 148 businesses representing every part of the United Kingdom and a diverse range of sectors have been recognised by His Majesty The King as among the best in the country, with one company receiving two awards.
This year’s King’s Awards for Enterprise are given for outstanding achievement in:
- Innovation (47)
- International trade (78)
- Sustainable development (15)
- Promoting opportunity (through social mobility) (9)
Applications for the 2024 round open on 6th May and close midday 12th September.
Eligible businesses are free to apply for one or more categories. Recipients pass a robust assessment process, judged by experts from industry, academia, the voluntary sector and senior officials in Whitehall.
Now, more than ever, is a vital time for great UK businesses to be celebrated and recognised.
To read more about eligibility and how to apply visit www.gov.uk/kings-awards-for-enterprise
You can also email The King’s Awards Office for further details kingsawards@beis.gov.uk
Health and Safety Executive launches new podcast
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has produced a new podcast on how businesses can create an inclusive approach to workplace health.
In November 2022, HSE published new principles and guidance to support disabled workers and workers with long-term health conditions to remain in work and thrive. In HSE’s latest podcast, the simple principles and practical examples are openly discussed by Moya Woolley, Occupational Health Policy Team Leader at HSE and Rebecca Hyrslova, Policy Adviser at the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).
Sizewell C opportunity – Compliance and ESG reporting tool
Sizewell C are looking to procure a digital solution that allows suppliers to provide data on Environmental and Social aspects.
They would also look to use this tool to report this information internally and externally.
Sizewell C are of course keen that as many local and regional businesses put themselves forward for opportunities such as this, so please visit www.competefor.com/sizewellc for further details.
Great Big Green Week grants available!
Westmorland and Furness Council and Cumberland Council are informing the public that Cumbria Action for Sustainability (CAfS), a climate change charity, are providing grants to community groups hosting events during Great Big Green Week, 10-18 June.
Cumbia County Council originally allocated £6,000 to Cumbria Action for Sustainability (CAfS), and grants will now be delivered in partnership with Westmorland and Furness Council, Cumberland Council and CAfS.
The funding will see grants of up to £300 be made available to help community organisations arrange and host their own event. The funding can be used for venue hire, publicity, speaker expenses, film hire, or other resources.
Learn more about The Great Big Green Week and find out how to apply for a grant
Cyber-crime prevention initiatives from Cumbria Police
The below resources have been made available by Cumbria Police, please do take a look.
Home | North West Cyber Resilience Centre | England (nwcrc.co.uk)
New service to make importing easier
HMRC has launched a new service to give importers legal certainty over their chosen customs valuation method. The Advance Valuation Ruling Service will confirm that the method used to calculate the value is correct and will be legally binding for three years.
Read more about the new service here
Online resources available in Barrow & Carlisle libraries
The BIPC have a real arsenal of heavy hitting business databases for you to use. These subscriptions unlock literally hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of reports, insights, projections, company details and funding options. Anyone with a free library card now has these powerful tools at their fingertips!
For prospect building there’s Kompass, Ibis World and Mintel providing heavy weight sector reports and detailed consumer insight both looking forwards and looking back at the industry trends. Grant finder scours the internet for relevant funding options and also provides a great sector support. Cobra is an amazingly broad business reference database aimed specifically at start-ups. Read full descriptions here or you can contact BIPC directly at Cumbria.BIPC@cumbria.gov.uk to book an appointment.
Additional financial support for energy and trade intensive industries
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero have confirmed the opening of Energy and Trade Intensive Industries energy support applications.
- Click here to see full details on the announcement.
- Click here to see full details on the Energy Bills Discount Scheme.
- Click here to see full information on energy and trade intensive industries support, including the methodology that was used to identify them.
Open Nuclear platform
The National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) has recently launched their open innovation platform, Open Nuclear, to find solutions to technically complex challenges.
This is a truly exciting and fascinating initiative to open up some of the industry’s challenges to innovators from other sectors. Based on partnership and collaborative working, NNL wants to find innovative solutions to deliver on its purpose of nuclear science to benefit society.
The first 2 challenges are now live on the Open Nuclear platform with funding available to develop your ideas into solutions – click here to find out more.
Shott Scale Up Accelerator
The Royal Academy of Engineering’s Enterprise Hub have opened their Shott Scale Up Accelerator for applications! Are you a senior decision maker in an engineering or technology SME with big plans to scale? The Shott Scale Up Accelerator are experts in scaling businesses, providing all the training you need to transition from a tech specialist to business leader. They offer:
– £10k grant for prestigious leadership training worldwide
– Access to an unrivalled network of mentors from the UK’s leading engineers in industry, who have founded, scaled and sold businesses many times over.
– Six months of support, including 35hr of training with a cohort of deep tech peers and personal development coaching.
Apply by 25 May, 4pm – click here for more details
Grants available for Great Big Green Week 2023
Grants of up to £300 are available to help community groups in Cumbria host events in their local area during this year’s Great Big Green Week, taking place 10-18 June.
Great Big Green Week, a national campaign organised by the Climate Coalition, aims to raise awareness of climate change and get more people involved in taking action to reduce their carbon footprint. The week will see a variety of celebratory events taking place across communities in the UK including wildlife walks, films, talks, litter picks, forest school events, vegetable growing, as well as larger events to support sustainable business and sustainability festivals.
The grant funding could be used for venue hire, publicity, speaker expenses, or other resources.
If you are part of a community group planning an event, or know of one which might be interested, check out Zero Carbon Cumbria’s website for more information and how to apply.
The deadline for applications is Friday 19 May 2023