This page is dedicated to local business news in the Forest
Heath District. You can find information on business support, local
meetings and groups.
If you have any information which you would like to share with
other businesses please contact Louise Fenwick in Community
Services on 01638 719 786 or email
natasha.smith@forest-heath.gov.uk
Forest Heath District Council is not responsible for the contents
or reliability of any websites linked to our own website.
Resource Efficiency East
It is widely
acknowledged that small businesses looking to improve resource
efficiency will often benefit from adopting an environmental
management system (EMS). An EMS can help a company identify cost
saving opportunities, ensure compliance with relevant legislation,
meet the requirements of key customers and reduce the organisations
impact on the environment.
However, more often than not, small businesses will lack background
knowledge, understanding or time to implement such a system
unaided.
IN order to address some of these issues the Resource Efficiency
East programme has developed the EMS Club to assist eligible small
businesses who are looing to develop an EMS for the first
time.
For further information and registration details, please see
the document below:
EMSClub.pdf
Carbon Trust 0% business loans to businesses across the
UK
Energy-guzzling heating, air conditioning and plant equipment could
be draining your business of vital profits. To help businesses
upgrade to more efficient equipment and cut energy bills, the
Carbon Trust is offering 0% loans of up to £500,000.
No security is required for the interest free business loans –
and the loans scheme is designed so that anticipated energy savings
cover monthly repayments. What’s more, the new equipment may also
qualify for 100% first year tax relief.
Thousands of companies have now taken advantage of the interest
free loans to reduce their energy bills:
· Nursery retailer PreciousLittleOne installed an
energy-efficient radiant heating system with a loan of £10,000 –
and is achieving annual energy savings of over £5,000.
· Office space providers, Boon & Sons, installed
fast-reacting motion sensors with a loan of £5,200 – for annual
energy savings of £3,600.
· Precision Engineering Plastics’ three consecutive 0% loans,
totalling £67,685, are now saving them £26,435 a year in energy
costs.
More information on the Carbon Trust’s 0% business loans is
available at
www.carbontrust.co.uk/loans
Business in the Community's (BITC) 2010 Awards for
Excellence
Businesses that can demonstrate
outstanding corporate social responsibility are being called on to
enter Business in the Community's (BITC) 2010 Awards for
Excellence.
Firms can enter any of the 15 main award categories. There is also
a specific category for firms with less than 250 employees
- the Small Company of the Year Award.
Categories include the Talent Award, the Healthy Workplace
Award, the Bank of America Climate Change Award and the Active
Communities Award.
Businesses that can prove their community or environment
programmes have a positive impact will receive a Big Tick, a
nationally recognised logo which they can use on their websites,
marketing materials and letterheads. Between three and
five businesses in each category will then be shortlisted for
the overall awards, the Examples of Excellence.
The closing date for entries is 5th March 2010 for national awards
and 30 March for regional awards. The Examples of Excellence
winners will be announced at a Gala Dinner at Hengrave Hall in
JUne 2010 supported by BAA Stanstead, Adnams and Anglian
Water.
FOr more information and to enter the awards, visit the
BITC
website or contact Jenny Webb at
Jenny.webb@bitc.org.uk
or 01638 663272.
Future Jobs Fund
The Department of Work and Pensions is leading an intiative and
aims to create 150,000 jobs nationally, for the long term
unemployed aged 18-24. The Suffolk partnership has already secured
funding for 200 job opportunities throughout Suffolk which will be
delivered over the next five months.
Over the next 6 weeks, Suffolk County Council are working on a
further bid and will be submitted a proposal for the scheme where
employers can offer job opportunities to young people.
If you are able to offer opportunities within your organisation or
know of any organisations that would be interested, please contact
the Economic Development Team at Suffolk County Council on 01473
264831.
Speed Up Suffolk
Campaign
The high speed
broadband campaign for Suffolk has got off to a flying start thanks
to your amazing support!
Suffolk registrations on the EEDA website - set up to enable
residents and businesses of the East of England to articulate
formally and in detail the need for high speed broadband - has been
one of the highest in the East of England.
However the Suffolk Broadband Partnership is asking for one more
push from the people of Suffolk to register on the EREBUS site to
give Suffolk that distinctive edge over the rest of the
region.
We know that high speed broadband is important in so may ways and
to so many people and organisations so please take five minutes to
register on the EREBUS which canbe found at
http://www.erebusonline.org.uk/
Supply2Gov
The Government's website,
supply2gov, advertises thousands of public sector procurement
opportunities to small and medium sized businesses in the UK.
The fee that was previously charged to search the site will now be
removed providing businesses with better access to public sector
contracts.
For further information please see the
news release from the Department for
Business Innovation & Skills.
www.Visitmildenhall.co.uk
The website above is designed to provide information on a wide
range of issues that are part of Mildenhall. This includes the
History of Mildenhall, places to eat and drink, entertainment,
groups, retail and much more. You can also make good use of the
message board by sharing information and helping to answer others
queries.
The website is also a fantastic location for your business to
advertise it's service/product, to advertise or sumbit any
information please email
info@visitmildenhall.co.uk or contact
Steve Warren with content at;
VisitMildenhall.co.uk c/o FIERYhot
8 High Street
Mildenhall
IP28 7EQ.
Latest help from Business Link East
Through
this tough time for businesses a number of services are
being offered to help your business. These include the
following
- Health Checks
- Free workshops and Seminars
- Funding towards expert help and advice
- Anonymous helpline
For further information please visit
www.businesslinkeast.co.uk/
Western Suffolk Employment Land Review Business
Survey
GVA Grimley are carrying out an online survey
for businesses to assess the land requirements of businesses in the
West of the County (Forest Heath, St Edmundsbury and Mid Suffolk)
as part of the Western Suffolk Employment Land Survey. You can
access the survey by the following link
GVA Grimley Survey
Any information that you can offer would be appreciated.
Business Coffee Mornings-
Newmarket
The Coffee Morning is a very relaxed
and informal way of meeting a few of the local business-men and
-women in Newmarket. You can join the group for a free coffee any
Thursday, at 10 o’clock in the Rutland Arms Hotel in Newmarket High
Street. Each week a different company acts as host, and so anyone
is very welcome to come along for a cup of coffee and a chat - with
no strings attached.
For more information please visit the following website
www.thecoffeemorning.com
Suffolk Chamber's Online Business to Business Trading
Platform
This is an online trading platform that
matches up business opportunities with registered companies.
Visit
http://www.suffolkb2b.co.uk
We cannot guarantee that links to external websites will work all
of the time and we have no control over availability of the linked
pages.