North Kesteven The place to invest The place to grow
Do you own, run or manage a business in North Kesteven? Whether you’re a sole trader, an SME or something bigger, we want to hear from you.
As part of our ongoing work to better support our local enterprises we want to understand your thoughts, views and aspirations about tackling climate change within your business.
Your responses will help us to shape the support we offer in this field, and to tailor our programmes to your needs.
Complete the survey online here.
There’s so much happening in Sleaford this Christmas with an array of activities and events taking place on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 November and throughout December.
There’s music, the Christmas lights switch on, a packed programme of creativity at the Hub, special events and activities arranged by enthusiastic traders – notably at Millstream Square and Bristol Arcade – and loads more besides.
Collect a leaflet with all the key events and activities from a number of shops, cafes and venues in Sleaford. You can also view the listings on www.heartoflincs.com
On 21 September the Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg announced new support for households, businesses and public sector organisations facing rising energy bills in Great Britain.
Through the new Energy Bill Relief Scheme, the government will provide a discount on wholesale gas and electricity prices for all non-domestic customers (including all UK businesses, the voluntary sector like charities and the public sector such as schools and hospitals) whose current gas and electricity prices have been significantly inflated in light of global energy prices. This support will be equivalent to the Energy Price Guarantee put in place for households.
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme will apply to fixed contracts agreed on or after 1 April 2022, as well as to deemed, variable and flexible tariffs and contracts. It will apply to energy usage from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023, running for an initial 6-month period. Further information is available here.
Visit Lincolnshire and Business Lincolnshire are running the Hospitable Boost programme for businesses across Greater Lincolnshire and Rutland once again in October.
The programme will be delivered over a 7-week period, with a combination of group sessions and one-to-one support to provide a flexible schedule for business owners.
This fully funded bespoke programme will be delivered by specialist consultancy firm CDI Alliance, offering you the chance to join like-minded business people from the hospitality and tourism sector.
Visit Lincolnshire and Business Lincolnshire are running a series of ‘Tell me more’ events throughout September, providing more information on what the programme entails, as well as guidance on eligibility and how to apply. These will run between 10:30 – 11:00 on:
To sign-up to these sessions, click here.
The Hospitable Boost programme will commence on Tuesday October 18th. Businesses can register their interest here.
YMCA Lincolnshire’s Age-friendly Business Award scheme recognises local businesses who foster a positive approach to ageing.
The award is open to businesses and services in Lincolnshire who have been operating for more than 6 months and who meet the set criteria in the following categories:
Over 50s make up a significant proportion of the population and
are an important part of our economy with 23% of Lincolnshire
residents aged over 65.
Age-friendly Business status also speaks volumes when
attracting customers visiting the area. A report by the Greater
Lincolnshire LEP revealed that the highest proportion of visitors
were age 55 – 64 years.
To become an Age-friendlly business please register your interest with the Community Development Officer or contact the team on 01529 301966 or by emailing Grace Tompkins.
For more information view the leaflet here.
There is an escalating issue regarding the theft of waste cooking oil from the hospitality and catering industry across the UK.
Commercial operators cannot pour their waste oils down the sink. Instead they must collect their waste cooking oil and pass it to a registered waste carrier, who will pay approx. 25p/litre for it. It is this storage and collection that
is being targeted by criminals. More information can be found on this EA Waste Cooking Oil Bulletin from the Environment Agency.
The Environment Agency is interested in details of:
If you have any intelligence, please email the National Intelligence Team, with the reference ‘WASTE COOKING OIL’:
Following a major £1.2m capital refurbishment in 2021, the Hub has some inspiring creative spaces and facilities that can be hired by individuals, businesses, schools, community groups, clubs, and charitable organisations.
The Hub, provides an ideal venue suitable for a series of bookings, from meetings and workshop space to training and away days. For more information on the hiring pack please click here.
Devolution is the transfer of powers and funding from national government to local places, meaning decisions are made closer to the people, communities and businesses which are affected.
Councils across Lincolnshire are developing proposals for devolution and want to start a conversation with businesses to explore whether devolution is right for our area. The Greater Lincolnshire LEP are leading on the business discussion ahead of submitting a deal to government at the end of this year.
The LEP wish to seek views from the business community, as a devolution deal for Lincolnshire could be important to the business community. To share your views please complete the survey on devolution Lincolnshire here, your business opinion will influence and shape the next steps. Further information is available here.
We’re pleased to have been allocated £3.1 million from the £2.6 billion UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Our communities care deeply about where they live, and so it will be exciting to see what can be achieved through this.
From the prospectus issued so far, we know that the Shared Prosperity Fund will empower places to build on their strengths and needs in order to boost living standards and health, employment opportunity and skills, overall community wellbeing and above all a sense of belonging and pride in place. It also aligns with the Government’s Levelling Up agenda.
We expect to submit a plan in summer for consideration by Government featuring local and stakeholder input, which if approved will enable us to draw down the allocated funds.
Further information and updates on the UKSPF will be shared on the Business NK website and our social media channels.
Nominations are now open for Destination Lincolnshire’s tourism awards, an opportunity for businesses to gain recognition across Greater Lincolnshire.
Heart of Lincs is sponsoring the pub of the year award and want to recognise pubs that make a significant contribution to tourism in their local area. The awards include fifteen categories ranging from resilience and innovation to ethical, responsible and sustainable tourism.
For more information and to make a nomination visit the Destination Lincolnshire Tourism Excellence Awards website.
Additionally, North Kesteven District Council runs its own awards programme – the NK Community Champion Awards – that celebrates voluntary community-minded contributions that make a real difference in the lives of individuals, groups and entire communities.
There’s a specific Community Business category which champions businesses that give freely of their time, effort, materials and resources in support of community endeavour or which operate in a charitable or community-focused way and achieve social value that goes beyond the bottom-line.
If you run or know of a business that you think should be nominated for a ‘thank you’, please put in a nomination at www.nkawards.org before September 9. There’s also still scope for a couple of new business sponsors to join in the celebration. Drop a line to [email protected] for more information. The participation and generosity of our businesses are critical to the awards’ success and sincerity.