Taking place on March 22 and 23, Discover Lincolnshire Weekend aims to shine a light on everything our county has to offer. It’s open to all attractions and businesses to get involved.

Businesses and attractions are invited to get involved and are encouraged to offer an incentive to visitors, such as a special offer or exclusive discount.

By participating in the campaign with an offer or discount, businesses can benefit from increased footfall, online presence, social media activity and possibly media coverage.

Submit your offer here.

The law is changing in England which will require you or your workplace to recycle a core set of recyclable materials. These changes will take place at different times, depending on the number of full time equivalent (FTE)  employees:

• By 31 March 2025 – if you have 10 or more full-time equivalent (FTE) employees.
• By 31 March 2027 – if you have fewer than 10 FTE employees in total across all of your premises.

The following materials will need to be recycled:

• Food waste
• Paper and card
• Plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays, and cartons
• Metal tins and cans, foil and empty aerosols
• Glass bottles and jars
• Plastic films (from 2027)

All workplaces need to act, including:

• Businesses
• Care homes
• Educational establishments
• Healthcare establishments
• Places of worship
• Penal institutes
• Charity shops
• Residential hostels
• Premises used for public meetings

This is a legal requirement and ignoring the changes could result in compliance action being taken against your business.

Businesses should peak to their waste collector to check if current services meet the requirements or if changes are needed, tell your staff about any new processes and how to recycle correctly. This might include signage on bins. Decide how frequently your recycling and food waste collections should be based on the amount of waste you produce.

For more detail on the actions you need to take, you should check the guidance or visit Recycling of Business for useful toolkits and support with waste management.

Make the most of Small Business Saturday this year, see the suggestions below to gain further exposure ahead of 7 December:

• Add your business to the Small Business Finder
• Download logos, posters and other materials from the Small Business Saturday website.
• Upload your business to our Shop Local business directory on Business NK.
• Promote a special offer or discount ahead of Small Business Saturday.
• We want to shine a spotlight on small businesses across North Kesteven! Email us if interested!

Two courses are available to support with developing practical skills for you, your colleagues or your staff.

The Skills Bootcamp

The Skills Bootcamp in Data Analytics will provide you with the ability to extract actionable insights from marketing data, helping you to drive effective marketing strategies. The course is free if you meet certain eligibility criteria. See more information here.

Skills 365

Explore Skills 365 for their online training courses, ranging from beginners level, through to advanced level. Only taking a few hours at a time, you’ll come away equipped with the knowledge to confidently use Excel, PowerPoints and other essential software. View the online courses.

If you’re a tradesperson involved in repair, maintenance, or home improvement, support is available, offering valuable guidance on identifying and managing risks.

View the document blow to discover key links to health and safety information, as well as a toolkit designed specifically for contractors.

CONIAC Guidance – Low Carbon Homes Improvements

We saw at the Green Business event, and we see it every day in our high streets, trading estates and places where our businesses do business, that there really are some excellent enterprises in North Kesteven which care deeply about the environment and are committed to doing everything they can to contribute positively to Climate Action and build a Green Economy.

On November 27 we have the NK Community Champion Awards and through self-nomination, the nomination of others and sponsorship opportunities, these are a further way to showcase the amazing things happening within our communities that contribute to the richness of life in North Kesteven.

Whether as a community-focused business that gives generously of its time and resources to support others in the community, clubs or charities; through broad expression of community spirit; as a good neighbour or a young achiever; through longstanding commitment to a single initiative; or by contributing to climate action, health & wellbeing, a better environment, arts & culture or sport – we want to champion those individuals, groups, schools, organisation or businesses that make North Kesteven such a nice place to live.

It’s quick and easy at www.NKawards.org and doesn’t involve much more that heartfelt appreciation for whatever they do across any of the ten categories to improve live locally within North Kesteven. Deadline for nominations is noon on September 23. Nominate yourself if you think you deserve it or ask your customers too.

Already signed up as award sponsors are Lindum Group, Branston Ltd, the Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant, the Hub, GLL/Better our leisure partner, Ian Williams one of our housing repair partners and Lafford Homes – and there’s still room for other community-minded businesses like yours to join the party by emailing [email protected]

Small businesses can now benefit from a free online course launched by The Department for Business and Trade.

The Help to Grow: Management Essentials course offers practical tips and resources for small business leaders. This is the latest addition to the ‘Help to Grow’ toolkit, supporting UK small and medium sized enterprises.

Get started with the free support today.

The course consists of bite-sized videos and supporting resources, helping you to think more strategically about your business, your target market and your go-to-market strategy.