Give your business a boost, with expert support in Marketing, HR and Sales. Your Business Boost is an eight week programme, designed to help those in Retail, Hospitality and Leisure, achieve their business ambitions.

The next two cohorts are now open and expressions of interest are encouraged. More information can be found by visiting Business Lincolnshire’s website.

This year, Discover Lincolnshire Weekend will be taking place on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 March. Make the most of the weekend, designed to showcase all that Lincolnshire has to offer.

All Lincolnshire attractions, retailers or food and drink establishments are encouraged to either offer free entry for the weekend or produce a special offer or discount.

Get involved and you’ll benefit from increased footfall, a stronger online presence and you could benefit from media coverage too. Email Visit Lincoln with details of what you have planned, or view the Discover Lincolnshire Weekend 2024 Flyer for more information on how to get involved.

A toolkit has also been made available, allowing businesses to access graphics and images in order to promote their offering; view the toolkit here.

The latest Maybe* webinar will be taking place on 20^th Feb, at 11am. There was a great turnout for January’s webinar, and we hope to see even more attend this month, with the opportunity to learn best practice for social media marketing and how to access the free support worth £950!

Through Maybe*, businesses can access training videos, live daily training sessions and hundreds of articles, including everything from where to get started with social media, through to advanced strategies.

Register for the free webinar. This offer of free digital skills training and tools has been secured by North Kesteven District Council through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

If your property was flooded between 2 January 2024 and 12 January 2024 as a direct result of Storm Henk you may be eligible for some flood support.

Eligible Commercial properties are where:

• The property was directly impacted by the relevant weather event – for instance flood damage to the property, equipment, and/or stock; or the business could not function due to a lack of access to premises, equipment and/or stock as a result of the recent weather events, and the flooding seriously impacted the businesses’ ability to trade from the property.
• This is subject to the UK subsidy control regime and is only available to properties with a rateable value of less than £10 million.
• Empty properties are not eligible.
• You can complete out non-domestic online form to request this support.

You must provide evidence of the flooding – this may include photographs and a copy of your insurance claim. Apply for support for a commercial property, support for a domestic dwelling and details can be found on the same page.

A local business is using the Council’s subsidised access to Zellar, to help them with their target of being carbon neutral by 2025.

Zellar has helped UK Alternative Energy to build an achievable plan to work towards. The business plans to send their sustainability report to support their application for upcoming business awards, where positive sustainability actions are becoming more widely respected.

Read the full case study to discover how your business might benefit.

North Kesteven businesses – claim your free access to Zellar and discover the many benefits of cutting back on your emissions.

The latest Entrepreneurs Connect event is the ‘Financial Mastery for Entrepreneurs: Navigating the Numbers for Success’. This event aims to showcase the crucial role of financial forecasting in driving business growth, attracting investment and securing the future of your start-up or scale-up.

The session will see a series of experienced entrepreneurs as guest speakers, building on insightful discussions and building on business success.

Save the date: January 25th, 12pm to 3pm.

Please email [email protected] to register your interest and visit the Entrepreneurs Connect webpage for more information.

Taking effect from 31 January, there will be new import checks on products from EU, EEC, and European Free Trade Area countries, which will apply to all small importers and import agents.

The Border Target Operating Model sets out the new approach to Safety and Security controls (applying to all imports), and Sanitary and Phytosanitary controls (applying to imports of live animals, germinal products, animal products, plants and plant products) at the border. It sets out how controls will be delivered through simplification, digitisation and the UK’s new Single Trade Window.

For Safety and Security controls, the new model will minimise trader burdens and maintain border security while remaining aligned with international standards.

For more information on the new model, you can view the full guidance by visiting www.gov.uk.

Businesses in the visitor economy, food and drink sector, manufacturing sector, and other select categories, are all encouraged to apply to the Rural Business Grant.

The grant supports businesses to develop new products & facilities, that will be of wider benefit to the local economy.

Grants are available from a minimum of £5,000 and all projects will have until March 2025 to complete the actual works.

For more information on eligibility and to apply, please visit: https://www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/ruralbusinessgrant

If you’re unsure if you would be eligible, or for any other queries please do not hesitate to contact us, by emailing [email protected].