Congratulations to the Entrepreneur Academy class of 2023/24
Huge congratulations go to Dani from Dani Declutters who was named overall winner in the Entrepreneur Academy 2023/24 Dragons' Den and to Matt Trudel from Truerr was also picked out by the judges for a share of the £5k prize. Congratulations also go to Will Sawney from Think Sideways Marketing and Andrea Aguirre from Cuyen Yoga who were both highly commended by the judges and won £1k each in Business Support Grants.
Meeting the dragons and pitching their businesses was the culmination of a free, 6-month entrepreneurship support programme from Reigate & Banstead Borough Council in Partnership with East Surrey College.
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£1,000 Business Support Grants are back!
After a brief pause, the ever popular Business Support Grants are back. The business support grant of up to £1,000 is available to businesses wishing to start, develop or grow.
If you live in the borough or your business is based in the borough and has fewer than four employees, you could be eligible. Grants can be used to help fund new or improved equipment like machinery or tools through to IT and training. Simply fill in the online application, send us your supporting documents and, if you meet the criteria, you will be invited in for an interview to discuss your business ideas. The interview will take about 20 minutes.
Please note, if you are successful and awarded a grant, you may be asked to prove spend. If you cannot confirm agreed spend of the grant this may result in the funds being claimed back.
Apply for a business support grant
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What the hell do I say?
Learning Lunch 16 May 12.00-13.30
Do you struggle to think of new content ideas to help promote your business? Join marketing expert Nicola Macdonald from Attractive Marketing at May's Learning Lunch where you will learn about some great content ideas for when your mind goes blank! At the end of the session, you should go away with at least 12 new topic ideas for the year ahead. We look forward to welcoming you along.
Book you space
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Peer 25 Leadership Programme
Peer 25 is a peer-to-peer business growth programme for local business leaders. This fully-funded, practical and innovative leadership and management programme will be delivered through peer learning to ambitious businesses in the area.
There are just 25 places on the programme.
How will you benefit as a business leader?
This 12 month programme for ambitious business leaders is being delivered in partnership with MDHUB, a leading peer-to-peer business growth network, and will provide:
- Regular and confidential peer support from a network of like-minded business leaders to learn from, share knowledge, ideas and experience
- Personal one-to-one leadership development and training from experienced professionals
- Practical ways of unlocking barriers to growth
- New ideas and takeaways to implement in your business
- Access to an infrastructure that supports your innovation and growth
Find out more
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Local business networking events
Wednesday 8 May 17.45-20.00 RBinspire Town Hall, Reigate Book now
Thursday 16 May 12.00-14.00 Learning Lunch Town Hall, Reigate - What the hell do I say? Join marketing expert, Nicola Macdonald from Attractive Marketing, as she explores how to generate great content ideas when you mind goes blank. Book now.
Tuesday 21 May 19.00-21.00 RH Networking Merstham Cricket Club Book now
Thursday 23 May 17.30-19.30 Redhill Business Guild, Harlequin Pop-up, The Belfry Book now
Thursday 27 June 12.00-14.00 Learning Lunch Town Hall, Reigate - How to become a more effective leader and manage yourself! Mary Asante, Maysante Book Now
Tuesday 16 July 19.00-21.00 RH Networking Merstham Cricket Club Book now
Thursday 25 July 12.00-14.00 Learning Lunch Town Hall, Reigate - The Art of Negotiation with Joe Cheal Book Now
Thursday 26 Sept 12.00-14.00 Learning Lunch Town Hall, Reigate - How to improve your presentations and engage your audience, with Anna Randall from The Speaker’s Coach Book now.
Thursday 26 Sept 18.30-21.30 RH Networking special, Reigate Manor Book now
Thursday 28 November 12.00-14.00 Learning Lunch Town Hall, Reigate - Cyber security: How to protect your business, with Bill Edwards from nTrust systems Book now.
Thursday 12 December 12.00-14.00 Learning Lunch Town Hall, Reigate - Festive get together Book now.
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Business Employment Growth & Skills Grant
The Business Employment Growth and Skills Grant has been created to support local small businesses who are looking to expand, enter new markets, become more environmentally sustainable, increase their efficiency or capacity, and follow their growth trajectory.
It is for small businesses of up to 49 employees who can demonstrate real growth.
The award is a ‘one off’ grant, intended to help small businesses grow by enabling them to gain new accredited skills or invest in new plant or premises that would lead to the recruitment of new staff, including apprentices. We will also look favourably on applications that reduce the environmental impact of your business and/ or your products.
The Council has allocated £100,000 to this initiative with individual awards available of up to £5,000 per business.
Find out more and apply
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M25 Closure, second date announced
Friday 10 May to Monday 13 May
From 9pm Friday 10 May to 6am Monday 13 May, there will be a full closure of the M25 in both directions between Junction 9 (Leatherhead) and Junction 10 (Wisley) to carry out the installation of a bridge and gantry.
Long distance and local diversions will be in place. Drivers should look to re-route or re-time their journeys or use other forms of transport.
You should only drive through this area during this closure if your journey is essential as we expect there will be long delays during this time.
This is the second of several closures of the M25 and A3 to be undertaken during 2024. Future closure dates are subject to change and the third one will be announced as soon as possible following completion of the works on Monday 13 May 2024.
Find out more
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Accelerate to Net Zero 2024: UK & Europe
If you are a larger business that will need to comply with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (i.e., you satisfy two out of the following criteria: 250+ employees during reporting year; >€40m net turnover; >€20m total assets), the Carbon Trust's Accelerate to Net Zero virtual event on the morning of 22 May will be useful to you. Further details can be found here:
Find out more
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Feedback required on recruiting and training staff locally
Revealing Reality, an independent research agency, are doing some research with Surrey County Council to understand more about employers’ experiences and challenges of recruiting and retaining staff, including from diverse cohorts.
Your perspective will help Surrey County Council to better understand how to support employers. If you are interested in sharing your perspective for the research in a short interview, please sign up through this link:
Sign up
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