Business support grant

If you run a small business employing up to four people, you could be eligible to apply to the Council for a business support grant. We’ve already awarded over £15,000 to new start-ups and existing businesses, who can sometimes find it difficult to get the funding they need.

 The one-off grants of between £500 and £1,000 aim to help businesses develop and grow by helping to fund:

• new or improved equipment such as machinery, tools or IT equipment
• property improvements
• essential training and support for business growth

Locally-based fashion label, House of Sunny, successfully applied for a grant towards tools to help them market their business. Creative Director, Sunny Williams explains: “As a new start-up, this grant has given us the helping hand we needed. We used the money to develop a high quality look-book of our designs to show to clients and buyers and to help us to better compete with larger fashion houses. It’s helped us to secure new stockists for our lines in Surrey and some of our designs have recently been used in national magazines, on TV and we’ve even been asked to dress a celebrity!”

Entrepreneur Academy and Dragons’ Den

Our Entrepreneur Academy is in full swing, providing budding entrepreneurs with practical advice and skills, as well as the opportunity to win vital funding, to turn their business ideas into reality.

Over the last few months, the entrepreneurs have been learning about a whole range of topics from business planning, finance and legal aspects to marketing and online business promotion. The six monthly sessions, run at East Surrey College, are a mix of trainer-led learning and real life examples from local business people.

Next month, the entrepreneurs will each pitch their business idea to a panel of business experts in a 'Dragons’ Den' style competition for the chance to win £5,000 to help get their business off to a flying start.

Lynne Geary, founder of Monster Moo Studios, which provides craft and cooking classes for children, said of the scheme: “The Entrepreneur Academy has given me a great insight into a wide range of business topics, which has been essential in setting up my business, Monster Moo Studios. It has also provided an excellent opportunity to network with other people at the same stage of setting up a business, enabling us all to share stories, problems and knowledge."

To register your interest now for next year’s Entrepreneur Academy, email businessandcommunityengagement@reigate-banstead.gov.uk. 

Learning Lunches

Run in partnership with ‘Let's Do Business’, our learning at the Town Hall provide an opportunity to hear from informative speakers on a range of interesting business topics and network with local colleagues.

For details of up-coming events and to book your space, visit the Let’s Do Business Group website.

Find out more

For more information about these and our other business initiatives visit the how we can support your business page on our website.