The Council has secured further government funding, which it will use to support local businesses, based in Reigate & Banstead, and which have continued to be severely affected following the easing of national restrictions in July 2021. The value of the funding allocated to the Additional Restrictions Grant scheme is £148,000.

The application will be open to all businesses, although we will prioritise applications from those businesses who missed out on earlier grant schemes.

Businesses that are in administration, insolvent or where a striking-off notice has been made, are not eligible for funding under this scheme.

An application process is in place, and all applicants will need to demonstrate the following:

• Their business is based within the Reigate & Banstead area
• Income has continued to be affected due to Covid since restrictions were eased in July 2021, and that the loss of income or turnover is 50% or more in comparison with pre-Covid years
• Evidence of any property or fixed costs, which must be in the name of the business applying.
• Reigate & Banstead may also take account of the number of employees and the scale and risk of potential job losses, whether businesses have had to close operations and are unable to trade online, and the consequent scale of impact of COVID19 losses.

Have you been inspired by COP26? Book your space for the November Learning Lunch and hear Reigate-based energy expert, Andy Baldock, explain how to calculate your carbon footprint, what you can do to reduce it, why you should, and what help you can get.  Wednesday 17 November, Town Hall, Reigate (12-2pm).

Join the Glide Creative Entrepreneurs Bootcamp to find out more about making a living out of your passion. You may be a creative graduate or are looking for a side hustle.

The glide Bootcamp is a week of free, online specialist workshops designed by creatives for creatives.

December 6-10.

17 November 12.00-14.00
Reigate & Banstead Learning Lunch: How to make your business greener (Reigate Town Hall)

3 November 10.00-12.30
Innovate & Grow with the University of Surrey

3 November 17.00-19.00
RBInspire Mentor-Mentee Connect meeting (Reigate Town Hall)

8 December 17.00-19.00 
RBInspire Mentor-Mentee Connect meeting (Reigate Town Hall)

15 December 12.00-14.00
Reigate & Banstead Learning Lunch: Education & Entrepreneurship (Reigate Town Hall).  

15 & 16 January 10.00-16.00
The Business Hothouse, Dorking: How to start a start up for pre-start and early stage businesses

The Reigate & Banstead Business Awards are back! With nine award categories this year, there are plenty of opportunities for businesses of all sizes and types in the borough to enter. Anyone can enter their business for any number of categories. Applications close on 21 November. The Awards event will take place on 27 January, 2022 at Reigate Manor.

Congratulations to local business owner, Rob Pierre, co-founder and CEO of Jellyfish, who has been named Media Leader of the Year in the Media Week Awards. Rob has grown the business to 2250 employees across 40 global offices.

Judges praised the company's global training initiative for those on furlough, the agency's commitment to DEI, and the strong business results.

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council are delighted to sponsor the 'Young Business Person of the Year Award' at the Gatwick Diamond Business Awards 2022.  Entering awards is a great way to raise the profile of your business. Closing date for entries 19 November.

Community Solar Accelerator offers small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) match funding of up to £25,000 towards solar PV arrays and electric vehicle charging points. The project aims to support the shift towards a low carbon economy in the Coast to Capital region and beyond.

Grants are available at up to 40% of total eligible costs.

International Trade Week will give you the inspiration, advice and confidence to take the next steps to grow your business. Whether your business currently sells goods or services internationally, or is yet to start, whether you are a small business new to exporting to multinational companies looking to expand your horizons.

Government to back a new five-year review to monitor women’s representation on the upper rungs of FTSE companies.

Working locally can help you feel like a part of the local community, as well as give you the chance to spend time doing the things you love locally.

We’ve developed a website that maps out all the local employers and job opportunities in one place, so what are you waiting for?

Visit our Supporting Local Business web pages for the latest business updates.

Information about Council services can be found on our website.

Follow RBBC on our social media channels.

Four projects to help revitalise Horley town centre were given the go-ahead on 17 September by the Council’s Executive. The 'Delivering Change in Horley' programme will deliver a set of four interrelated projects.

Residents and visitors to Redhill are being asked their views on the town centre’s Public Space Protection Order (PSPO). The existing order, now due for review, was issued in 2017. The Council is now running a six-week consultation in which it is asking the public to share views of the Protection Order’s impact over the past three years, as well as consider an extension and/or amendments. 

Great progress is being made on the Council’s new cinema, retail and homes development at Marketfield Way in Redhill despite the coronavirus outbreak. The first stage of works, to get the site ready for the main construction, is now virtually complete.

Residents have named Reigate & Banstead’s 11 new rubbish trucks. Almost 250 people took part and it was a tough decision for the crews to choose their favourites.

Following the reopening of the Waller Studio cinema in July, the Harlequin reopened its Café on 14 September. The Café is under new management and has a fresh look and a brand new menu.

The emergency community response has changed in line with residents’ needs and the easing of lockdown. The food store moved out of the Harlequin Theatre into new premises from where we continue to supply local food banks. Emergency food and prescription deliveries, as well as weekly welfare calls, have been phased out and alternatives put in place for vulnerable residents.

Have your say on a £1.5m project to revamp Merstham Recreation Ground. If you live in Merstham or use Merstham Recreation Ground, we'd like to hear your ideas for improving the park, located between Weldon Way and Albury Road. The consultation runs until 5 October. 

MEL Research is carrying out surveys on our behalf to seek local views to help improve our services. Research includes an online and telephone survey - please spare the time to take part if you are contacted. Anyone who wants to have a say can complete the online survey until Monday 5 October.

The new NHS Covid-19 app launched on 24 September. You’ll get alerts if you’re near someone who has tested positive for the virus and it's the fastest way to see if you’re at risk. The more people use the app - the more we can keep each other safe and stop infection rates rising.

It is with sadness that we announce the passing of Councillor Derek Allcard on Monday 7 September 2020.

Make sure your electoral registration details are up to date in the annual electoral canvass. Changes to the canvass process this year mean that residents may receive an email or text message from us about this for the first time.

Dorothy Ross-Tomlin and Michael Selby officially have been honoured for their long and outstanding service to residents of the borough. They received the title of Honorary Alderwoman and Honorary Alderman, respectively, during the virtual Extraordinary Council Meeting on 24 September.

The Redhill Public Space Protection Order (PSPO), which regulates anti-social behaviour in the town centre, has been approved for a further three years following a review of feedback from residents, businesses, and local community groups. Look out for new and improved PSPO signage being introduced in the town centre.

Do you have experience in software development and technical ICT? We are seeking a full time Business Improvements Analyst, who has excellent analytical and problem-solving skills to help deliver our ICT and Digital Strategy. Closing date 4 November. Keep up to date with current vacancies and find out about working at RBBC.

The Council is working hard to help tackle food poverty in the borough. Last week, children and young adults up to 19 ate for free at The Harlequin Theatre. Plus, three local Food Clubs – in Woodhatch, Horley and Merstham – are aiming to be set up ahead of Christmas, using FareShare’s community food membership scheme. 

They are back! After a year on hiatus due to the pandemic, our annual celebration of the best business our borough has to offer is set to return on Thursday, 27 January 2022.

The awards ceremony will be hosted by Gadget Show presenter Ortis Deley at Reigate Manor, with a wide range of the borough’s businesspeople in attendance, giving guests the perfect opportunity to network with peers and enjoy a night out with their colleagues.

Our Headline Sponsors are Morrisons Solicitors, a leading firm of solicitors with offices in Surrey, Hampshire and South West London.Entries for the awards will open from Monday, 4 October; make sure you get the dates in the diary! 

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council have launched  a new Business Growth Grant scheme which will provide business grants of up to £10,000.

The Grant will support local small businesses who can demonstrate growth and are looking for support to take their business to the next level.

The grant will be for small businesses of up to 49 employees.  The grant will be a ‘one off’ award to help a small business grow by enabling them to recruit new staff, invest in new plant or premises, or gain new accredited skills.

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council has been awarded £132,264 from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as part of their £56 million Welcome Back Fund.

The Funding will help councils prepare for the safe return of shoppers and tourists and can be used to:

• boost the look and feel of their high streets by investing in street planting, parks, green spaces and seating areas to make high streets as beautiful and welcoming as possible.
• Run publicity campaigns and prepare to hold events like street markets and festivals to support local businesses.
• Install signage and floor markings to encourage social distancing and safety.
• Improve high streets and town centres by planting flowers or removing graffiti.

Keep an eye on our website and social media channels to see how our town centres will benefit from this allocation.

The second issue of the quarterly Redhill Marketfield Way development newsletter is out now with an update on project progress to deliver a new cinema, commercial units and new homes, along with what’s coming up next and a chance to ‘meet’ the VINCI project team. 

You can also keep up to date by following VINCI’s dedicated project Twitter feed www.twitter.com/marketfieldway 

The Government is expected to confirm on Monday whether or not the country will be moving into Step 4 of the Government’s roadmap from Monday 19 July. This change could mean the end of social distancing and limit restrictions on businesses.

Keep an eye on the Government’s website and its Working safely during Coronavirus guidance for updates.

There is a new business newsletter from trading standards,  Sign up to Trading Standards “Business Bites” a free digital publication that brings local businesses the latest business information and advice once a month.

If you are a solo, micro business or small business owner who are pre-start-up, start-up or looking to grow to the next level – you can book to come to one of our events. You get to choose the topics you wish to discuss with a mentor and will be matched with a mentor accordingly for a 20-minute meeting. You can have as many mentor meetings as you wish during the 5pm – 8pm timeframe.

To be added to their mailing list to keep informed here.

There is a great team of mentors in place, but rbinspire is very happy to hear from experienced business owners with specific skill sets they feel they could contribute. Interested Mentors can contact Alastair on alastair@rbinspire.net

It has been very exciting to see our Marketfield Way development project in Redhill reaching new heights over the summer so far.

The third issue of our project newsletter is out now, with an update on progress, what’s coming up next, and a chance to hear what we are doing to boost local employment and procurement opportunities.

You can also keep up to date by following VINCI’s dedicated project Twitter feed www.twitter.com/marketfieldway  

14 Sept 10.00 – 12.00 Grants for Growth – Applying for Invest4 Funding - This webinar is to help business to understand Invest4 Grant Fund criteria and process.  After the webinar we also offer a 1-2-1 follow up, where we can discuss specific project and offer guidance on the applications.  Book your space.

Grant application writing workshop – Invest4 Funding.  Remote workshop to discuss where to start with the Invest4 grant application, what the fund is looking for, how to word the answers on the application, most common mistakes when writing the application. All attendees will be given a workbook and offered a 121 to review their application.

Day 1 – 21 Sept 10.00 – 13.00 - Grant application writing workshop – Invest4 Funding - Day 1 of 2 Tickets, Tue 21 Sep 2021 at 10:00 | Eventbrite

Day 2 – 28 Sept 10.00 – 13.00 - Grant application writing workshop – Invest4 Funding - Day 2 of 2 Tickets, Tue 28 Sep 2021 at 10:00 | Eventbrite

30 Sept 10.00 – 14.00 Business Planning (How to Write a Business Plan) webinar. Learn to write a realistic business plan with a clear strategy.  All attendees will be given a workbook and offered a 121 to review their business plan. Book now 

Planning, Managing & Growing My Business – Webinar – The Business Hothouse

This course will be delivered over 3 days, in 4-hour sessions: 26 Oct, 10.00 – 14.00, 2 Nov, 10.00 – 14.00, 9 Nov, 10.00 – 14.00 Book your space

Redhill:

• The Plan Group Ltd win The Best Insurance Employer - Small/Medium at the Insurance Post Awards
• Holly Chantler, Morrisons Solicitors wins the award 'Private Client Lawyer of the Year' and 'Lawyer of the year' at the Surrey Law Society Awards 2021
• SES Water rolls out water saving visits in schools repairing hundreds of hidden leaks for free In the past year SES Water has repaired 360 leaks in 89 schools across its supply area, helping to save nearly 320,000 litres of water per day
• Kokoro has opened 34 Station Road Redhill
• e-FOLDi wins Naidex Innovation of the Year’ award for the ‘Lite’ folding travel scooter.

Reigate:

• Just Group win Best Annuity Service at the Moneyfacts Life & Pension Awards 2021 
• esure continued their partnership with Stripy Stork and delivered 131 school bags and 15 boxes of supplies for their bags4school campaign.
• Crumbs Brewing wins great taste award from the Guild of Fine foods for Bloomin' Amber and Rye Ruby
• Entrepreneur Academy winner My Vegan Dulcedeleche wins great taste award from the Guild of Fine foods for My Crazy Fudge (Vanilla)

Horley 

• Double Award win (joint) for SGN at UK Society for Trenchless Technology (UKSTT) Awards 2021 

Gatwick Airport is asking for comments on their proposed major infrastructure project for the Northern Runway. Their consultation runs until 1 December and you can also discuss the proposals when their Mobile Project Office visits our borough.

The Council will respond formally after we’ve reviewed all the information and we encourage everyone to have their say.

Surrey County Council is asking for feedback about a proposed new Gypsy, Roma and Traveller transit site in Tandridge. The site would be the first in Surrey and is close to the eastern side of our borough next to Tandridge district, near Merstham. Along with other districts and boroughs, we are also involved in this Surrey-wide project aiming to reduce the impact of unauthorised encampments on our residents and green spaces. You will be able to give views until the consultation's closing date on 8 October.

Take your business to the next level with Help to Grow. Two government backed programmes designed to help you learn new skills, reach more customers and boost your profits.

Help to grow Management

A 12 week-programme delivered by leading business schools across the UK and accredited by the Small Business Charter. The programme combines a practical curriculum, with 1:1 support from a business mentor, peer-learning sessions and an alumni network.

Designed to be manageable alongside full-time work, this programme will support you to develop your strategic skills with key modules covering financial management, innovation and digital adoption. By the end of the programme you will develop a tailored business growth plan to lead your business to its full potential.

30,000 places will be available over 3 years. The programme is 90% subsidised by government – costing only £750.

Help to grow Digital

Free impartial advice on how technology can boost your business, delivered through a new online platform launching this Autumn.

You can also claim a discount of up to 50% on the costs of approved software, worth up to £5,000. Vouchers are initially expected to be available for software that helps businesses:

build customer relationships and increase sales make the most of selling online manage accounts and finances digitally

This consultation contains proposals to reform flexible working regulations (The Flexible Working Regulations 2014).

It also covers the wider work being undertaken by the government to encourage and support flexible working, and responds to relevant proposals from the July 2019 Good Work Plan: Proposals to support families consultation.

Flexible working can be particularly valuable for those who need to balance their personal lives with their working lives, including those with caring responsibilities. It can also bring benefits to employers – attracting more applicants and increasing productivity and motivation levels among staff.