|
Introduction by Winchester’s portfolio holder for economy and
tourism, Cllr Dominic Hiscock
Welcome to the twelfth edition of The Winchester Entrepreneur, the
e-newsletter for businesses from Winchester City Council.
Do let us know if there are other stories you would like us to cover,
so that we can make this magazine useful to you, our local business
community.
Best wishes,
Cllr Dominic Hiscock
Portfolio Holder for Economic Prosperity, Winchester City
Council
Winchester City Council Celebrates a Successful year of
Economic Development
- The Fieldfare LEADER funding scheme has gone from strength to
strength during 2009/10. Over £300,000 has been allocated to rural
projects to help the economy and support local communities to
thrive. Funding has included an apple juice bottling machine which
is now used to supply Hampshire schools, outdoor catering equipment, and
an air source heat pump for a village hall.
- The Alresford Putting Pedestrians First scheme was launched in
October 2009. A new long stay car park has been built at Perins
School, and a new footpath linking the residential area to the south of
the school with the town centre. This has helped to free up town
centre car parking spaces for visitors and shoppers with cash to spend,
and help to maintain a pleasant environment for pedestrians, rather than
cars.
- A village shop grant scheme was introduced in March 2009 as part of
the Council's recession busting activities. Cheriton Village
Stores received cash for new shelving and refrigeration units, and
funding has also been given to a new Sunstar store in Alresford, Lotts
Village Stores in Hambledon and Springvale Stores in
Kingsworthy. All of this grant funding has helped to make our
village shops sustainable enterprises providing a valuable service to
the communities in which they are based.
- A business start up grant scheme was also introduced to combat the
recession. Recipients include the Sweet Treat Company, UBU Design,
Cocoa Bebe and the Burge Agency. The funding has helped these
businesses set up their offices bases, improve their marketing campaigns
and bring new products to market.
Hampshire Hospitality Awards
Winchester City Council is
looking for restaurants, tea rooms, pubs, cafés and fast food restaurants
throughout the Winchester District to take part in the Hampshire
Hospitality Award assessment scheme.
In 2009 a total of 75 businesses
in Hampshire received quality marks with 28 of these spread across the
Winchester District. The awards are supported and part-funded by the
Hampshire Tourism Partnership. Click here for the list of 2009 award
winners.
We are now looking to open up the scheme to
even more businesses, particularly in the rural parts of our district. If
you would like to take part please contact Alison Woods, Tourist
Information Centre manager, on 01962 848 347. Participation is subject to
businesses having an excellent or satisfactory scoring on the safe2eat
website - www.safe2eat.com/Winchester
WinACC
Update
Low Carbon Tips
- Rail is a civilised, relaxing (and largely volcano-proof) way to
travel to European destinations. And since trains produce up to 90% less
carbon than planes, holidaying by rail is one of the best things you can
do to cut your emissions. If planning the trip feels daunting, why not
test this new online journey
planner.
- The WinACC website now offers the facility to arrange lift-share to
your local events – see the WinACC car pooling page.
Congratulations to…
- WinACC Member Marwell Wildlife, which has won the Green Innovation
Award at the 2010 Winchester Business Excellence Awards
- LSLCo Ltd, another WinACC member, which was among the other three
shortlisted nominations for the Green Innovation Award
- Winchester Students' Union has won this year's Ecologist
Communications Challenge Award. The full report is
available to view along with the winning video.
News for businesses
To help organisations sign
the Winchester Declaration and cut their carbon footprint by 20% by the
end of 2012, WinACC's Richard Boothman offers one-to-one or group support
to help organisations to understand how to calculate their carbon
footprint and then to decide the priority actions they can take to reduce
their impact. He also arranges events for businesses and other
organisations in the district including:
- an afternoon visit on 17 May to Marwell Wildlife to see the
work they have done to reduce their carbon footprint (in conjunction
with WinACC's organisational forum).
- 17 June at Winchester Guildhall: travel and transport issues,
with an exhibition for invited guests to meet local providers of travel
planning advice, and products and services that can reduce the impact of
travel and transport (in conjunction with the Sustainable Business
Network in Winchester).
If your organisation would like to get staff more involved in cutting
your carbon footprint, WinACC can provide workshops subsidised by the
Winchester District Strategic Partnership. Priority goes to large public
sector organisations which have a climate change plan and need their staff
to get behind it, but others welcome too. More from james.martin-jones@winacc.org.uk
2010 Opportunities for
the Tourism Sector
Don’t miss out on opportunities
from the London Olympic and Paralympic Games. The latest newsletter
from VisitBritain
announces a new website dedicated to helping tourism businesses make the
most of 2012, so follow the link below and explore it today.
If you work in tourism and want
to know more about the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Tourism2012Games.org
is the website for you.
You’ll find information
about how the UK is preparing to host the biggest event in the world and
how your business can make the most of the Games - including how to make
your business more accessible and brand protection guidelines to help you
understand what you can (and can’t) say about the Games in your marketing
materials. And don’t forget to sign up to the Tourism2012Games free
e-newsletter to keep up to date as the Games draw
near!
Spring clean your
business for the Recovery
With spring upon
us, it’s an ideal time for a spring clean – and not just at home. All
businesses need to keep up to date with trends and technology in order to
attract customers and increase sales; and will benefit from stepping back
and taking a fresh look at business operations.
Business
Link, the free business advice and support service, offers businesses of
all sizes and sectors a free business review ‘health check’ to spot areas
for improvement and opportunities for development. Businesses can start
with an online check www.businesslink.gov.uk/southeast/healthcheck
which can be followed up with an in-depth, review meeting with a local
Business Link Adviser.
Business Link’s Deborah Wyatt said,
‘It is so important for businesses to identify areas for improvement and
development. Even when you are very busy running a business day-to-day,
you do need to look ahead, and this is where an impartial assessment by
someone outside the business can be very helpful.’
Deborah
explains how ‘spring cleaning’ a business will help it maintain health,
and retain a strong position to prepare your business for the
recovery.
Put aside old ways of
thinking
Businesses should revisit their business plans
regularly to check whether their offering still meets the needs of the
marketplace.
Brushing up
Most
businesses will be required to comply with some form of legislation, so
it’s worth keeping up-to-date with changes. Visit: www.businesslink.gov.uk/regulationupdates
De-clutter
Many businesses could save
time and money by making processes leaner and more effective.
Clean and polish
For any business to
continue to offer a high quality service, it is essential to know how
customers perceive it – and act on any feedback received.
Go
to Business Link www.businesslink.gov.uk/healthcheck
to find out how a free Health Check could help you to review the health of
your business and identify opportunities for future growth or
call the customer services team on 0845 600 9 006.
|
|
|
Homecoming
Parade
