Eloise Appleby
Assistant Director (Economic Prosperity)

Rural Economy Grant (REG)

The £60 million Rural Economy Grant has been established in response to the findings of Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs’ Rural Economy Growth Review (launched in November 2011), which; through consultation and an in-depth analysis of a broad range of research, identified large grants (of £25,000 up to circa £1 million) are needed in key business sectors to unlock significant rural economic growth potential.

Project applications will need to demonstrate, that as a result of a grant, their business will achieve a significant improvement in performance (such as job creation, increased turnover, access to new markets etc).

For further information visit http://rdpenetwork.defra.gov.uk/funding-sources/rural-economy-grant

Incentive to create new jobs for 16 to 24 year olds gives £1,500 to eligible employers

Employers of small businesses are entitled to a new grant of £1,500 for employing their first apprentice aged 16 to 24 from April 2012. The Apprenticeship Grant for Employers has been launched by the government as an incentive to small businesses to create new jobs for young people.
 
The grant is available to any business that:

• employs less than 250 people
• can commit to employing between one and three apprentices for the time it takes to complete their apprenticeship programme, with the intention to continue employment on completion
• employs a new apprentice aged between 16 and 24 at the start of their apprenticeship has not employed an apprentice before, or within the last three years.

Apprenticeships can be an excellent way to develop the skills and knowledge for any member of staff who has not qualified for a degree equivalent qualification, at any age or any stage of their career.
 
For more information please contact the Sparsholt and Andover College Apprenticeships Team on 0845 850 0916 or email business@sparsholt.ac.uk

Hampshire Business Network

A new website has been launched with the aim of bringing small and entrepreneurial business across Hampshire together. The Hampshire Business Network main goals are to provide small and medium business news, resources and information on other business, updates on business activities across Hampshire and news on up-coming business events across the county.

Members of the Hampshire Business Network will receive monthly newsletters updating them on related business news in their area. Members also get access to free online and offline promotion for their business. In addition, they will receive information on up-coming events from across the whole of Hampshire, giving businesses a chance to network and create strong and effective partnerships. Members also receive discounts for excessive Hampshire Business Network events.

The Hampshire Business Network is open to all small and medium businesses to join. For more information and to sign up to the Hampshire Business Network visit the website at www.hampshirebusinessnetwork.co.uk

Export event for Andover

United Kingdom Trade and Investment (UKTI) will be holding a free lunchtime seminar on Wednesday 2 May 2012 at The Lights, Andover for businesses thinking of entering the export market or developing their export role.

The seminar by UKTI, part of the Foreign Office, arose when Sir George Young Bt, MP for North West Hampshire, asked the Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Lord Green, whether such an event could be held in his constituency. The event will see UKTI outlining how they can support businesses wanting to export goods and services. Hampshire Chamber of Commerce will be describing the service they offer and Andover company Lynx UK will provide a practical example of how a small company has grown by developing its export trade.

To book, please visit the Enterprise M3 web site
http://www.enterprisem3.org.uk/events/view/helping-your-business-to-export
or contact dgleave@testvalley.gov.uk

Fund available to boost Broadband

£20 million of government funding has been made available to help rural communities across England access faster broadband.
Although the Government has promised that everyone in the country will have access to broadband by 2015, it is thought that superfast broadband will only reach 90% of the population.

The Rural Community Broadband Fund (RCBF), jointly funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), is aimed at the 10% hardest to reach rural areas which are unlikely to receive superfast broadband under the county level rollout plans. Under these plans the hardest to reach rural areas are likely to only receive standard broadband with a minimum speed of 2Mb/s (Megabits per second).

 The 10% hardest to reach areas in Hampshire equates to around 50,000 households and 7,000 Hampshire businesses, some of whom currently find themselves in broadband 'not spots', with very slow broadband speeds or even worse no coverage at all.

For more information about Winchester City Council's involvement in improving broadband in the area, contact Kate Cloud, Head of Economy and Arts on 01962 848 563 or email kcloud@winchester.gov.uk