Information, support and advice

Enterprise M3 Growth Hub

The Enterprise M3 Growth Hub is an expert advice and resource network which helps businesses achieve results quickly through a free personal, tailored service focused on business start-up, growth and innovation.  For further information click here.

Incuhive

IncuHive offer free business support to all of its resident members.  Prices for space start from £49 plus VAT.  For further information click here.

Enterprise First Business South

If you are looking for support to either start a business or grow an existing one, they can help in the following ways:

• free start up courses
• one to one advice
• finance

For further information visit here.

Business Bulletin

Businesses should sign up to our free business bulletin to make sure that they receive the latest information on business support, funding, training and events.  Sign up here.

Winchester City Council is continuing its support of independent shops and businesses across the district by signing up to the online shopping and ordering platform, ShopAppy.com. Businesses are being invited to register to the website for free, which will provide them with further opportunities to promote their services and sell products to local customers from the comfort of their own home.

The council and ShopAppy is offering free membership to all businesses and community organisations in the district for the first 12 months, enabling them to reach a wider pool of customers and extending their online visibility. The platform allows customers to browse virtual shop windows, book appointments and events as well as order products from local stores using a delivery or ‘click and collect’ service. Funding from the Reopening High Streets Safely Fund, which was launched by the Government and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) last year, has enabled the council to cover the first six months membership for all independent organisations in the district and ShopAppy have matched that, extending the offer to the full 12 months.

More and more businesses are joining every day and adding their products and services to their dedicated area in preparation for a public launch.  To see who has signed up so far and to register on the site businesses should visit shopappy.com and then select ‘sign up’ or contact Jane Stewart at shoplocal@shopappy.com. Once registered, businesses can quickly populate the website with goods and services on their town’s page with assistance provided by the ShopAppy.com team.

Cllr Martin Tod, Winchester City Council, Cabinet Member for Economic Recovery, said:

“More and more people want to shop locally online as well as offline – and we strongly support that. To that end, we’re offering ShopAppy free to businesses and community organisations across the district for the next 12 months. It’s just one part of the council’s plans to help local businesses recover, innovate and thrive in a post COVID-19 world.”

The founder of ShopAppy.com, Dr Jackie Mulligan, added:

“We’re very excited to be working across the whole of the Winchester District partnering with the council on the launch of ShopAppy.com. It could not be a more critical time for businesses to work together and make it easier for locals to spend closer to home. When we spend local, our spend stays local – so whether you use ShopAppy to browse and go in person or to book something or shop online, you can easily help your area – because where you spend matters for local jobs and local businesses and for our national recovery.”

ShopAppy.com provides a bespoke, online shop window and ordering service for every member town and city in the UK and there are already over 150 towns signed up. The platform is supported by Visa as part of its #Whereyoushopmatters campaign. 

 

In as little as an hour, you could change the course of a young person’s life just by sharing your story or helping them to understand more about the world of work.  

The Enterprise M3 Give an hour campaign invites you to make a difference to the young people in your area by giving as little as one hour of your time. They would particularly like to hear from you if you own or work in a small or medium sized business. Hear from some of the employers who are already engaging with young people in their local areas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUR8GmX2BCQ

It might feel like an hour is too short to have a real impact, but they know from experience that an hour can create new perspectives and inspire new ideas. Just to hear someone’s career story or be able to speak to someone who can listen and give advice. Could you be that someone?  

Register today at https://www.giveanhour.co.uk/register-your-interest to give an hour and change a life.  

The Hampshire Chamber of Commerce is a membership organisation, owned and managed by local businesses whose goal it is to protect and promote business interests. They help to make businesses become more successful by providing networking opportunities, business support and advice.

To speak to someone directly, call  01329 242 420 or email info@hampshirechamber.co.uk

Hampshire County Council (HCC) and Winchester City Council (WCC) are working together to ensure that as many residents and businesses as possible have access to superfast broadband.

Wave 2 of Hampshire County Council’s Superfast Broadband project will involve upgrading 550 roadside broadband cabinets, by September 2018, connecting an additional 34,000 premises across the county. This will make Superfast Broadband available to 96% of premises in Hampshire. 

Broadband cabinets have been updated in some postcodes in the following areas across the Winchester District. For a full list of cabinets and postcodes that have recently been upgraded visit: www.hampshiresuperfastbroadband.com/about-the-project/live-cabinets/. 

The two councils also want to ensure that people are registered on the Hampshire Superfast Broadband website, www.hampshiresuperfastbroadband.com. This is so that Hampshire County Council can keep them updated with project announcements regarding additional funding and upgrades to cabinets. 

To find out when Superfast Broadband is coming to your area or to join the campaign visit: www.hampshiresuperfastbroadband.com

Sparsholt College provides training to business, industry and employers, offering professional accreditation courses as well as one-day workshops and training courses.

SMEs who don't have enough staff to warrant a specialist course can benefit from workshops and courses with individuals from different sectors and industries, where they can share ideas and best practice with colleagues and bring that back to the workplace. For larger groups, courses can also be run in the workplace.

Professional qualifications are delivered in small groups by experienced trainers, working to industry body accreditation standards, which are externally verified for quality assurance. A wide range of courses cover a variety of industries.

To find out more and view the current training calendar go to www.sparsholt.ac.uk/employers/

To get in touch email:business@sparsholt.ac.uk 

Social enterprise means generating your own income through selling your services and or expertise. The income derived is reinvested in your charitable or social purposes. Action Hampshire gives information and support to social enterprises and also run the Hampshire School for Social Entrepreneurs.

Action Hampshire understand that the business development needs of social entrepreneurs are very similar to those of private entrepreneurs but there are also key differences such as legal structures available.

For further information, please contact Action Hampshire.

Face to face networking is one of the most productive ways of developing new business relationships and turning them into high quality leads to drive business growth and return on investment.

Many people may be competent using social media but do not have the face to face skills and confidence to network effectively at business events.

Enterprise M3 Growth Hub can help you grow your business and return on investment through effective business networking.

• Call 0300 456 3565 for more information
• Stay in touch via Twitter @EM3GrowthHub or
• Visit https://www.enterprisem3growthhub.co.uk/bn 

The Entrepreneur Handbook is a UK information website providing expert advice and guides on every aspect of starting and growing a business including sales, finance, marketing and much more.

Go to the website for more information: http://entrepreneurhandbook.co.uk/

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has launched a guide for small businesses with advice from other SME's.
 
The Guide compiles a selection of invaluable pieces of business advice, hints and tips from 34 hand-picked remarkable small British businesses and top entrepreneurs who each reveal handy hints which they believe are pivotal to their success.

Click here for more information. 

A peer-to-business lending platform connecting businesses and investors, where businesses get fast business loans and investors earn great returns on their investments. Funding Circle has funded over £570m in business loans so far.

For more information you can visit their website

• Find out about writing a business plan with Start Ups UK or Discover Business
• Work on your time management
• Find out about Planning Guidance for Rural Businesses
• HMRC have a range of short e-learning courses such as Working for Yourself
• Start up opportunities for people leaving local government 

For local Trading Standards approved traders, go to the Buy With Confidence web pages available in the column on the right.

The local branch of the Hampshire Chambers of Commerce holds a member directory.

Winchester City Council has signed an Armed Forces Community Covenant for the Winchester District. We want to encourage all our local businesses and employers to consider how they can help our armed forces in their local area.

For more information go to www.defenceprivilegecard.co.uk

Call 01509 233 446 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm) and a member of the Defence Discount Service Team will assist. 

Does your business comply with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005? Are you aware of your responsibilities as a business owner?

For more information visit Hantsfire's webpage or email csprotection.admin@hantsfire.gov.uk

You can also find out more information from the document available to download in the column on the right.