Tag Archive for Opportunities

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Salesforce and Enterprise Nation launch £5,000 grant for small businesses

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Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
Salesforce is teaming up with Enterprise Nation to offer a grant of £5,000 for small businesses.
This will help them as they reopen, adapt their business models and get back to some kind of normality. Salesforce is offering a total of $1m (£920,000) in support to businesses across the UK.
Funding will be administered by Enterprise Nation through a selection process. If your initial entry is shortlisted, you’ll be invited to send in a video pitch with an introduction to your business; how your business has been affected by coronavirus; and how securing the grant will help your business, on what it will be spent and how it will positively impact the community.
Small businesses with 2-50 employees can apply for the scheme. Be aware that the process will be staggered. Firms in Northern Ireland can apply between 18 May and midnight on 24 May and the rest will open as follows:

Midlands: 1-7 June
South of England: 15 -21 June
Scotland: 29 June – 5 July
Wales: 13-19 July
North of England: 27 July – 2 August

Companies that apply for the grant will also have access to Enterprise Nation membership, including free half-hour consultations with experts in marketing, strategy and

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Ebury launches £40m small business coronavirus lending package

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Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
Ebury, one of the largest fintech companies in Europe, has launched a £40m funding package for UK and European small businesses.
The Santander-backed firm has raised the initial £40m help SMEs manage their working capital during the coronavirus crisis. Ebury is hoping to expand this programme into the hundreds of millions in collaboration with governments in the UK and Europe.
This initiative is geared towards SMEs who cannot access the government’s controversial Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).
>See also: How do I apply for a Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan?
At the moment the firm is approaching government bodies so that it can distribute financial packages in the coming months. The firm is in talks with the British Business Bank to become an accredited CBILS lender, according to Sky News.
Juan Lobato, co-founder of Ebury, said: “Getting finance to UK companies is essential in helping manage the cash flow pressures they are currently experiencing and Ebury is delighted to be offering this financing initiative. Ebury was founded to fill a gap left by the 2008 financial crisis and in this latest crisis it is ideally placed to help the government’s distribution of its financial aid packages to large

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Small Business Saturday 2019: the small company’s time to shine

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Originally written by Ben Lobel on Small Business
This year’s Small Business Saturday, a day where shoppers are encouraged to spend with local firms, is on 7 December.
According to independent research by Toluna for American Express, £812m was spent with small businesses during Small Business Saturday 2018. The same research revealed that cafés were the most-visited independent outlets (27pc).
When shoppers were asked, over half said they spent more they would normally with small businesses and around a quarter (24pc) said they spent half as much again as they would normally.

Café27pc

Butcher 24pc

Baker20pc

Market17pc

Restaurant15pc

Independent grocery store15pc

Greengrocer 15pc

Independent convenience store14pc

Health and beauty shop10pc

Cinema9pc

Shops will be marking the day by holding customer events and councils will be offering free parking. Some areas will also be putting on networking events and street entertainment.
If you’re an American Express cardholder, you can get £5 credit when you spend £10 or more in participating small businesses.
A rare marketing opportunity
Elaine Burns, co-founder of clothing retailer Wear Eponymous says Small Business Saturday is a very important initiative for her company. ‘The press gets behind interesting small businesses to promote them for what could be, arguably, the only time in the year.
“Throughout the year it’s the major players that scoop the press so now

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Government announces £35m fund to grow rural businesses

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Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
The Government is giving rural businesses a guaranteed £35m to create new jobs, boost tourism and unlock growth.
This figure could rise to £50m if there are enough high-quality applications.
The funding is part of the Government’s Growth Programme and is open for expressions of interest from Monday 4 November. The programme provides grants for rural start-ups and businesses to buy equipment and machinery to grow their business or to open up opportunities for tourism.
A substantial £99m has been granted to 546 local businesses across England so far, creating 3,771 new jobs in rural areas. What’s more, the threshold for minimum grants has come down from £35,000 to £20,000, so more small and micro businesses can be eligible for funding.
Farming minister George Eustice said:
“Our dedicated fund for rural businesses has created more than 3,700 jobs and supported a diverse group of businesses, tourism operations and start-ups to unlock their full potential.
“This next round of funding will help more businesses to grow and local areas to prosper – and I would urge any rural enterprise to look into what this scheme could do for them.”
Paul Caldwell, chief executive of the Rural Payments Agency, added:
“The Growth Programme

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Government awards £2m to boost productivity and tackle late payments

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Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
The Government has given out £2m to fund projects aiming to boost productivity and tackle late payments today (11 October).
Up to half of the funding pot is there to encourage businesses to use technology which simplifies invoicing, payment and credit management, ensuring they work as effectively as possible. The funding is part of the Government’s broad package of measures to end the culture of late payments.
This funding comes from the £9m Business Basics programme, which has been running since 2018.  So far, 26 projects have been backed to run trials and develop ideas which encourage SMEs to use technology and more efficient management practices.
The 12 winners of the second round have been announced today. They include Cambridge Judge Business School; the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council; Northumbria University; and Tenshi Consulting Ltd. Funding has been distributed to look at opportunities in online networking, gaming and innovative coaching techniques that boost business productivity.
Small Business Minister Kelly Tolhurst said:
“As a former small business owner, I know how important it is to harness technology to make your business more productive. This is why we’re awarding another £2m from our Business Basics Fund and backing 12 more

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OUTofOffice: win tickets to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019!

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Originally written by Partner Content on Small Business
We’re partnering up with GoDaddy to give you the chance to win a pair of tickets to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
Which games could I win tickets to?
GoDaddy, the official sponsors of the tournament, are offering up tickets for the first two weeks of matches. Tickets for the following weeks will be announced in the coming days, so keep checking back!
Enter now and you could win tickets to see:

South Africa vs Bangladesh: 2nd June @ The Oval, London
Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka: 4th June @ Cardiff Wales Stadium, Cardiff
Bangladesh vs New Zealand: 5th June @ The Oval, London
Australia vs West Indies: 6th June @ Trent Bridge, Nottingham
Pakistan vs Sri Lanka: 7th June @ Bristol County Ground, Bristol
Afghanistan vs New Zealand 8th June @ County Ground Taunton, Taunton
South Africa vs West Indies 10th June @ Hampshire Bowl, Southampton

How do I enter the competition?
It’s a simple case of filling in the entry form and selecting your preferred match venue.
If you don’t bag tickets this time around, don’t worry – you’ll be able to re-apply for matches in the last two weeks of June.
Be sure to have a look over the terms and conditions below before

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Why it’s time to shorten your UK domain name

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.UK registrants with a third-level domain name have less than three months left to secure the shorter .uk equivalent before it’s made available to the public. The deadline to move from a third-level domain (.co.uk, .org.uk, .me.uk, .net.uk, .plc.uk or ltd.uk) to the second-level domain is 05:00 UTC (Universal Time Coordinated, formerly GMT) on 25th
The post Why it’s time to shorten your UK domain name appeared first on Small Business.

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Businesses and individuals win at Mayor of London awards

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Business and individuals have been recognised for their contribution to business life in London at a prestigious awards event sponsored by the Mayor of London. The London Business Awards 2019 sponsored by the Mayor of London recognise the accomplishments of businesses and key individual over the past 12 months, celebrating the creativity and diversity of
The post Businesses and individuals win at Mayor of London awards appeared first on Small Business.

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Government launches £2 million funding competition

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A funding competition has launched with £2 million available to businesses, academia and local authorities. The money will go to new projects focused on testing out ways of rolling out existing productivity-boosting technology and management practices for businesses. It comes from the Business Basics Fund which is part of the modern Industrial Strategy. The strategy
The post Government launches £2 million funding competition appeared first on Small Business.

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Central Working launches programme to provide growth to scale-ups

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Central Working has launched The Central Working Academy, a new support programme to provide start-up leaders with the innovative tools and guidance required to scale. The programme’s pilot will provide senior teams behind established, high-growth start-ups with data-driven, long-term scaling strategies. It’s a resource that’s normally only available to the largest mature businesses. Research from
The post Central Working launches programme to provide growth to scale-ups appeared first on Small Business.

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