An £83m package of Government funding has been agreed to accelerate the delivery of 3,000 homes at Fairham, a 606-acre mixed use development on the edge of Nottingham. The funding will support the delivery of the infrastructure needed to bring Fairham forward, accelerating the creation of new homes and jobs for the area. As well as the new homes, Fairham will deliver a new school, community centre, health centre, sports pitches, community parks and woodland. With 100,000 square metres of employment space, its location on the edge of Nottingham and proximity to East Midlands Airport, the M1 and the East…

Orcha is the world’s leading health app evaluation and advisor organisation. They help NHS Trusts, Governments and health and social care organisations to choose and deliver health apps that will safely make the biggest impact in terms of improving outcomes. Chief Executive Liz Ashall-Payne says the organisation has reviewed nearly 5,000 apps so far and found many poor examples, including: A diabetes management app offering complex medical support without any back-up from experts A physiotherapy app offering exercise plans without any visible input from professionals An app to help smokers quit, which had not had security updates in more than…

Appogee HR is thrilled to announce the launch of Appogee Time, the standalone SaaS (Software as a Service) product to help small UK businesses manage hybrid working, office capacity management, track time and attendance, and record time spent on activities. Working from home has been the reality for most UK based office staff for the last 12 months, with many staff missing the benefits of office based work, including the general excitement of what a productive day in the office can offer. Hybrid working, where staff are able to work in the office as well as from home, has become…

On Wednesday 10th March 2021, Simply Business, one of the UK’s largest providers of small business insurance, announced a three-year charity partnership with mental health charity Mind. Funds raised from the partnership will enable Mind to continue to provide its information and support services for everyone experiencing a mental health problem. This includes the Mind Infoline – a confidential help and support line – and Side by Side, the charity’s online peer support community, which provides a safe space for adults to talk about their mental health problems and connect with others. Demand for Mind’s mental health services has been…

A report created from data collected between the 11th and 22nd of February 2021 shows that employee availability is rising despite pandemic-related redundancies being widely reported. The original report is available at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation website, at: https://www.rec.uk.com/our-view/news/press-releases/report-jobs-national-lockdown-weighs-recruitment-decisions-february With a greater reluctance among candidates to seek new roles due to uncertainty and concerns over job security, the gig economy (temporary workers and independent contractors) will only continue to rise. Further to this, temporary work in both the public and private sectors rose strongly. However, more needs to be done by companies to restore candidate confidence and accommodate flexible…

Environmental charities and partners across England will benefit from the fund, which will create and retain jobs while restoring nature and tackling climate change. On Tuesday 9th March, the Government announced that grants of up to £2 million each are now available to ‘help the nation build back greener’ from the coronavirus pandemic. The second round of the Green Recovery Challenge Fund will award up to £40 million in grants to environmental charities and their partners across England to create and retain jobs, while restoring nature and tackling issues created by climate change. All project must contribute to at least…

Cockwells Modern & Classic Boatbuilding Ltd continues its ambitious programme of expansion with the acquisition of The South West Shipyard at Ponsharden. Cockwells has purchased the freehold of the waterside site, located between Falmouth and Penryn, to enable the Company to meet unprecedented demand for its award-winning Duchy Motor Launches and Hardy motor yachts. The shipyard comprises two large sheds that equate to 25,000 square feet of undercover space, which have been managed as two separate entities until now. This acquisition – which will unite these sheds, its quay and slipway – has been 100% funded by Cockwells and its…

MyKindaFuture, a leading HR tech company specialising in underrepresented talent, has joined forces with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to launch an innovative mentoring programme designed to help unemployed 18-24 year olds find work through the Jobcentre Plus. The joint initiative will see MyKindaFuture’s online mentoring platform, Connectr, being used by Jobcentre Plus (JCP) to provide jobseekers with the advice, tools and skills they need to secure a job and succeed in it. The project, which offers young people access to mentors from leading local and national employers, aims to tackle the rising issue of unemployment in Britain.…

ea Change, a UK leader in delivering IT and business change solutions with a significant UK and international client base, has announced a management buyout. After 23 years of leadership, Steve Robson, Cheryl Robson and Jon Murphy are excited to announce that as of March 1st, they hand over the reins of the company to the next generation, with James McNicol and Andrew Oliver becoming joint owners of the group. Steve Robson stated: “James and Andrew have been part of the senior team for the past four years and are fully aligned with the business and our commitment to our…

Jason Oakley, CEO of Recognise Bank, Britain’s newest SME Bank, comments on the extension of the furlough scheme and the extension of the VAT cut to 5% and then 12.5% announced in this weeks budget: “This is great news for firms that have already weathered a tough 12 months under COVID-19 restrictions. One in four small businesses wanted the Chancellor to extend the furlough scheme in today’s Budget, while nearly half of hospitality firms said they wanted the reduced 5% VAT rate to continue. “Britain’s growing businesses are a tough and confident bunch, and the bosses I talk to say they…

During the summit, which took place on Thursday 4th March 2021, almost 30 female speakers took to the stage to share their own experiences and tips for navigating predominantly male-occupied businesses. The speakers at the event ranged from Lauryn Bradley, who spoke about the ‘Feast and Famine Cycle’ – the rollercoaster of income boosts and drops that businesses often get stuck in – and how to take care of yourself during the ups and downs, to ‘Empress of Networking’ Ungenita Prevost, a former Hollywood body double who spoke about her experiences of racism and sexism on her way to become…

Author, speaker & coach, Taz Thornton hoping to unleash the awesome of 200 women at her virtual event for International Women’s day 2021 “On International Women’s Day, it’s all about give and no take,” said Taz Thornton, inspirational speaker, coach and author. That’s why Taz is giving away two hours of mentoring, coaching and support to inspire women in business and unleash their awesome! “After the year we’ve all had, I wanted to make this uniqueoffer on this special day for women to help them recognise how powerful women in business are, how to grow their audience and turn up…

Zoom has seen a boost in users over the last year, but with all the other options on the market, which service would fit best for you and your business? This article will compare Zoom (which has gone from 10 million daily users to 300 million), Google Meet (over 100 million daily users) and Microsoft Teams (75 million daily users) in a series of categories such as free and paid-for features, and the software’s security. What limitations do the free versions have? Using the free Zoom package, you are able to host up to 100 people in a meeting for…

A survey by alternative lender Capify has highlighted a demand for more financial support with cashflow, expansion and funding for new equipment among the reasons Confidence for the future is mixed with 38% expecting the economy to improve while 36% expect a decline in 2021 43 per cent of SMEs say the support offered by the government to businesses has not been good enough Eighty-three per cent of UK SMEs are still actively looking for finance according to a new study, despite the government’s Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) having lent almost £45bn to more than 1.4m businesses. The findings…

A former adviser to the government on SMEs has warned there could be a mass exodus of talent out of the UK if Chancellor Rishi Sunak hits businesses with tax hikes in this week’s Budget. Mr Sunak is widely tipped to be considering an increase in Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax in a move that would hit entrepreneurs hard. Personal income tax bands and the £50,000 higher rate threshold could be frozen for three years pushing 1.6 million people into a higher bracket by the time of the next General Election. National Insurance for the 4.5 million self-employed could…

The second of last week’s Great British Expos, South West Expo Bristol, which took place on Friday 26th February 2021, was a roaring success and left audiences inspired. Speakers ranged from those who built billion-dollar businesses to successful entrepreneurs who started with nothing. They shared stories, advice and guidance on do’s and don’ts in sectors such as social media, marketing and more. One of the speakers who attended was Andy Smith, who explained the key tips of ‘marketing to win, even during a recession’, and how to balance new and existing clients in regards to marketing formats. Darren Clark and…