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Helping Hastings businesses through the Covid-19 crisis

What can the BID do for you?

With many businesses now able to re-open to customers here are some of the things you might want to consider asking Love Hastings for help with:
  • free advice on creating or extending your outdoor seating area
  • a free health check on your website and social media presence (including free web hosting and a new website if required)
  • free help setting up Facebook or Instagram gift vouchers
  • free creation of photo or video content for online promotions
  • help boosting your message with free shares to our followers on social media
  • a free online customer contact tracing data collection system
  • free membership of BusinessWatch
  • use of free space in the town centre to promote your business (including a gazebo and tables etc)
EMAIL US NOW

What would YOU do with £26million to improve Hastings?

The Town Fund is a new funding scheme launched by the government for towns like Hastings to improve their economy. More information about the scheme can be found in the Town Fund Prospectus.

Hastings is one of the towns across the country eligible to bid for up to £25m from the Town Fund with the opportunity to bid for more money from other national funding streams.

We have now also been offered a further £1milion that needs to be spent in the current financial year - so time is short!

 
COVID-19 meant the main programme was put on hold, however the government has recently released its detailed guidance, so the Town Deal board can now work with the community to develop its Investment Plan for submission later in this financial year.
Submit your own project ideas! Do you have an idea or project proposal for the Town Deal? The board wants to know about it! Please complete their Expression of Interest form.

Ever wondered what a typical working week looks like for the BID Manager and Business Ambassador?

Actually, there is no such thing as a typical week (or day) for the small BID team. But John and Peter decided to keep a record of just one week in their lives so you can see what sorts of things they do on your behalf.

Take a deep breathe - it's a long read!
A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF THE BID MANAGER
A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF THE BUSINESS AMBASSADOR
Love Hastings is delighted to say we've helped many businesses who were not previously aware they could claim a grant of either £10,000 or £25,000.

This has put something like £1/2 million into the Hastings economy - money that might otherwise have gone back to the government.

That equates to half of the total investment that business will put into the BID over the five years we were voted in for.

Register your business for the Eat out to Help Out scheme

Restaurants and other establishments serving food for on-premises consumption can now sign up to a new government initiative aimed at protecting jobs in the hospitality industry and encouraging people to safely return to dining out.

The Eat Out to Help Out registration service went live this morning on GOV.UK

Restaurants, bars, cafes and other establishments who use the scheme will offer a 50% reduction, up to a maximum of £10 per person, to all diners who eat and/or drink-in throughout August.

Customers do not need a voucher as participating establishments will just remove the discount from their bill. Businesses simply reclaim the discounted amount through an online service.

Register Now

An arresting moment...

Last week saw us help in the swift arrest of a local man suspected of a series of crimes against local businesses.

The police called the BID manager to ask that the suspect's name and image could be circulated amongst BusinessWatch members.

The woird was put out on the radio network and on the shared intelligence app which sends direct messages to member's phones.

Within less than an hour he had been spotted in a shop in Priory Meadow, and between the store, Priory Meadow security, and the BID manager and Business Ambassador he was tracked for the next ten minutes before being arrested elsewhere in the town.

This is a great example of how businesses can work together to keep the town safe.

If you haven't joined yet, now is a great time to do so.
JOIN NOW

Help us share the 'Buy Local' campaign message?

There has never been a more important time to BUY LOCAL - and we now have the council helping us to amplify this message across all their channels too.

Did you know that if everyone spent just £10 a week locally that they might otherwise have spent online with a national supplier we would lock about £20million into the Hastings economy each year.

And that's just on household shopping - remember that if you are buying for your business it's a great idea to find a local supplier.

To do your part simply pop over to the Love Hastings Facebook page and share the video with your own audiences - either on your personal page or your business account...or ideally both.
Artist Sam Johnson with his 'local animals of the UK' design.
Share on Facebook

'Adopt' a flower trough

We now have several businesses including PrimeSigns, ESK, Drinks Drop, and Bailey's Recruitment who have 'adopted' the flower troughs near their stores.

If you want to join them all you will need to do is top up the clever water reservoir every so often - and if you fancy developing green fingers we'll show you (or maybe your staff or even your children) how to take a few cuttings or gather seeds so you can grow new plants on your window ledge to brighten the office and provide replacement plants should anything untoward happen with your trough.

Drop us a line at john@lovehastings.com and we'll make your adoption official.

Sadly we do find that a few people seem to think the troughs are a free garden centre - so if you do see anyone helping themselves to a bloom or two please let us know...

Hastings on the BBC

You may have spotted BID manager John Bownas on BBC South East last week.

The news item featured a photo project focusing on local musicians in lockdown and featured several recognisable town centre locations including the outside of Pissaro's Townhouse amnd The Printworks in the alley behind the Observer Building.

We've also featured several times on BBC Radio Sussex talking about various issues relating to the economic recovery of the high street.

DIGITAL SKILLS TRAINING

The Skills Toolkit is made up of free online courses, tools and resources to help you improve your digital and numeracy skills. The Department for Education has consulted some of the country’s leading educational experts and employers to make up a collection of high quality resources to suit a range of interests and skill levels.
 
SKILLS TRAINING HERE
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