#TWBiz
Here is your monthly business update from the Economic Development Team at Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
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Welcome to 2023 from the Economic Development Team
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Welcome back to work, we hope you had a great Christmas and New Year! The Economic Development Team had a busy 2022: creating a Business Portal; upgrading the Visit Tunbridge Wells website; launching a Instagram page to promote local businesses and delivering a number of exciting business events.
Whether you are starting a new business, looking to expand or keeping your business going in 2023, TWBC is here to help in any way we can. Please let us know if you require any support, or have any suggestions for the business newsletter or for local events? Email business@tunbridgewells.gov.uk or call 01892 335538 to get in touch.
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Council’s Budget Consultation 2023/24
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The Council is very keen to hear from businesses on how Tunbridge Wells Borough Council should spend their budget in the 2023/24 financial year.
We are currently budgeting a deficit of £1.4 million for 2023/24, which will rise to £7.4 million by 2028/29 if left unmanaged.
With the new financial year approaching, the Council must now decide how to reduce this deficit and it would like to hear the views of as many businesses as possible, to help inform its decision making.
This consultation closes on 20 January 2023.
If you would like to have your say, please follow the link below to respond to the consultation.
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£10-30k grants for creative businesses
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As part of the Create Growth Programme, Innovate UK has launched a brand-new funding opportunity for businesses in the creative sector. Businesses can apply for a grant between £10,000 - £30,000. You will have to demonstrate the impact this funding will have on your business and on your local area. This opportunity is aimed at encouraging businesses to explore new innovation projects and stimulate growth.
If you would like to be updated on this opportunity, please send an email to: info@createsoutheast.org.uk.
The application deadline is 8 February 2023 at 11am.
For more details on South East Create Growth Programme and to apply, click on the button below: |
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Join the ‘Big Conversation’ on Kent’s employment space
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Locate in Kent and Kent County Council have recently launched the ‘Big Conversation’, an online platform where you can share your experiences of trying to find the right location for your business and workforce. This includes any issues you may have come across when trying to find the type of space you had in mind for your business, whether that is a co-working space, workshop, farm, office or a high street unit.
The Big Conversation is a county-wide dialogue looking for feedback from a range of stakeholders, with your responses informing how decision makers will allocate land for employment use in future.
For more information, please see Locate in Kent’s page on the Big Conversation.
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Thinking of starting a business?
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Kent County Council has commissioned the Rebel Business School to deliver a FREE 10-day online training course for entrepreneurs, providing guidance on how to turn their ideas into a business.
The course will cover a wide range of topics including how to: start a successful business, avoid unnecessary loans and debt, and improve your business plan. This training is directed towards both entrepreneurs and already established business owners.
The course will run from Monday 23 January to Friday 3 February 2023. All the fees for the course have been fully covered by Kent County Council.
If you would like to sign up for this free training opportunity, click on the button below.
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Entries now open for the 2023 Times of Tunbridge Wells Business Awards
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Entries are now open for the sixth Times of Tunbridge Wells Business Awards. There are ten category prizes including: Outstanding Business of the Year, Green Business of the Year, and Creative Business of the Year awards. The black-tie awards night will be held on 30 March 2023 and is open to businesses who enter for an award. Journalist and radio presenter Nick Ferrari will be hosting.
If you have any questions or would like to attend, please contact the Times of Tunbridge Wells via their awards website.
The deadline to enter is 20 February 2023. Entry forms can be downloaded from the link below.
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Federation of Small Businesses Awards
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Nominations are open for the 2023 Federation of Small Businesses Awards. The FSB is looking to recognise the achievements and contributions of small businesses and the self-employed over the last year from across the UK.
Winners from each category will secure a spot in the UK final and a chance to be crowned the UK Small Business of the Year.
The deadline to enter is 9 February 2023
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Was your business affected by the water supply issues?
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South East Water has apologised to businesses and said that those that had to close due to water supply issues should claim on their insurance. South East Water stated that they would work with the insurers to settle any costs.
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Working with the Travel Trade
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As Tunbridge Wells Borough Council is a match funding partner for the Experience Development Programme, your business can benefit from FREE training to gain a better understanding of the Travel Trade industry. This training will take place online and full details of the event can be found below:
Date: Monday 16 January
Time: 15:00 - 16:30
Location: Virtual (zoom details to be shared closer to the event)
Pricing: FREE! - Sign up here
Meet the travel trade
Visit Kent are organising 1:1 meetings with tour operators and travel buyers for your business
The workshop will allow suppliers up to three hours of face-to-face meetings with travel operators and buyers to connect with potential clients and partners. Visit Kent will set you up with multiple 9-minute introductions based on your business category and preferences – helping you to make introductions to help your business. Apply before 23:59 on Wednesday 11 January 2023
Date: Tuesday 14 February
Time: 11:00 - 16:00
Location: Dover – venue TBC
Pricing: £79 (+VAT) or FREE for Experience Programme Businesses - purchase tickets here
(Places are restricted to one representative per company, additional places are subject to availability and will incur an additional fee)
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Cambridge Economic Impact Model Report for 2021 published
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Visit Kent has recently published its 2021 report on the importance of the visitor economy in Kent. The report shows a promising domestic recovery for Kent’s tourism industry, with significant improvements across all domestic tourism sub-sectors when compared to 2020.
A breakdown of the data reveals that Kent performed above the national average for factors such as overnight domestic spend, whilst visiting friends and relatives (VFR) remained a significant contributing factor to the visitor economy throughout 2021, as it did in 2020.
Find the Tunbridge Wells borough and other Kent districts reports at the link below. If you are interested in helping us by contributing data for the next report, then please get in touch with us on business@tunbridgewells.gov.uk. |
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Contribute to the Visit Kent Business Barometer
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The Barometer contains monthly feedback from tourism businesses on their performance and aims to give a simple 'snapshot' of how tourism is doing in Kent each month. It’s completely free to sign-up and to access monthly. These reports have proven a helpful benchmarking tool for businesses in the tourism industry over recent years.
If you are a visitor attraction, conference and event venue, accommodation provider with 8 or more rooms or a smaller serviced or self-catering accommodation provider please do consider contributing to the reports.
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Visit Tunbridge Wells - Call for content
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The Visit Tunbridge Wells website currently has an average of over 30,000 visitors a month and this number is increasing all the time as we add your new and exciting content!
New content for 2023 includes:
Games – we are creating an article to share pubs and venues that have board games, pool tables, dart boards and other entertainment on offer.
Dog Friendly - please get in touch if you are a dog friendly hotel, attraction, pub or venue, as we are updating our dog friendly page. This is an opportunity for visibility on one of our most visited pages, so please do let us know if you are!
The deadline for submission is 15 January 2023
You can also contribute with:
- Events - share your events that could be of interest to visitors or residents
- Blogs - written by residents and local businesses. Send your ideas of themes!
- Special Offers - long term discounts, happy hours, menus, deals, group tickets etc
Please send information and photos about the topics above as well as any news you may have to vtwcontent@tunbridgewells.gov.uk. The content we receive will feed into our website and social media campaigns as well as the Visit Kent and Visit Britain Calls for Content.
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Date: Tuesday 10 January 2023
Time: 06:30 – 08:30
Location: Salomons Estate, Broomhill Road, Royal Tunbridge Wells
Pricing: £20.00 – purchase tickets here
- Social Media 101 for Small Businesses
Date: Wednesday 18 January 2023
Time: 19:00 – 23:00
Location: 13 The Pantiles, Royal Tunbridge Wells
Pricing: £15.00 - purchase tickets here
- Make it your business Tunbridge Wells
Date: Friday 20 January 2023
Time: 10:30 – 12:30
Location: The Finance Hub, The Potteries, Linden Park Road, Royal Tunbridge Wells
Pricing: FREE - reserve tickets here
- Third Thursdays – Sevenoaks Chamber of Commerce
Date: Thursday 16 February 2023
Time: 10:30 – 12:00
Location: The Finance Hub, The Potteries, Linden Park Road, Royal Tunbridge Wells
Pricing: £15.00 (free for Chamber members) – purchase tickets here
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Photos from our 2022 Events
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We would like to thank all the businesses that took part in our recent events. We hope to keep working together with you in 2023!
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Top left: Small Business Saturday stand to promote local businesses – some of our team with local celebrity Pip the golden retriever; Top right: Tourism Networking Event at the Trinity Theatre – a discussion about the visitor economy with local businesses and Visit Kent. Next event in Spring!
Bottom left: Our stand at Pub in the Park, promoting hospitality and tourism in Tunbridge Wells; Bottom right: Kent & Medway Business Fund local launch event at the Finance Hub in Tunbridge Wells.
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