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RBKC newsletter – 12.05.2020

BEE Bulletin 0066

Hello RBKC Business Enterprise Exchange members and colleagues,

Thank you for your continuing support of businesses and entrepreneurs in the borough during this difficult time. Support for businesses from Central Government and the Council can be found here RBKC COVID19 portal for businesses and self-employed

Kensington and Chelsea News

Cllr Catherine Faulks answers her first question time video about extended business support for small businesses and what support is available for businesses beyond the three-month scheme. Twitter

From KCCC Explanation of the new guidance issued by the Government and ideas of new ways of working. Tuesday 12th May 2pm

How do you manage social distancing, commuting into work and some of your team working from home now? Presented by Michael Stone, Principal at JamiesonStone and Chairman of KCCC and Vin Jauhal from WEM Technology. Join the webinar for free here Looking to the Future Online Event

Construction tendering opportunities for RBKC businesses.

The Council’s Housing management team have a framework opportunity for some General Building works going out this Friday 15th May. A further nine separate contracts for different trades will start to go out on 10th June following consultation with leaseholders. We intend to hold an on line workshop and briefing session for those of you who are interested in tendering, with our procurement expert through our Supply Chain programme. If you are interested contact David McAlpine, MTW Consultants Ltd, Project Director, RBKC Supply Chain

Tel: 020 3002 4017. Mob: 07891 165 207. david@mtwconsultants.co.uk

Webinar for RBKC businesses from RBKC funded Portobello Business Centre. Tuesday 19th May at 10am

During the lockdown, Briffa is working with the Portobello Business Centre to provide advice and support to business. The aim of this session is to think about proactive and reactive steps that businesses can take to protect and strengthen their businesses over the coming months. Register in advance for this meeting here.

More help for RBKC businesses from Portobello Business Centre.

Do you need to ask questions and get answers to help you grow your business? Do you need help with your accounts? Would you like to learn new ways to improve your business visibility online? Grab the opportunity to meet Portobello Business Centre’s group of professionals who are experts in their industries, gain from their knowledge for FREE and give your business a boost. Give PBC a call 020 7460 5050 or email us info@pbc.co.uk.

We have updated the RBKC adult learning pages,

There are plenty of learning opportunities for residents during this extraordinary time. Our partner providers are offering a range of opportunities to support you to learn new skills or maintain your well-being while at home – online and at distance. These include what is being delivered online and distance learning by providers, and some additional links to outside resources. See here and here.

If you have a Twitter account…

why not give our tweets a like or RT to help spread the message? Follow us at @RBKC.

Central Government and Partner News

Transport for London survey

Transport for London is planning to get London moving and working again, safely and sustainably.  TfL would be very grateful if you could kindly spare 3-5 minutes to complete this short business survey. Survey closes at 17:00 on Thursday 14 May 2020.

TfL have published updated plans today.

Please find the update here. This update provides advice to help Londoners travel safely and sustainably. This follows the Government’s announcement yesterday on how restrictions on movement will gradually start to ease.

Funding from The Peabody Community Foundation

Do you have a cool, tasty food idea you want to pilot? Maybe a new sustainability concept you want to test out? What about an amazing entertainment offering or a community-based cultural startup? The Peabody Community Foundation has partnered with Mercato Metropolitano to develop an online incubation programme. To make things easier they have put together this visual, to briefly explain what’s being offered and how to apply, but further information can be found here.

Four funding strands provided to the following organisations from London’s Mayor

£1.5m to the Creative Land Trust to support tenants across 200 artist studios. See here.
£150,000 to the BFI to help up to 25 of London’s independent cinemas. See here
£450,000 via Music Venue Trust – support 147 grassroots music venues. Not live yet
£225,000 via LGBTQ+ Venues Forum to support up to 56 LGBTQ+ venues. Not live yet

CBILs and Bounce Back Loans Scheme briefing one-pager by Mike Conway, Director at UK Finance. 6 May 2020.

there are no credit checks for the Bounce Back scheme, businesses to self-certify
after the first 12 months, banks may cap the interest rate at 5%;
those with CBILs applications can swap for a more favourable Bounce Back loan
there are no early repayment fees and businesses can be paid back early.
loans are 6-year fixed term to make them easier to administer.
businesses can use the loans to refinance other more expensive loans.

FSB First Voice webinars – Advice for connecting with your customers and engaging with your employees online with Cisco and BT; Tuesday 21st May please click here to register.

They will offer our top tips and tricks for remote working, including how to manage a remote team and keep them engaged, how to connect with customers during a crisis, and what technology you need to effectively run a business from home. You will hear from experts Dominic Elliot from Cisco and Richard Oliver from BT, and we encourage this to be an interactive session with dedicated time for Q&A.

Further education establishments are now eligible for the CIBLS loan scheme.

Apply for the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme. This scheme helps large businesses affected by coronavirus (COVID-19) to access loans of up to £25 million.

Business support helpline

The Government’s business support helpline has added a webchat option – Webchat: talk to an adviser using the web chat Phone: 0300 456 3565. Phoneline and webchat open Monday to Friday, 9 am to 6 pm. Email: enquiries@businesssupporthelpline.org

Watch the Business Support Helpline video from HM Government.

The Business Support Helpline has created this video to outline the coronavirus support and guidance available to businesses, as well as answer frequently asked questions. See here.

Business rates revaluation postponed

The Government has announced that the revaluation of business rates will no longer take place in 2021 to help reduce uncertainty for firms affected by the impacts of coronavirus. Read more here.

King’s College London is leading a global study to understand how they currently cope with the crisis professionally and personally.

Check their webiste here regarding a 25 minute survey, entrepreneurs will be asked questions about their experience of the crisis, the coping strategies that they mobilise, and how they and their business and work have changed through the crisis. All participating entrepreneurs will receive a final report summarizing the study findings and additional insights on how to deal with stress, enhance well-being and on effective coping strategies to deal with crises.

Guidance for businesses seeking to help voluntary, community, and social enterprise organisations during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

How businesses can offer services, funds and volunteers to civil society during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. See here.

And finally, from the Kensington and Chelsea Chamber of Commerce