RBKC News

Do you have a job placement for a 16-24 year old?  There is funding for businesses who create job placements through Kickstart.

Under the new Kickstart scheme, your business can receive Government funding to create job placements for 16-24 year olds.  You’ll receive £1500 for each participant to provide necessary support and training, and in addition, the cost of national minimum wage payment, National Insurance and pension contributions will be covered by the Government for the first 6 months.  You will be expected to offer new, high quality job placements for a minimum of 6 months and at least 25 hours per week.  The Kickstart participants must be paid at least the minimum national wage.  Each job placement will prepare the employee for the workplace to help them find a permanent job afterwards.  If creating more than 30 job placements, employers can apply for the scheme directly with the Government.  If employers have less than 30 opportunities, they can apply through an intermediary or become one.   Kensington and Chelsea Council is working with partners to enable and support local businesses to offer Kickstart job placements so if you would like to participate in the scheme please email Albena Karameros on albena.karameros@rbkc.gov.uk. 

RBKC commercial units available for let at BASELINE STUDIOS.

Whitchurch Road, London W11 4AT.  Various units available from 330 to 660 sq. ft, rents from £8,250 pa.  For further information contact our agents; Celia Gore cgore@frostmeadowcroft.com, Jack Realey jrealey@frostmeadowcroft.com at www.frostmeadowcroft.com, tel: 020 8748 1200.  Baseline Studios is situated a 2 minute walk from Latimer Road station (Hammersmith & City and Circle lines).  The studios available are on the ground floor and benefit from wooden floors, a fitted kitchen, and high ceilings. The units are on a flexible contracts.

Government and Partner News

From KCCC. Find out about the new Kickstart Scheme.  Tuesday 6th October 5.00 until 6.00pm
Join Kensington and Chelsea Chamber of Commerce to learn about the Government Kickstart Scheme and how you can provide fully funded placements for young people through the Chamber.  The Chamber will work with businesses to provide skills, training and support funded by this scheme.  If you are interested in applying to the scheme but can’t attend our event please email for further details.  This event is free for Members & Guests.

Facebook Small Business Grants Programme.

Facebook are offering £1,929 in cash grants and £1,157 in ad credits.  Deadline 5pm on 1st October 2020. To be eligible to apply, you must: Be a for-profit business, have between 2 and 50 employees, have been in business for over a year, have experienced challenges from COVID-19 or be in or near a location where Facebook operates.  Review the eligibility criteria, the Terms and Conditions and the Facebook Data Policy on this page before getting started.   Facebook have also teamed up with Be the Business, the government-backed productivity movement to help small businesses across the UK rebuild and recover.  More information can be found here 

British Library and IP Centre

Become a resilience partner and submit a challenge for the Mayor’s Resilience Fund. 

The Resilience Fund is the Mayor’s £1 million innovation programme to support London’s businesses and community groups to emerge stronger from the current coronavirus crisis, and to ensure the capital is better prepared for future emergencies.  The first stage is to make sure that the most important challenges facing London are identified, and finding the right partners for the fund – almost any type of organisation can apply to become a resilience partner and submit a challenge, including: business improvement districts, business and community groups, social enterprises, small and medium-sized businesses and charities.  Applications are now open here

From FSB:  E-commerce 101. How to run an online business

The COVID-19 pandemic in the UK has highlighted just how valuable the digital landscape can be for small businesses. Whether you’ve already started out online or you’re ready to take the first step, our top tips will guide you through how you can take advantage of digital tools to grow your business.  Read the top tips here.

The London Mayor has launched a new scrappage scheme targeting the most polluting heavy vehicles.

See here. Funds are limited and the scheme will operate on a first-come, first-served basis.  In advance of the tighter Low Emission Zone (LEZ) standards that will come into force on 1 March 2021, the scheme offers grants of £15,000 per vehicle to small businesses and charities, up to a maximum of three vehicles, to scrap a heavy vehicle and replace it with a compliant one; or to retrofit diesel vehicles up to the Euro VI standards. Vehicle owners can find full details of the new LEZ rules and check their compliance with the new LEZ emissions standards by visiting TfL’s website here.

Training events for SMEs

Newable, in partnership with the Department for International Trade, are delivering a series of virtual events for SMEs – See here for more information

From BEIS. Preparations for the end of the Transition Period

There are under 100 days to go until the United Kingdom leaves the Single Market and the Customs Union and businesses, citizens and Government need to prepare. As part of these preparations the Government has published the Reasonable Worst Case Scenario for potential disruption to freight travelling between Great Britain and the European Union at the end of the transition period.  There is a user-friendly checker tool at gov.uk/transition which details exactly what businesses need to do, and upcoming business support webinars are detailed below.

Sign up for the Trader Support Service

If you move goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland the Trader Support Service will guide you through any changes due to the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol. It can help if you:

• are moving the goods yourself
• act on behalf of someone
• send parcels between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or bring parcels into Northern Ireland from outside the UK.

Sign up now using the Trader Support Service website.

Business Support Webinars – Register Today.  Check, Change, Go – Prepare your business for the end of the transition period. 

The UK has left the EU and is leaving the EU single market and customs union. The end of the transition period means businesses should take action now to prepare for guaranteed changes and new rules from January 2021. Free webinars are available to help you check the new rules and understand the actions to take. See the full schedule and sign up to for live sessions here. Following the initial broadcast the webinars will be available on demand.   

The live sessions will take place at the following times:

• Services and investment – 11am, Tuesday 13 October
• Retail – 11am, Wednesday 14 October
• Automotive – 2pm, Wednesday 14 October
• Metals and other materials – 11am, Tuesday 20 October
• Electronics and machinery – 11am, Wednesday 21 October
• Consumer goods – 11am, Thursday 22 October
• Life Sciences – 11am, Tuesday 27 October
• Construction – 11am, Wednesday 28 October
• Aerospace – 11am, Thursday 29 October

Webinars for exporters of animals and products of animal origin to the EU.

Register for free webinars to learn more about what you need to do to export animals, fish and high risk foods not of animal origin from 1 January 2021.

Webinars: Helping you prepare businesses for the end of the transition period.

BEIS is running a series of webinars for trade associations, business bodies and business advisers to assist them in supporting firms to prepare for the end of the transition period. Register your interest here.

Videos: Help and support if your business trades with the EU.

Learn more about trading with the EU from 1 January 2020. Videos are available on:  

• Exporting and sending goods outside of the UK
• Importing and bringing goods into the UK
• The customs clearance process

Reminder – new regulations, including businesses:

• Businesses selling food or drink must be closed between 10pm and 5am.
• In licensed premises, food and drink must be ordered from, and served at, a table.
• Customers must eat and drink at a table
• Businesses will need to display the official NHS QR code posters. Go here for more information
• Businesses and organisations will face stricter enforcement and fines.

Reminder: Chancellor’s Winter Economy Plan.

The Chancellor outlined additional government support to businesses and workers last week:

Job support scheme

• A new Job Support Scheme  from 1 November. Under the scheme, which will run for six months, the government will contribute towards the wages of employees who are working fewer than normal hours due to decreased demand.
• Employers will continue to pay the wages of staff for the hours they work – but for the hours not worked, the government and the employer will each pay one third of their equivalent salary. In order to support only viable jobs, employees must be working at least 33% of their usual hours. The level of grant will be calculated based on employee’s usual salary, capped at £697.92 per month. The Job Support Scheme will be open to businesses across the UK even if they have not previously used the furlough scheme.

 Self-employment income support scheme

• Support for self-employed individuals by extending the Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). An initial taxable grant will be provided to those who are currently eligible for SEISS and are continuing to actively trade but face reduced demand due to coronavirus. The initial lump sum will cover three months’ worth of profits for the period from November to the end of January next year. This is worth 20% of average monthly profits, up to a total of £1,875. An additional second grant, which may be adjusted to respond to changing circumstances, will be available for self-employed individuals to cover the period from February 2021 to the end of April.

Tax cuts and deferrals

• The 15% VAT cut for the tourism and hospitality sectors is extended to the end of March. Business who deferred their VAT bills can use the New Payment Scheme to pay back in smaller instalments. Self-assessment taxpayers have a 12-month extension on the “Time to Pay” self-service facility, meaning payments deferred from July 2020, and those due in January 2021, will now not need to be paid until January 2022.

Giving businesses flexibility to pay back loans

• Bounce Back Loan can be repaid over a period of up to ten years. Interest-only periods of up to six months and payment holidays will also be available to businesses.
• Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme: extending to 30 November 2020 for new applications. Lenders will be given the ability to extend the length of loans from a maximum of six years to ten years. 

And lastly, something to look forward to 😊

KCCC Christmas Lunch Thursday 10th December.  12.30 until 4.30pm.
The KCCC is holding their traditional KCCC Christmas Lunch on Thursday 10th December at the Holiday Inn Kensington Forum.  After a welcome drink we shall sit down for a traditional three course Christmas Lunch, followed by speeches. The afternoon finishes with a charity auction and raffle.   If you have any questions, dietary requirements or have anything you would like to donate for the auction or raffle please email Nicola@KCCCLondon.org.  This event will follow all current guidelines for the safety of our guests and therefore numbers are restricted.