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Torridge Business Bulletin – March / April 2023

Free Tourism Business Workshops

Come along to the Castle Hill Work Hub in Great Torrington where Nature Tourism Officer, Sarah Jordan, will be joined by Chris Brant from Unmissable England. Workshops will be held on Tuesday 28th March 2023. 

For further information and tickets click on the links below.

How to Market your Tourism Business

Modules of the workshop include:

• Creating a Marketing Strategy

• Make Social Media Work for Your Business

• How to Add Your Business to Google Maps

• Communicating your Green Credentials to Visitors

• Why Online Guest Reviews Matter

• Q&A Discussion

How to Reach New Markets & Audiences – A Guide to Travel Trade

Modules of the workshop include:

• Introduction to Domestic & Inbound Tourism

• Getting to Market

• Meet the Markets

• Defining Your Product – Value/Pricing

• Inbound Insights from VisitBritain

• The Travel Distribution System

• Activity

• Q&A Discussion

Chris Brant is the Founder and Director of Unmissable England/Unmissable Scotland. Chris has over 20 years working in the tourism and marketing industry in the UK. He has previously worked for National Parks UK where he was the project Manager for VisitEngland’s Discover England Fund programme across England’s National Parks, developing over 70 brand new bookable visitor experiences to take to market. In 2019 the project won VisitEngland’s Outstanding Contribution to Tourism Award.

Chris brings together his successful career in tourism and marketing with his own experience of hosting experiences. Participants in all of his webinars get to benefit from this with practical advice and solutions.

You are welcome to join us for one or both of these events. Space is limited, so we suggest booking early to avoid disappointment.

For those of you who cannot make these in-person sessions, there will also be a series of FREE webinars:

Wednesday 19th April – Webinar – How to Market your Tourism Business

Tuesday 25th April – Webinar – How to Reach New Markets & Audiences – A Guide to Travel Trade

Getset Adapt business sessions

The Getset Adapt programme aims to help businesses recover, adapt and thrive. 

Their upcoming Business Sessions can be viewed here They are all taking place at Leonardo Hotel, Exeter 

Business Resilience – Mastering the art of survival in challenging times  on Wed 29 March. 10am – 1.30pm

Ask the Expert – get the answers to your burning questions on Wed 29 March. 2-4.30pm 

Marketing for Success – Making Sense of the Digital World on Thurs 30 March 10am – 1.30pm

Leadership & Management for Small Businesses on Thursday 30 March. 2-4.30pm

Bideford Food and Drink Event 1st April

eat:Festivals will be organising eat:Bideford a one day food and drink festival and they are on the hunt for local food & drink producers to take part.

The team specialise in one day events that bring together lots of producers, entertainers and reasons to stay all day. There is no entry fee for the public and there is an extensive publicity campaign to drive footfall. 

Head over to www.eatfestivals.org/apply to read more about the ethics, process and applications form links. Any queries or questions via hello@eatfestivals.org

Business Sustainability: Destination Net Zero

Thursday 27th April 2023, 1pm to 5pm. Petroc, Brannams campus

Small businesses are invited to an engaging and interactive presentation from 361 Community Energy on the challenges your business will face in the next decade to become more sustainable – and what support is available to achieve this. Not sure where to start? Experts will be on hand to provide advice and guidance.

The session will cover:

  • A re-cap of Scope 1-4 Carbon Emissions.
  • Understanding residual carbon
  • Insetting vs Offsetting
  • Carbon neutral vs Net zero
  • Effective Marketing & Communications
  • Available Accreditations and Recognition
  • On site renewable energy
  • The importance of collaborations

The session will also be the opportunity to speak to the North Devon Biosphere and learn more about their free ‘Biosphere Business Partner (BBP) Eco Accreditation Scheme’.

The event will also include a provided lunch, and business networking opportunities.

You can register your place for this event here.

This event is fully funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and delivered by Petroc’s ‘Big Benefits for Small Businesses’ project.

BIPC Devon – Free Women in Business Course

A FREE course designed by, and for, women who are starting and developing their own businesses is being run by the Business & Intellectual Property Centre in Devon (BIPC).

The 12 week course runs from March to May and features weekly webinars and workshops, interactive sessions, clinics and networking opportunities as well as 1-1 support. All sessions are recorded so you can catch-up on any that you may have missed at any time. The three-month course will cover:

  • ·Personal Development & Wellbeing
  • ·Business Planning & Sales
  • ·Branding & Marketing & Photography
  • ·Web Design & SEO
  • ·Tax, Accounting & Finance

The course is free, to enrol just visit: Women in Business – Business & IP Centre Devon (librariesunlimited.org.uk)

Maths Multiply with Learn Devon 

If you have employees aged 19 or over who don’t have a maths GCSE at grade C (or equivalent), Learn Devon’s Multiply programme can help. 

Learn Devon offers a range of free short courses and workshops to boost maths skills. Having a good understanding of basic maths can be incredibly helpful in day-to-day life from managing money to calculating costs. 

During each course, their friendly tutors will help learners to use basic maths skills in everyday situations. Through the courses, learners will be able to learn about measuring, multiplication, division, how to budget, using Excel formulas and more. 

Explore the courses here

Free Promotion for your Business on the Discover App – don’t get left behind by your competition!

Keen to promote your business for FREE? Then take up the option of a free listing through the Discover app. The app, which is free to download, uses the latest technology to connect users to the opportunities available to them on their doorsteps, including shops, restaurants, bars, events and experiences. 

Simply get in touch with Discover and they will help promote your business using your own branding, imagery and anything else you want to be included in the listing. 

Features of the app include:

  • each town has its own area on the app meaning it can be tailored to specific locations
  • details of local businesses, special offers and links to online purchases
  • places to eat and things to do, including walking, cycling, history and even nature trails!
  • ability to identify people’s location so when they open the app, it will show them locally available content
  • Events, cultural and leisure facilities promoted for free
  • allows users to tailor their feed to what interests and matters to them
  • push notifications if there’s a message that needs to be communicated quickly

Any businesses that would like to add information or have any questions should email hello@discoverapp.co.uk or download Discover free through the App Store or Google Play.

Devon Recovery Projects

Helping Devon Businesses Recover, Adapt, and Thrive

GetSet Adapt offers support to businesses across Devon to help them recover from the impacts of the pandemic and to build back better.

Through fully funded 1-2-1 support and bespoke advice, GetSet Adapt will review your current business model and accounts and help your business to develop a robust action plan to help with rapid recovery as well as enabling future growth and sustainability.  

The programme includes:

  • Business Diagnostic – Review of current business model and financials to determine recovery strategy and tactics, and what further support your business needs.
  • 1-2-1 Support – Dedicated face-to-face sessions with a specialist Business Advisor to determine bespoke action plan for recovery and growth
  • Workshops & Masterclasses – Tailored workshops/masterclasses around business resilience, business models and other key areas needed for recovery and growth
  • Online Learning – 24/7 access to interactive learning modules/resources library to help your business recover and grow

For more information, and to apply online click here

Get Local Authority Procurement Ready

If you want to win contracts from Local Government, Get Set to Tender will help you to better understand procurement and tenders and enable you to bid for opportunities in the public sector, and in turn support your local economy.

Through a blend of 2-hour group workshops and 1-2-1 support, Get Set to Tender will introduce you to procurement and tendering, explore how to access public sector opportunities, review your past bid performance and help with a live tender bid.

To apply online, please complete this short form or email admin@tendervictory.co.uk

Digital support for small businesses

New online support is available to help small and medium sized businesses to be more savvy with their digital skills.

It includes an online self-assessment tool, called the Digital Maturity Index, devised to enable businesses to gain an understanding of their digital strengths and weaknesses.

It also offers insights into digital tools that may help their business to develop and grow.

Once businesses have completed the self-assessment, they’ll receive targeted information that can guide them to access funded digital training courses and resources or further advice from one of the project’s expert digital advisors.

There’s also a Digital Course Finder, providing an extensive database of digital skills training courses delivered by training providers across Devon, as well as online digital skills courses.

You can read more about the programme in the story on our news page.

Support For Farmers

Navigating the Agricultural Transition Between 2021 and 2027, the government will reduce and then stop Direct Payments. Instead, farmers will be supported to improve the environment, improve animal health and welfare, and reduce carbon emissions. This is the biggest change in farm support for generations and all and a challenge for all Farmers as to how they will adapt.

The Future Farming Resilience Fund has been funded by Defra to allow organisations to support farmers and land managers with this transition. The support, which includes workshops, events and more, is free to any farmer or land manager currently in receipt of BPS payments. Find out more and book workshops

Slurry Infrastructure Grant now open Defra have opened applications for the Slurry Infrastructure grant, with farmers in England able to apply for grants of £25,000 – £250,000 towards the cost of slurry stores, covers and supporting equipment, to improve their slurry storage.

Before applying, take a look at the scheme guidance. It sets out who can apply, what the grant can pay for and the information you’ll need to provide when you apply. The first stage of the applications process is an online checker. You can find it on the Slurry Infrastructure grant page on GOV.UK.

Farming Futures Research and Development competition Defra have published guidance for the third round of the Farming Futures Research and Development competition focusing on agriculture and horticulture robotics.

In partnership with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Defra will match-fund projects, which will boost productivity and sustainable farming practices through the development of automation and robotic technologies on farm. Farmers, growers, businesses, and researchers are being invited to apply for a share of £12.5 million, with grants for projects worth between £500,000 and £1.5 million available.

Application process is now open. For more information, read the Future Farming Blog post.

Business Grants for Young Entrepreneurs in the South West

Are you a young entrepreneur, age 18-30 in Devon? Been trading for less than two years? You can apply for grant funding for South West based start-ups and businesses. Get access to a business mentor who can act as an independent sounding board for any business issue you would like to discuss and meet a network of other people in the same position as you. Find out more about the support available:  South West Enterprise Fund (SWEF) Business Grants for 18 – 30 Year Olds