Welcome to this round-up of the latest free support for your business.
Business Support.
Business Gateway Stirling -?Meet Our Advisers Rural 1-2-1 Appointments
Working with Stirling’s Rural Business Hubs these one-to-one meetings are an opportunity for businesses based in and around Rural Stirling to discuss their business with a Business Adviser. Aberfoyle:?Mon 27?Mar? Bannockburn:?Thu 30 Mar Callander:?Tue 7 Mar Drymen:?Wed 29 Mar
Scottish Chambers of Commerce -?Q1 2023 survey?***Closes 13 March
Share your thoughts with the Scottish Chambers of Commerce so that they can lobby on your behalf!?The quarterly chamber survey plays an essential role in setting the business agenda and informing the most senior levels of government and policymaking of the challenges facing Scottish businesses
Need to speak to an?expert? This is your chance to access free?1-2-1 support. Thanks to UK Shared Prosperity Funding, we can fully fund a specialist consultant to work with you on a 1-2-1 basis for up to five days.
For example, specialists can help you with:
This is not an exhaustive list, we can support most projects which will support your business growth. Find out more?here.
Business events.
28 Feb 9.00 | The Highland Gate, Stirling
Flexible speed networking.?
28 Feb 9.30 - 12.30 | Online
Fair Work boosts innovation, reputation and staff well-being. This online workshop will help you implement Fair Work in your business.
16 Mar?9.30 - 12.30 | Stirling Enterprise Park?
Get started with Canva, the most popular online graphic design tool, with this overview of all the things you can do.
Forth Valley Employers Club -?The Importance of Upskilling and Talent Development in House
23 Mar 10.00 - 11.30 | Alloa Business Centre
In today's fast-paced environment, businesses must continuously adapt and evolve to remain competitive. Key ways to achieve this is through upskilling employees and talent development. This event will explore the importance of investing in the growth and development of your teams, and how it can lead to improved performance and increased business success.
Business Awards.
Scottish Passenger Transport Awards - Deadline 03 Mar
The Scottish Charity Awards - Deadline 17 Mar
Made in Scotland Awards - Deadline 27 Mar????
Funding.
The Scottish Government / Business Stream ?-?Water & Sewage Charge Exemption Scheme?***Closes 31 Mar
Charities and?Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs)?can apply for an exemption from water charges under the?Scottish Government’s Charity Exemption Scheme.
Once charity accounts have been submitted to OSCR for the most recent financial year before 1 July, your organisation can apply for an exemption on water and waste water charges.
The National Lottery and Creative Scotland -??Open Fund for Organisations (artistic, creative and cultural)?
Organisations can apply for between ￡1,000 and ￡100,000 to support creative activity that lasts up to 18 months.?
The types of activity eligible for funding are:?
The funding programme can also help organisations to undertake business and organisational development that will:
The funding programme is open all year round, with no deadlines - organisations can apply at any time.
The Workforce Innovation Voucher scheme is between ￡1,000 and ￡5,000 which can be used to develop a company’s workforce in partnership with a college or university.
Knowledge Transfer Network provides support with finding a suitable academic partner who has the right specialist expertise to progress your Research and Development project.
Eligible businesses must be:?
If you've completed the Prince's Trust Explore Enterprise Course, you can apply for a Test My Business Idea grant of up to ￡500 to help you try a new business idea. When you first contact the Trust, you'll be paired with a caseworker who will get to know you and your business idea through some initial induction meetings. You'll complete some documents to get set up in the system, then you can enroll on the Prince's Trust Explore Enterprise Course.
The Explore Enterprise Course includes 7 sessions that cover the basics of self-employment, HMRC and finance, pricing and sales, marketing, networking, cashflows, and business plans. Read more about the Explore Enterprise Course.
Skills Development Scotland -?Flexible Workforce Development Fund?***Closes 31 July
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The Flexible Workforce Development Fund (FWDF) helps employers in Scotland access workforce training opportunities to upskill or reskill their employees.
The training is offered in high-quality learning environments across Scotland, such as colleges, the Open University in Scotland (OUiS) and other training providers.
Innovate UK ?-?Collecting flexible plastic packaging waste at home?challenge?***Closes 12 April
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will invest up to ￡250,000 from the Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Programme.
The aim of this competition is to fund projects that will develop innovative ideas to help with the collection of flexible plastic packaging waste from households. The ultimate goal being the reduction of the amount of waste ending up in landfill or in the environment.
Your project must:
To support the uptake of electric vehicles across Scotland, Transport Scotland has made grant funding available through Energy Saving Trust to help organisations install electric vehicle charging infrastructure on their premises.
Funding is currently available for chargepoints for sole use by occupants, staff and visitors. You can access this funding if:
Funds of up to ￡400 are available to?community groups and organisations who are interested in setting up food activities across NHS Forth Valley.
This includes opportunities where people can share or increase their food and budgeting skills such as cooking groups, supper clubs or lunch clubs.
Trustees make grants of between ￡500 and ￡5000 to enable weavers to:?
- purchase special equipment to pursue their craft in a creative manner.?
- enjoy a sabbatical period to reassess the creative nature of their work.?
- undertake a specific project or projects in furtherance of their craft which might not normally be possible.?
- develop the craft in any other way in which the Trustees, at their absolute discretion, think fit.?
Scottish Enterprise -?Low Carbon Manufacturing Challenge Fund?***Closes?31 March 2026
The Low Carbon Manufacturing Challenge Fund helps Scottish manufacturing companies that wish to pursue business growth by developing low-carbon products, processes or services. This may be achieved through pure research and development (R&D), capital investment or environmental aid support.
sportscotland -?Sports Facilities Fund?***Closes 01 April 2023
Sports Facilities Fund (SFF) supports capital projects that create or improve places where people take part in sports and physical activity. Supported projects?provide opportunities for people to get involved in and participate in sports & physical activity.?
Awards of up to ￡100,000 are available for sports facility projects within clubs and?communities, schools and?education or performance sports environments.??
The Investing in Enterprise Fund offers?blended grant and loan investment?to eligible social enterprises, community organisations and charities. The fund can invest between ￡10,000 and ￡250,000 per organisation; up to 25% (￡62,500) of this can be in the form of a non-repayable grant and the remainder a repayable loan.
RSA funding is designed to support projects that will help create jobs and a greener economy. If your company is in need of at least ￡100,000 in grant funding, check your eligibility and start the application process today.
The Scottish Land Fund supports rural and urban communities to become more resilient and sustainable through the ownership and management of land and land assets.
The fund offers grants of between ￡5,000 and ￡1 million to help communities take ownership of the land and buildings that matter to them, as well as practical support to develop their aspirations into viable projects.
It is funded by the Scottish Government and delivered in partnership with The National Lottery Community Fund and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
This is a research and development (R&D) grant for small and medium-sized businesses that aims to support high risk, highly ambitious projects. It covers conducting feasibility studies to show how ideas could work in the real world and supports activities that have a commercial endpoint.
The Zero Emission Mobility Innovation Fund (ZEMIF) provides discretionary grants to Scottish-based companies to help them manufacture and deploy components, systems and vehicles that will help to reduce the carbon emissions of heavy duty vehicles (HDVs) in Scotland and globally.
Screen Scotland is aiming to support the?growth of the screen sector through increased funding and support for film and television production, an increase in specialist staff and further investment in skills, festivals, audiences and education.
Open funds include:?
Forth Valley Business Facebook GroupThis group has been created by STEP to provide a platform for like-minded individuals, groups and businesses in Stirling to support each other. Join Group
Stirling, Falkirk and Clacks Jobs Facebook GroupThis group has been created by STEP to provide a platform for business owners and job seekers to connect and support employment in the area.?Join Group
This update is created by STEP in collaboration with Business Gateway Stirling to bring you?a single source of business support and information relevant to your business. If there is additional information you would like to see included please contact [email protected].?