ECP Growth Hub Business Partnership
Reengage your business, employees, and clients; providing support to restructure your business and help improve business efficiencies, processes, and technology.
Business support available to you
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Visit Britain / Visit England
Business Support Hub – Travel and Tourism
Topics currently covered on the Hub are:
- Start your business
The key target markets in your destination, guidance on the practicalities of setting up a new business and where to get help from mentors.
- Find funding
Funding options for your business and guidance on managing finances more effectively to maximise your profit margins.
- Know your legal obligations
On what grounds you can refuse a booking, what licences you need to provide TVs and how to comply with health & safety regulations. You can also buy a printed copy of the popular Pink Book: legislation for tourist accommodation.
- Understand health and safety
Your legal responsibilities, how to run a safe business and create a Fire Risk Assessment using a free online tool.
- Make your business accessible
Guidance, tools and resources to help you provide access for all – and gain a share of a £12 billion market. You can also create an Accessibility Guide for your businesses using a free online tool.
- Make your business sustainable
How to save money, reduce your impact and win more customers with practical sustainability tips and case studies.
- Employ and manage staff
Step-by-step guides to finding and employing staff, guidance on managing employees and information on apprenticeships.
- Find training
Training courses for you and your staff on customer service, digital skills and inclusion.
- Get quality assessed
How to get an official star rating or accreditation for your business from the national tourist board.
- Enter the Awards for Excellence
How to apply for one of the highest accolades in English tourism – the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence.
- Market your business
VisitEngland/VisitBritain marketing opportunities, our Digital Marketing Toolkit and best practice communication guides.
- Attract international visitors
Guidance to help your business get ‘international ready’, including extensive research on overseas markets and our Inbound Tourism Toolkit.
- Find local support
An online tool that tells you who your local Destination Organisation (local tourist board) an Growth Hubs are.
Federation of Small Businesses (FSB)
As experts in business, we offer our members a wide range of vital business services including advice, financial expertise, support and a powerful voice in government. Our mission is to help smaller businesses achieve their ambitions. We are a not-for-profit organisation, led by a team of our members, which exists to serve the small business community across the UK.
Starting at just £147 in the first year plus a £30 joining fee for businesses with no employees we pride ourselves in supporting smaller businesses like yours.
Open to FSB members and non members:
FSB Coronavirus Hub (includes free Webinars)
FSB Membership Benefits include:
Association of Business Mentors
The Association of Business Mentors (ABM) is the professional association working to improve and professionalise business mentoring across the UK.
ABM mentors are highly experienced business people who have either started or run their own business, or played a significant operational role in such a business. As well as working in SMEs, some of our members also have experience in running a significant business unit in a large corporate.
ABM mentors provide all types of support to businesses, from strategy and planning, sales and marketing, HR, finance and growth to operations, IT/technology and much more.
The South East Physics Network (SEPnet)
The South East Physics Network is a consortium of nine partner university physics departments (Hertfordshire, Kent, Portsmouth, Queen Mary, Royal Holloway, Southampton, Surrey, Sussex and The Open University) working together to advance and sustain physics as a strategically important subject for the UK economy and its science base in the South East of England. SEPnet works with industry to address skills needs and creates opportunities for industry and SEPnet partners to work more closely together.
There has never been a better time to study physics. STEM graduates, especially those in physics, are in great demand in many sectors including defence, energy, engineering, finance, IT and many more.
SEPnet:
- offers employers access to the best and brightest students
- works with industry to ensure physics graduates and postgraduates are qualified to meet industry needs
- provides a first point of contact for organisations to link with physics academics for business and research collaboration.
SEPnet’s Employer Engagement Programme includes:
- 8-week industry placements for physics undergraduates (currently seeking placements with companies, see the SEPnetwebsite for details)
- Industry placements/consultancy challenges for physics PhD students
- Industry site visits and tours
- Employer talks and workshops
- Work shadowing and industry mentoring opportunities
- Industry and researcher networking events.
For further details or clarification of any of the information above please contact danny.atkins@port.ac.uk
Student Placement and Employability Centre
We are seeking placements in all sectors and industries, for students from the Faculty of Technology, which covers areas such as computing, maths, physics and engineering. Companies get free range to select their preferred candidates, and the student becomes a full time employee of the company on a fixed term contract.
The Student Placement and Employability Centre in the Faculty of Technology can advise on procedures and how a student may fit in to, and provide benefit to, your organisation – including creating a graduate pipeline, the potential for ongoing succession planning, a point of contact with the University, cost effective short term resource and up to date, technical knowledge and innovative thinking.
The team also provides free of charge advertising and recruitment administration services to help facilitate the process, to make recruiting a student stress free.
For further details please contact Emily Parry, Placement and Employability Manager, at tech.placements@port.ac.uk.
Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs
The European exchange programme for Entrepreneurs.
Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs helps provide aspiring European entrepreneurs with the skills necessary to start and/or successfully run a small business in Europe. New entrepreneurs gather and exchange knowledge and business ideas with an experienced entrepreneur, with whom they stay and collaborate for a period of 1 to 6 months.
As a new entrepreneur, you will benefit from on-the-job training in a small or medium-sized enterprise in another Participating Country. You can also benefit from access to new markets, international cooperation and potential possibilities for collaboration with business partners abroad.
Mr Toni Saraiva -info@eiscltd.eu
Becoming an Employer
Having employees isn’t just about paying them. It’s also about understanding responsibilities such as statutory payments and sending regular reports and payments to HMRC.
Use the online guide on becoming an employer to find out about: taking on staff, running a payroll, sick pay and end-of-year tasks and what to do when an employee leaves.
HMRC also has a new series of five short videos to help and support new employers:
New employers the basics
When and how to pay PAYE
Payroll software and sending reports to HMRC
How to send your final PAYE submission
How to issue P60s
Artswork
A registered charity, we are a leading advocate for the importance of arts and cultural practice, we are a catalyst for developing young people’s skills and employability in the creative and cultural industries.
We work to connect and collaborate across sectors to improve children and young people’s lives. We also are a source of inspiration and practical support for those engaging with young people, enhancing their expertise and building bridges between cultural and educational organisations to strengthen infrastructure, facilitate partnerships, and sustain access to the arts and culture.
Supported using public funding by Arts Council England.