Newport Business Grants

Business News from the City of Newport Issue No 204

Talk to PBL for further information on what Newport Business Grants could do for your business.

Newport

Newport Business Grants

Newport City Council is offering more financial assistance, part-funded by UK Government to local businesses.

Grants of up to £2,500 towards 50% of net costs are available for businesses outside the city centre BID area and grants up to £5,000 for those located within the city centre.

The grant programme is aimed at well-established or new companies to set up premises or for existing city businesses to accelerate their plans for growth. 

The grants will be offered as match funding for equipment that is essential for the establishment of a new business or enables the business to grow and create new job.

Potential applicants are being invited to get in touch with the council’s expert business services team first who can talk them through the process and assess their eligibility. The scheme is due to run until early 2025. 

Anyone interested should email: business.services@newport.gov.uk

 

Newport Business Support Programme

Have you been thinking about starting your own business, or want to know how to take your start-up to the next level?

Newport City Council are currently funding a Business Support Programme which consists of comprehensive entrepreneurship training and support programmes designed to assist aspiring entrepreneurs, early-stage start-ups, and established businesses in developing their skills, knowledge, and confidence needed to successfully launch and grow their ventures. Participants will have the opportunity to learn from experienced business professionals, industry experts, and successful entrepreneurs.  The scheme provides:

  • The 5-9 Club: an after-hours business course which offers a fully funded and structured accredited curriculum comprising workshops, training, mentoring, and networking opportunities. The 5-9 Club provides individuals who aspire to start their own business but have daytime commitments, such as childcare responsibilities or existing employment, with a convenient opportunity to gain crucial knowledge and skills in a supportive setting.
  • Alternatively, if evenings are inconvenient, then participants can instead attend the 9-noon Club, with sessions being delivered in the morning between 9am and noon.

If you are interested in being part of the next cohort then click here

Net Zero Newport Business and Community Decarbonisation Programme

At Newport City Council, we are committed to supporting businesses in Newport to decarbonise and reduce energy costs. Through our partnerships, we are supporting organisations to establish baseline carbon emissions, implement emission reduction strategies, and actively fund projects aligned with sustainability objectives. We provide both financial and non-financial support to local businesses to ensure that Newport can achieve Net Zero by 2050.

From April 2024, through UK government’s Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) as part of the levelling up agenda, Newport City Council will offer match funded grants up to £30,000 to local businesses through the Net Zero Newport Business and Community Decarbonisation Programme. This will cover building surveys, energy efficiency upgrades and installation of renewable energy infrastructure to cut costs and carbon. We will also offer FREE technical advice, decarbonisation plans, support, and networking opportunities.

We encourage interested businesses to proactively reach out to Newport City Council to discuss eligibility and the application process.

For further details, please contact  netzero@newport.gov.uk. We look forward to working with you in achieving your sustainability goals.

Diverse and Inclusive Supply Chains

Business in the Community (BITC) has a commitment to race equality. As part of BITC’s  Race at Work Charter, and we have launched a first of its kind survey in collaboration with YouGov.

The ‘Leadership, employees, and procurement’ survey aims to gather insights and perspectives from leaders like yourselves. It will uncover new and definitive evidence that identifies the levers for change to supply chains in businesses.

The Diverse and Inclusive Supply Chains project in collaboration with YouGov, aims to promote, diversity, equity, and inclusion in procurement practices among large organisations and small businesses.

Your input is invaluable as the survey will strive to better understand current procurement practices, identify opportunities for improvement, and ultimately foster more diverse and inclusive supply chains.

Complete the survey here

Newport City Centre Placemaking Plan - Have your say on the future of Newport

Residents and businesses of Newport are invited to have their say on the Newport City Centre Placemaking Plan, which aims to make Newport city centre a better place to live, work, learn, and visit.  

Your insight is needed to influence how the city centre should look, feel, and function – making Newport a better place to be.  

  • What’s good about Newport? 
  • What’s not-so-good about Newport? 
  • What does the future of Newport look like? 

We want to hear from you about all the above and more.  Join the Newport conversation at an in-person drop-in session: 

  • Tuesday 23/07/2024, 10-3pm at Cwtsh, Stow Hill NP20 4HA 
  • Wednesday 24/07/2024,10-3pm at The Place (Newport City Centre), NP20 4AL 
  • Wednesday 31/07/2024, 10-3pm at Maindee Triangle, Maindee NP18 8EE 
  • Saturday 03/08/2024, 10-1pm at Phyllis Maud Performance Space, Pillgwenlly NP20 2GW 

Not able to make it? Fill in our online survey before 28/07/2024: Placemaking Plan Survey For more info click here

Help make Newport a better place to be!

Newport City Council Local City Centre Rate Relief Scheme 2024/25

This is a local scheme, to reduce rates in the city centre to assist existing city centre, funded by Newport City Council businesses and encourage greater levels of occupancy.

The scheme aims to provide support for eligible occupied properties by offering a discount of 25% on non-domestic rates bills for such properties.

The following criteria will be used to assess eligibility for the Newport City Centre Rate Relief Scheme.

  • The property must be located within the Newport city centre BID area.
  • The property must have a rateable value of £50,000 or less.
  • The ratepayer must have the necessary permissions to carry out the business.
  • The property must not be occupied by a charity or similar organisation that receives either mandatory or discretionary rate relief.
  • The business being run from the property must be in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors as defined by the Welsh Government Retail, Leisure and Hospitality rate relief scheme 2024-25.
  • The business must not have received more than £300k in state aid since January 2021 and is eligible to claim this relief under the Small Amounts of Assistance rules.

For businesses occupying previously empty premises all the conditions as above apply plus:

  • The ratepayer must own or have signed a commercial lease with a minimum of 12 months to run.
  • There must be evidence that the business is trading, and rent is being paid.
  • The premises must have been unoccupied at the start of the lease.
  • No relief will be awarded until the property is occupied and trading.
  • In the case of a business moving from one premises to another within the city centre, relief will be paid on the new premises only if the property is larger and more staff are being employed.
  • In the case of a new business, a detailed business plan must be supplied.
  • The property being used is not excessively large for the business that is being carried out.

In all cases the council will reserve the right to decline to pay any applications that it considers have been created to take advantage of scheme.

The rate relief will end when one of the following occurs:

  • The business ceases to trade.
  • The property becomes unoccupied.
  • Action is taken by a statutory body that prevents the business from operating.

Apply here for the NCC Local City Centre Rate Relief Scheme 2024-25