Bespoke support that grows and scales innovative businesses.

Innovate UK EDGE is a key part of the UK innovation agency’s investment in the innovative businesses that drive economic growth. It complements Innovate UK project funding with intensive, bespoke, specialist-led support for ambitious businesses.

High-growth, innovative businesses benefit from the skills and experience of a dedicated innovation and growth specialist to identify the most effective ways to accelerate its growth.

Innovate UK EDGE brings a range of services to help ambitious, high growth, innovative SMEs scale and grow. We help businesses in:

• Exploiting business innovation

• Sourcing funding and finance

• Opening new markets

Our specialists can draw on resources such as our programmes, events, innovation & international networks and their domain expert colleagues.

To find out more about Innovate UK EDGE, get in touch.

Essex County Council is launching a new funded loyalty scheme for high street businesses: Essex+. (Pronounced ‘Essex Plus’.) Essex+ is a free loyalty card that can be used across participating businesses in Essex. There will be a physical Essex+ card and an accompanying app.

Customers will collect loyalty points as they spend, and track their rewards using the app. The scheme is open to retail, hospitality, leisure, and cultural businesses. It is currently in the pilot phase and will be rolled out to six areas over 12 months. In line with the Council’s Levelling Up strategy, these districts are Basildon, Braintree, Brentwood, Chelmsford, Castle Point, and Maldon.

The business benefits

By signing up to the Essex+ Reward Scheme, businesses will get:

• access to Piggy platform, including the opportunity to show off your rewards to local customers.

• access to a suite of e-marketing tools, including promotional email and e-newsletter templates.

• a broadcasting system to deliver campaigns.

• useful data insights on footfall, customer behaviour, and buying trends.

• a digital onboarding pack and access to training and support sessions.

• Essex+ window decals and till stickers.

Essex County Council will fund this until 31st March 2023.

Find out more

Electric Car Guide is a non-commercial EV guidance site that offers a wealth of information on electric cars. They support businesses with educational guides and resources to help businesses transition from petrol cars to electric cars.

Their Business EV info hub features in-depth guides and actionable steps that businesses can take to adopt electric vehicles & charging infrastructure, offering resources such as:

• A Guide to HMRC EV Mileage Rates,

• Benefit in Kind (BIK) Rules for EVs,

• A Guide to Electric HGVs,

• Getting an Electric Van for Your Business.

To find out more, visit the Business EV Information Hub

The Essex Climate Action Commission has put together an advice pack that has been specifically developed to help small and medium-sized businesses across Essex access the most relevant information in relation to climate change and sustainability, with tips and ideas throughout to help your business to thrive whilst keeping its impact on the environment low.

View the Pack Here

Whether you’re an SME or sole trader, your customers, staff and others you deal with trust you with their personal information, such as their contact details, payment information and more.

It’s important to make sure you’re using these details in the right way.

Help is at hand. The ICO is the UK’s regulator for data protection law, and will give you simple advice and tips on how to use people’s information fairly and securely. Thousands of SMEs like you access this support each year.

Read the ICO’s simple beginner's guide to data protection

Our free support service is available for businesses looking to create a more inclusive workplace and support employees with learning disabilities and/or neurodiverse needs.

We can help you with:

Consultation and assessment needs

Accessibility audits and recommendations

Policy and procedure development

Community engagement and partnerships

Accessibility certification assistance

Start your journey today and find out more by

emailing getsetforwork@getsetuk.co.uk or by

visiting www.getsetuk.co.uk/getsetforwork

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service is committed to working with local businesses to reduce the number of deliberate and accidental fires in commercial premises.

The Service’s dedicated Business Engagement team provide advice and support to Essex businesses in order to promote legal compliance (under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005), practical advice and direct support at business events across Essex.

We're committed to simplifying fire safety to help keep businesses safe from fire.

Get in touch:

Website: essex-fire.gov.uk/business

Email: business.safety@essex-fire.gov.uk

Sign up to our Business Newsletter: essex-fire.gov.uk/signup

With over 40 facts and figures on AI, our report offers practical advice on maximising the capabilities of the technology to level up businesses’ customer journeys. It includes statistics such as:

• AI can potentially replace 10 to 30 percent of the jobs in the UK

• 57 percent of customers prefer to contact an organisation's customer service team via phone

• 78 percent of UK consumers still want to speak to a human even with technology in place

View Here

Are you interested in optimizing data usage to help your company grow? Discover how a data analytics strategy can do just that in this guide from Quantexa

https://www.quantexa.com/resources/data-analytics-strategy-guide/