Heathrow will host our next breakfast forum on the 12th July at the Runnymede on Thames, Egham.

This event will enable your business to find out about current and future business opportunities at Heathrow Airport, and provide the opportunity to feedback your views to Phil Wilbraham, Heathrow Expansion Programme Director, on the proposed expansion.

Heathrow is carrying out an extensive consultation as part of its Development Consent Order preparation and while its plans are at an advanced stage, they are by no means set. The airport is keen to hear and respond to the concerns of business as well as work with them to unlock the opportunities which the expansion creates.

Mr Wilbraham welcomes an interactive session with opportunities for questions and informal discussion during the event.

In order to manage numbers, places are limited to 50. Booking in advance is required via the Eventbrite page here.

image: Business Runnymede and Heathrow Airport Limited

The Enterprise M3 Growth Hub are offering bespoke, one-hour clinics for businesses in ICT and digital media, aerospace and defence, pharmaceuticals, and professional and business services.

The Growth Hub is fully funded to help businesses located in Runnymede with their plans for growth.

These confidential business clinics will focus on:

• exploration of new markets
• developing innovation
• increasing workforce
• sustainable growth

If you are interested in booking a clinic, please email us at [email protected]. Eligibility rules apply.

image: Enterprise M3 Growth Hub

Building Digital UK (BDUK), part of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, is working to deliver superfast broadband and local full fibre networks across the country.

The Government's ambition is that by 2033 there will be full fibre coverage of the UK. Whilst the Government anticipate that the commercial network providers will connect approximately 90% of UK premises to full fibre by this time, they acknowledge that some intervention is required to ensure the remaining 10% of premises are not left behind.

They have identified a number of ways to address this, one being the BDUK vouchers listed below.

There are three different BDUK voucher schemes that Surrey residents and businesses may be eligible for. All of the following vouchers can be used by a community group as part of a community fibre partnership with a supplier, such as Openreach's Community Fibre Partnership and depending on the eligibility of premises, in terms of both location and existing download speeds, it may be possible for a community group to combine different vouchers.

The three voucher schemes:

• The Better Broadband Scheme (www.basicbroadband.culture.gov.uk) - The Better Broadband Scheme offers subsidised basic broadband connection to anyone unable to get download speeds of at least 2 Mbps, and who will not benefit from the superfast broadband roll out within the next 12 months. If a resident is interested in getting a better broadband connection they will first need to make enquires with suppliers registered to the scheme. This scheme ends at the end of 2019.
• The Gigabit Voucher Scheme (www.gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk) - This voucher scheme is targeted towards SMEs that can each claim up to £2,500 against the cost of connection either individually or as part of a group project. Residents can benefit from the scheme as part of a group project which also includes businesses, and can claim for a voucher up to a value of £500. Businesses and residents benefitting from these vouchers would be required to take up a service with a minimum of 100 Mbps download speed.
• The Rural Gigabit Voucher Scheme(www.gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk/rural) - This allows a community group (2 or more residents and/or business premises) in a DEFRA designated rural area to get access to vouchers valued at £3,500 for each SME, and up to £1,500 per residential premise to support the cost of installing new gigabit-capable connections. Residents and/or businesses benefitting from these vouchers would be required to take up a 30 Mbps+ download service.

If you are interested in investigating these voucher schemes further, the first step would be to contact one of the eligible suppliers here and discuss your requirements. The supplier would check your existing download speeds, and if applicable your DEFRA eligibility, before confirming whether or not you would be eligible for a voucher, and if so, which one. Terms and conditions can be seen here.

Residents and businesses interested in either of the two Gigabit Vouchers should note that they have a finite amount of funding, and it is therefore important to investigate these schemes as soon as possible.

image: Department for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport

The North Surrey Division of Surrey Police's Designing Out Crime team are available on request to give specialist crime reduction advice to members of the public and businesses about personal, premises and property security.

Vic Smith and Mike Bessent carry out home or office visits to members of the public who have been, or are concerned they may become victims of crime. They also consult with building developers, architects and council planning departments regarding new developments and refurbishments.

The Designing Out Crime team are specialist problem-solvers and can assist in crime and antisocial behaviour reduction campaigns and strategies at all levels.

You can contact the team on 01483 571212 or at [email protected].

image: Surrey Police

Visit England's new free Business Advice Hub helps tourism businesses to grow, with free resources, advice and toolkits.

The Hub includes practical information on what to do when starting up, employing staff, how to be legally compliant and where to find local support. Become 'internationally ready' with the new Inbound Tourism Toolit or improve your online presence using the Digital Marketing Toolkit.

Explore the hub now.

image: commons.wikimedia.org

Almost £16m of European funding for projects linked to research, digital, clean growth and business expansion is up for grabs.

Enterprise M3 has organised the European Regional Development Fund Specification Launch and Partnering Event to promote their next round of ERDF calls that will open on Friday 28 June. These funds are guaranteed by the Treasury regardless of the outcome of Brexit, and projects can run up to December 2023.

The event, at the Living Planet Centre in Woking, will outline how the £15.7m of ERDR funding will be launched in four specifications for projects to focus on:

• R&D and commercialisation activities - worth £4.7m
• Digital growth - worth £1.5m
• SME growth - worth £6.8m
• Low carbon and energy - worth £2.7m.

You can find out more about the event and book a place here.

image: Enterprise M3

The number of UK companies reporting a cyber-attack has risen, despite the majority of business admitting they are under-prepared for breaches, research from Hiscox has revealed.

The research found that 55% of British businesses had faced an attack in 2019, compared to just 40% in 2018.

Perhaps more worryingly, almost three quarters of businesses were categorised as 'novices' when it came to cyber readiness. The insurer said they came across a large number of businesses who incorrectly assumed they were not at risk.

Hiscox surveyed more than 5,000 small, medium and large firms across seven countries, including the UK, Germany, the US, France, the Netherlands and Spain.

The research found that the percentage of firms scoring top marks on cyber security had fallen, with UK organisations doing particularly badly. British firms had the lowest cyber-security budgets, it said, spending less than $900,000 on average compared with $1.46m across the group.

New regulations have prompted action among British companies, though, with eight in ten UK firms saying they had made alterations since the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) last year.

For advice and guidance on cyber security, visit the National Cyber Security Centre's website here.

This story was first reported on by BBC News. Read it here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48017943

image: Flikr

Addlestone One

Smith & Western has arrived in Addlestone and is now open to the public.

The restaurant is the seventh Smith & Western venue in the UK, following openings in Royal Tunbridge Wells and Tilgate Park.

Open every day from 11am to 11pm, the Wild West inspired cuisine includes nachos, Buffalo wings, ballyhoo prawns, ribs, salads and steaks. They also have a varied kids menu and a vast vegetarian menu for you to choose from.

Also watch out for Nando's, the nation's favourite chicken restaurant, which will be occupying a prime location within the Addlestone One development. Located adjacent to the new Light Cinema, the restaurant makes a great choice for a family evening out.

The popular Afro-Portuguese inspired chicken restaurant is famed for flame grilled chicken dishes and wide range of Piri-Piri sauces, ranging from mild for the faint hearted to extra extra hot for the more hardened tastes.

Egham Gateway West

Everyman Cinemas has been confirmed as the tenant of the boutique cinema planned as part of the regeneration of Egham town centre.

The four-screen cinema, a key part of the Gateway West scheme, is estimated to open in 2021.

image: Places for People

Learn about the Local Enterprise Partnership's work to deliver prosperity through innovation in Hampshire and Surrey and their outstanding track record, at Enterprise M3's Annual General Meeting.

The event will be an opportunity to hear how the LEP has invested across the Enterprise M3 area, from clean growth at Marwell Wildlife's Tropical House to cyber-security at Royal Holloway.

The key note speaker, Professor Dame Wendy Hall, director of the Web Science Institute at the University of Southampton, will share her expert insights into the impact of Artificial Intelligence and the future of the internet.

The meeting will also provide the chance to discuss future investment plans as part of the LEP's emerging local industrial strategy to help businesses, families, and communities in your area to prosper further.

This free event includes a networking lunch and will be an excellent opportunity to meet other senior decision makers who are influencing the growth and prosperity of the region.

Find out more and book your place here.

image: Enterprise M3

Please help strengthen Runnymede’s local business community by encouraging your neighbouring businesses to sign up to Business Runnymede.

And if your business has news or information they would like to share with their local community, please do get in touch with us at [email protected]. All ideas are welcome.