Micro businesses, companies producing food products and cycle networks in the rural areas covered by the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership will receive a £3million investment boost.

Rural businesses wanting support to improve demand for their agricultural and horticultural products, or to create more jobs, or companies or organisations intent on improving countryside cycle networks for tourism or recreational use, can apply for funding from today (Thursday January 26).

Money for the three programmes is being made available via the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) portion of D2N2’s current EU funding. The D2N2 LEP is the private-sector led partnership of businesses, local authorities, skills and training providers, and community and voluntary services which promotes economic growth across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.

The details of the three new programmes which project organisers can bid for funding from – via the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) website – are:

Food Processing: £501,253 is being made available to support the growth of food and drink processing businesses.

Priority will be given to projects which:

• Create new, higher skilled jobs.
• Develop strong supply chains within the D2N2 area.
• Support businesses’ growth via export and accessing new international markets, or increase the volume of products exported.
• Bring in new techniques or processes which increase production and productivity.

Project bidders must apply for at least £50,000 in grant aid. The maximum grant is £501,253.

The programme will be open for applications for 18 months, while funding is available.

Business Development: £1.6million is being made available to invest in rural micro and small business ventures, including farming businesses diversification into non-farming activities (for example, land used for tourism or leisure-based attractions).

Priority will be given to projects which:

• Develop high growth businesses linked to D2N2’s eight key commercial sectors: transport equipment manufacturing, life sciences, food and drink manufacturing, construction, transport and logistics, the visitor economy, creative and digital industries, and low carbon goods and services.
• Create new jobs within the business applying for funding.
• Develop new higher skilled jobs within the applicant business.
• Demonstrate business innovation, boosting productivity by introducing or developing new technologies or processes within the business applying.

Project bidders must apply for at least £35,000 in grant aid. The maximum grant is £170,000.

The programme will be open for applications for 18 months, while funding is available.

Rural Tourism Infrastructure: £928,247 will be used to develop rural tourism infrastructure, particularly recreational cycling, in D2N2’s rural areas.

Project bidders can apply for capital funding to build schemes which connect rural attractions, encouraging more recreational cycling and greater numbers of visitors to come to those areas.

Priority will be given to projects which:

• Enable new or existing attractions to improve their offer to visitors, encouraging longer stays and increased tourism spending in the rural D2N2 LEP area.
• Extend the tourism season beyond the usual May to October period.
• Improve access links to and between visitor attractions, including through development of multi-user paths.
• Support cycling’s development, building on recent successes such as the 2015 and 2016 ‘Tour of Britain’ cycling events.
• Create new skilled jobs in applicant businesses.
• Develop visitor accommodation where there is a demand for additional accommodation, as detailed in the D2N2 LEP area’s Destination Management Plan or LEP Tourism Strategy.

Project bidders must apply for at least £50,000 in grant aid. The maximum grant is £170,000.

The programme will be open for applications for 12 months, while funding is available.

The D2N2 LEP will be holding a free ‘Rural Means Business Conference’, to give potential applicants more information on available funding through the three EAFRD programmes. It will be held from 10am to 3pm on Wednesday February 15 at the Bramley Building, Nottingham Trent University’s Brackenhurst Campus, Southwell (NG25 0QF). It will include information on grants available to help rural enterprises through both EAFRD and the LEADER European funding programme.

Peter Richardson, Chair of the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, said:-

“It’s estimated around a third of jobs in the D2N2 LEP’s area are based in rural areas, but employers there tend to have less access to the benefits of infrastructure and business development opportunities seen in urban areas.

“Targeted funding via the D2N2 LEP, such as the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development grants being made available from today, help level the playing field; growing jobs and businesses which people living in rural areas rely on.”

The University of Derby Chesterfield Campus are looking for pre-start or start-up businesses to fill the incubation units at their new Innovation Centre.

With funding and support from the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership and the European Regional Development Fund, the Innovation Centre hopes to provide local business a space to incubate new business ideas, increase their speed of growth and de-risk the process of developing new products.

Professor Kathryn Mitchell, Vice-Chancellor of the University, discussed the potential impact of the Campus and Innovation Centre on the town at the opening of the Campus in October 2016, commenting:-

“We hope to make a big difference to Chesterfield in the future.”

Investing in making an impact in the future of the town alongside the future of the students the Innovation Centre will provide a space for local business to work. The Centre can incubate up to six new enterprises at any one time, providing space for two or three members of staff. By offering stepped rental charges they hope many young new business will take advantage of this opportunity.

The Centre will also offer tailored business support supplying advice and guidance, funding, knowledge transfer, facilities and talent to facilitate accelerated growth. The facilities are aimed at supporting new businesses, particularly within Health and Engineering, to develop and innovate in order to be sustainable and ultimately grow.

Facilities will include:

• Large multi-material UV Cure 3D printing machine
• FDM 3D printing machines
• Multi-axis CNC wire cut machine
• Articulated arm scanning and reverse engineering software
• Bench top scanning electron microscope
• Sputter coating machine

Based within the same building is the FabLab, a workshop area providing access to equipment and expertise in design prototyping, materials analysis and testing.

Arvato has been recognised as one of the UK’s best apprentice employers by the National Apprenticeship Service.

The business process outsourcing (BPO) partner, which works with several public sector organisations and international businesses in the UK, including Renault, BMW and Slough Borough Council, has been featured in the annual Top 100 Apprenticeship Employer List. Inclusion recognises those organisations with the highest standards of excellence in employing apprentices.

The judges were impressed by Arvato’s apprenticeship programme, which has led to more than two thirds of trainees moving into full-time roles and a promotion rate of 69 per cent for those that become permanent employees, far outstripping the national average of 23 per cent.

Debra Maxwell, CEO, CRM Solutions, Arvato UK & Ireland, said:-

“Apprenticeships not only provide an important route into the workplace for young people, but they deliver a fresh source of ideas and can help build up the skills sets and talent organisations need for the future.

“We take our responsibilities to the local communities we work in very seriously and supporting youth employment and training is key to this. We are proud that our efforts in this area have been recognised through the inclusion in such a prestigious list.”

Arvato’s programme provides a 12-month apprenticeship with an NVQ Level 2 qualification in business administration or ICT and vocational placements across a range of departments, including finance, procurement and customer service. Since 2009, 89 trainees have completed an apprenticeship with Arvato. The company currently employs over 1,400 people across nine sites in the UK.

The top 100 list, now in its 13^th year, recognises organisations that have apprenticeships at the core of their business and are benefitting from growing their own talent and developing a motivated, skilled and qualified workforce.

Britain succeeds when the Midlands succeed, MPs were told this morning.

The day after Prime Minister Theresa May delivered her Industrial Strategy Green Paper – promising that business needs would steer the Government’s Brexit negotiations – the discussion at Westminster Hall was about how the Midlands could help ensure Britain’s success outside the EU.

MPs taking part in the debate, secured by Chris White, Member for Warwick and Leamington, on behalf of the Midlands Engine for Growth, heard how the Midlands contributes to UK plc by championing the industrial, commercial, economic and cultural assets of the region.

The aim of the Midlands Engine, backed by 11 Local Enterprise Partnerships and East Midlands Chamber, is to support businesses in the region to realise their full potential and to promote the region to investors, both domestic and overseas, that the Midlands is a great place in which to invest.

The Midlands has a £209.9bn economy, generating 13% of the UK’s Gross Value Added (GVA) and is responsible for almost a quarter of the UK’s total manufacturing capability. About 4.6 million people work in the Midlands, accounting for nearly a fifth of the UK’s economy.

And the region’s universities, science base, global firms and supply chain networks are at the cutting-edge of research and innovation key to driving productivity growth, the MPs heard.

Derby North MP Amanda Solloway told the debate:-

“The success of the Midlands engine is incredibly important to me.

“In 2015, I was in attendance when the previous Chancellor [George Osborne] launched his vision for the Midlands Engine, a 15-year vision for our region.

“All who attended were excited at the potential benefits this plan would have on the region, creating hundreds of thousands more jobs, opening up more trade routes around the globe and making overall improvements to quality of life in the Midlands.

“The vision of boosting our regional economy by £34bn is a target we can reach, but to do so we must come together and cooperate across all sectors, private and public.”

Lillian Greenwood, MP for Nottingham South, said:-

“The Midlands Engine is all of us who stand up together to develop, promote and attract people to come to us to study, work and live in the East Midlands.”

She spoke at length about the benefits HS2 would bring to the region but then criticised Government for not committing to full electrification of the Midland Main Line rail route, which she described as “simply not good enough”.

Chris White, who led the debate, said that:-

“Developing a local identity can be a catalyst for success” but that advanced engineering, research and development and closing the skills gap would be integral to regional success.

Chris Hobson, Director of Policy at East Midlands Chamber, said after the debate:-

“We know what our strengths are in the East Midlands. What we need to do is make sure we realise the full potential of those strengths with investment from Government to support inward investment to the region and in infrastructure and connectivity such as HS2 and electrification of Midland Main Line.

“Yesterday, the Prime Minister announced the Industrial Strategy Green Paper with a strong focus on the Northern Powerhouse but the Midlands is the manufacturing and innovation backbone of the UK and that is a strength that the Government should be selling around the world.

“We have seen Government talk the talk, now is the time for it start walking the walk by delivering a full package of support for the Midlands Engine to ensure not only that it is attractive to investors but also that the support exists to help regional companies which want to diversify and start exporting.

“Midlands businesses are driving the economy and it’s time that Government recognised the achievements of regional firms and, through the Midlands Engine, backed their endeavours with a full package of support.”

Prime Minister Theresa May has given her clearest indication yet that the needs of business will play a prominent role in Britain’s negotiations to leave the EU.

Speaking at her first regional Cabinet meeting, in the north-west today, she launched a Green Paper setting out her Government’s planned industrial strategy for post-Brexit Britain.

It promises that Government will take an active role in backing business.

Central to the strategy will be new “sector deals” and “major investment” in research and development to support the “industries of the future” and create more high-skilled, high-paid jobs.

She told the regional Cabinet meeting that to succeed after leaving the EU the UK needs a strategy to create a group of new industries to challenge the companies of today.

Mrs May said:-

“The modern industrial strategy will back Britain for the long term, creating the conditions where successful businesses can emerge and grow and backing them to invest in the long-term future of our country.”

She said the Government would offer support to help firms address challenges specific to their industry including changing regulations to remove barriers to innovation, using trade and investment deals to increase exports and helping to create new institutions to provide leadership, support innovation and boost skills.

Life sciences, the transition to ultra-low emission vehicles, industrial digitalisation, creative industries and improving competitiveness and skills in the nuclear industry are among the first sectors expected to receive Government help.

The Industrial Strategy Green Paper, which will be subject to consultation before Ministers return with more specific proposals, also sets out ideas to bolster institutions in each part of the country to support that region’s specific strength.

That could involve building up local trade bodies, creating new educational institutions, making it easier for firms to access finance outside London or getting a stronger business voice into local government.

Scott Knowles, Chief Executive at East Midlands Chamber, said:-

“This is the strongest indication yet from Mrs May that she is listening to what our members are telling us they want, which is that business must be the focus of the Government’s Brexit strategy.

“Implemented correctly, the new Industrial Strategy has the potential to provide the strong foundation of business and Government working together to underline the development of a successful UK outside of the EU.

“With a plethora of OEMs, well developed supply-chains, world-leading academic institutions and a location in the centre of the country, the East Midlands is a key place for delivering this.

“Recognising the opportunities that Brexit will bring, our members are already on the front foot in terms of improving their competitiveness, developing new markets and investing in the new technologies and ways of working that will put them at the head of the pack for growth.

“Government backing for these businesses – that have time and again demonstrated their appetite for growth, regardless of events – will demonstrate to both wider UK plc and the rest of the world that the UK backs winners and continues to be a place for those wanting excellence in reliability and quality.”

Fundraisers are celebrating after the appeal to build the new NGS Macmillan Unit at Chesterfield Royal Hospital today passed £2 million. With the centre expected to be completed in Spring 2017, Macmillan is appealing for local people to help raise the remaining amount.

Currently cancer care and treatment is given from different clinics across the Chesterfield Royal hospital site, and the chemotherapy unit is no longer large enough for the number of patients it sees.  There is also only a limited information service.

The new state of the art centre will provide all cancer services and treatment in one place, delivered by a team of specialists. There will be an increase from 8 to 25 chemotherapy chairs / beds, plus a specialist Macmillan information and support service which will offer cancer information, benefits advice, emotional support and also signpost patients to other local services such as support groups.

Steve Loane, Area Fundraising Manager for Macmillan in Derbyshire, said:-

“Being diagnosed with cancer is the toughest fight many people will ever face, so I am absolutely delighted that we have hit the £2 million mark.

“The response from the local community has been incredible. We’ve had local companies, groups, clubs and individuals organise events and take on personal challenges to help us raise the money. We just need one final push to help us raise the remaining amount, so if you can get involved please get in touch with us.

“The National Garden Scheme donated £1.5 million towards the new centre. There are 70 gardens in the Derbyshire area and a portion of the money raised locally from all of these gardens openings has contributed to this donation to help the people of Derbyshire.”

Dr Roger Start, Lead Cancer Clinician at the Chesterfield Royal Hospital, said:-

“This is a really exciting development for the hospital, our patients and the local community.  By working in partnership with Macmillan we will create a really special cancer centre that will absolutely enhance the fantastic work our cancer teams do. It’s a massive ask but I’m convinced people will be behind the plans and fundraising campaign.”