Archive

Evaluation Lessons - Projects need direction to succeed

18 May 2007

Background

Chinese check out - Delegation visits Sheffield in search of tradelinks

18 May 2007

A business delegation from China has visited Sheffield at the invitation of the city's new economic development vehicle with the aim of developing trade links.

Birmingham eyes up retail subsidy

18 May 2007

Retail space for independent shopkeepers in Birmingham could be subsidised through planning gain deals with developers under proposals being examined by the city council.

Ex-minister slams New Deal failings

18 May 2007

A flagship government programme to tackle youth unemployment is failing, says a study co-written by former welfare reform minister Frank Field.

Housing wealth may be key to business

By Tim Williams

18 May 2007

I learned something the other day. I learned the key reason why some areas have high entrepreneurial activity and rates of company formation and others don't. It's the simple, obvious and big fact (or SOBF) that the former have higher levels of home-ownership and the latter higher levels of social housing.

Work Experience - Dave Shanley, business start-up adviser, BusinessLink

18 May 2007

Dave Shanley, 34, is a business start-up adviser at regional business support service Business Link. His role is to provide advice and support to people from economically disadvantaged areas who are launching their own business or social enterprise.

Business volunteers with a local focus

18 May 2007

Project Shoreditch, a partnership between the East London Business Alliance (Elba), Deutsche Bank, law firm Linklaters, investment bank UBS and New Deal for Communities (NDC) partnership the Shoreditch Trust, has been supporting the regeneration of Shoreditch through corporate employee volunteering for the last two years. The partnership is unusual in that it involves companies working collaboratively and focusing on one geographical area. Since its launch in April 2005, it has placed 2,200 volunteers, equal to the value of £170,000 in volunteer time, and supported more than 50 local groups including schools, charities and small firms. Partner companies have also donated over £67,000 in goods and direct financial support. Elba project manager Katy Miles answers our panel's questions.

5 Steps to... tackling fuel poverty

18 May 2007

1. Secure funding. The Government is a first port of call. It funds various schemes across the UK - including Warm Front in England - that provide money to households receiving certain types of benefits in order to improve their heating and energy efficiency. The Energy Efficiency Commitment fund, financed by the UK's fuel utility firms, also supports local and nationwide energy efficiency schemes.

Brown's tax change is good for housing

By Sir Peter Hall

18 May 2007

It's reasonable to surmise that few regenerators spare time to scan the office copy of Estates Gazette - assuming, of course, that their organisation subscribes. Yet the magazine can offer a useful insight into the mentality of those in the construction industry. For, whatever their wider public aspirations, developers are driven by their bottom lines. If the numbers stack up, they'll do it; if not, they won't.

Business rate tax relief bill published

18 May 2007

Legislation to cut tax relief on the rates payable for empty office and industrial buildings was published last week in a bid to increase the availability of such premises.