about cheltenham business prideabout cheltenham business pride

 

 

Overview

The Cheltenham Business Pride initiative covers the whole of the borough, including areas such as Swindon Village, Prestbury, Kingsditch & Lansdown Industrial Estates, and the Gallagher Retail Park.

To us, what really matters is your pledge to make the area stand out from the rest and be proud of our achievements and economy. The town is internationally renowned for its salient Regency architecture, sparkling entertainment scene, international festivals and world-famous racecourse – now it’s time to put our businesses on the map too. Business Pride encourages as many businesses as possible to sign up to the scheme and pledge support to make Cheltenham an economically vibrant place to live and work.

In 2007, Cheltenham Borough Council’s Cabinet agreed to invest £50,000 towards Business Pride, to match fund business initiatives. How this investment is delivered is dependent on the needs of local businesses – which is where you come in. Tell us how the local business community thinks we should spend the money and justifying the reasons for doing so. The easiest way for you to do this is to register for Cheltenham Business Pride via this website and send your suggestions to us.

Here are a few of the current suggestions that Cheltenham businesses have suggested they would like to see happen:

  1. A major campaign to involve local businesses in improving Cheltenham
  2. That local businesses are able to get involved in the scheme in different ways, depending on the size of the firm and the level of commitment they feel able to offer
  3. Sponsoring events that benefit the whole town and its business people, such as awards, conferences and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives
  4. An aim to bring real improvements in the appearance and cleanliness of the borough, in a bid to help retain and attract staff
  5. The profile of Cheltenham businesses raised at least on a national level, showing those businesses which have pride in being in Cheltenham and showcase success and reasons why they are here.

Our 3-Point action plan:

  1. To listen to businesses

  2. To deliver local business projects via Business Pride Grants

  3. To promote business success within the borough both locally and nationally

The Cheltenham Business Pride Mission Statement:

“Our aim is to engage, inform, support and promote businesses in the borough of Cheltenham, and helping them to grow”.

To give you a flavour of what you may decide to do, take a look at the Case Studies page to see some of the pilot projects that happened in the Cheltenham area, such as the Wireless Hotspots in the Lansdown Industrial Estate.


In the past, Cheltenham Borough Council has helped local businesses in a variety of ways, including training workshops and grants, which included match funding a wireless hotspot at Lansdown Industrial Park, which enabled local businesses to extend their reach. Furthermore, our future plans include the implementation of Business Pride Champions, where we further promote individual businesses via our certificate system. Cheltenham Borough Council also pledges to recommend these businesses to other recognised schemes, such as The Beacon South West Program, which identifies excellence and innovation.

For the 2008/09 financial year, Cheltenham Borough Council is pledging to support the project via a £50K investment for match funding business initiatives. However, how this investment is delivered is dependent on the needs of local businesses – which is where you come in! We need to hear your voice telling us how the local business community thinks we should spend the money and justifying the reasons for doing so. The easiest way for you to do this is to register for Cheltenham Business Pride via this website and send your suggestions to us and attend the local business forums.

So why register?

The simple answer to this is that registering tells us just how many local businesses want to be seen as forward-thinking and proud of who and where they are. Of course, there are significant benefits to you as well!

Cheltenham Business Pride is currently taking applications for the grant process until October 31st. Register and apply now to take advantage of this match-funding initative, as all applications are considered on a first come, first served basis.

This grant is available to all businesses, whether they are a sole trader, SME or multi-national. As an example, some of the grants administered so far have been to help with the costs of developing a website for a local Cheltenham-based industrial estate; to pay for an environmental audit to reduce energy costs; to put in a wireless hotspot; to assist with a business-themed event and to pay for a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) led initative. So apply for the Business Pride grant now and help your business, as when the money's gone, it's gone!

To be considered for a grant, you will need to download our application form. You need to be a member of Cheltenham Business Pride in order to be considered.

For further advice, information and assistance, please visit www.cheltenham.gov.uk/business

 

Cheltenham Borough Council