Updates for businesses – October

Energy support for Scottish businesses

Business Energy Scotland, funded by the Scottish Government,  provide free, impartial support and access to funding to help small and medium-sized enterprises save energy and money while reducing their carbon emissions.

For businesses looking to reduce costs and improve efficiencies; or if you’re starting on an energy-saving journey and need some pointers or are looking for expertise and funding to support your current plans, Business Energy Scotland’s team of experienced business advisors and energy-saving consultants can help.

Business Energy Scotland’s webinars about saving money and energy in your business are also now available to watch.

VisitScotland have also produced a ‘Keeping Cosy’ Guide. This provides some simple suggested measures that businesses could action to save energy and to keep premises warmer during the colder months of the year.

Also, check out our ‘Making Your Tourism Business Greener’ business toolkit which the National Park created in partnership with Zero Waste Scotland. This covers a range of options for businesses to adopt sustainable measures and how to undertake an energy audit to understand where savings can be made the most.

Great Days Out Campaign

A new consumer marketing campaign has been launched by VisitScotland in partnership with Historic Environment Scotland (HES), the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions (ASVA) and ScotRail to promote discounted tickets to visitor attractions and outdoor operators, who are invited to provide an offer and get involved in this exciting new campaign.  Full details of how businesses can get involved can be found on the Industry Toolkit.

Businesses are encouraged to update their entry, including stipulating any terms and conditions of their offer.

The campaign will be promoted with media outlets – DC Thomson and Primary Times via Scotrail and Daily Record and The Sun via the Year of Stories, with all other activity being across VisitScotland and partnering online and social media channels.

Developing the Young Workforce – Delivering Meaningful Work Placements

Work placements provide young people with an invaluable experience of the world of work to inform their career decisions, develop skills and confidence in the workplace and build their networks.  For employers, work experience placements provide access to future talent, easing your skills gaps and recruitment pressures and connecting with a diverse range of young people who can bring wider life experiences, new ideas and skills. It’s also a great way of motivating your existing team through wider development opportunities.

With ongoing challenges in recruitment, Developing the Young Workforce, will provide you with support in the delivery of meaningful work placements for young people that offer the best value to your business. The training is designed to support individuals who supervise and manage work placements within their organisations or would like to find out how to.

There are 2 online training dates – Thursday 10th November 2022, and Tuesday 31st January 2023. The DYW website also contains a range of resources from employers and partners to showcase careers in the Food and Drink and Land Based Industries.

Community Cycling Fund Round 2 Launches

The National Park was recently announced as a host venue for the UCI Cycling World Championship event in 2023 staging Road Race events. The events will provide a showcase of the National Park as a cycling destination to a global audience and provides an opportunity for businesses and communities to celebrate#ThePowerOfTheBike and help create a national celebration of cycling in the build up to next year’s event.

To support this, EventScotland has launched a second round of the Events strand of the Community Cycling Fund to support sustainable cycling projects and free events across Scotland. It is made up of two strands, the Development Strand administered by SportScotland, and the Events strand being delivered by EventScotland.

Expressions of Interest (EOIs) for the Events strand can be submitted until 16 November 2022. Applicants are able to apply for awards between £5,000 and £15,000 for events taking place from the 1 April 2023 to the 2 August 2023.

West Highland Way End of Season Wrap Up

Footfall counters suggest that walker numbers on the West Highland Way this year have been much higher than the last two years when various lockdowns and restrictions were in place. However, this doesn’t give the whole picture – has the type of walker changed? Have their preferences changed? Has this had an impact on your business or community? What other challenges have you faced?

Please join us for an end of season wrap up session where we will provide an update from the WHW team, outline future plans and give you the opportunity to share your feedback.

The meeting will take place online via Microsoft Teams on Tuesday 8^th November, 2022 (2.00pm – 3.30pm). The event is free, but please register your attendance via Eventbrite.  If you would like to add any specific items to the agenda for discussion or can’t attend but have feedback to give, please email us: whw@lochlomond-trossachs.org.

Deposit Return Scheme

The UK’s first deposit return scheme will go live across Scotland on 16 August 2023, helping to recycle billions of bottles and cans every year. The Circular Economy Minister has set out plans for a phased implementation of the scheme, setting a target of achieving 90% collection rates by 2024. As part of the phased implementation, the Scottish Government is working with retailers on a voluntary basis to enable people to start returning their bottles and cans for recycling from November 2022.

For businesses who are starting to plan ahead for the full introduction of the scheme, please see these useful guides produced by Circularity Scotland, SEPA and Zero Waste Scotland, providing details on how this will be implemented and what businesses will need to do.