Small business confidence holds steady, with consumers called on to respect “house rules” as England unlocks
FSB is calling on shoppers to abide by the “house rules” of small firms across England from today as its latest SBI shows businesses are still positive about the future despite a delay to the ending of restrictions and mixed messaging around how to operate safely. Half of small business owners (50%) predict that their […]
Emergency funding to support arts and cultural organisations
Arts and cultural organisations in Portsmouth can now apply for emergency funding from the government if they are at imminent risk of failure but were financially sustainable before the coronavirus pandemic. Eligible organisations can seek permission to apply for this fund and, if successful, can apply for grants of between £25,000 and £3m. Applicants must […]
Abri’s Create boosts self-employment skills in free training course
Shaping Portsmouth and Abri are working closely with the wider team within our Skills & Employability Programme to work through a 5 year skills strategy for the city. The objective is to have a highly skilled and motivated work force which will be utilised by our local businesses and to help as many people as […]
Digital Enablement programme wins Teach Portsmouth Partnership Award
On Thursday 5th July our Bridging Portsmouth’s Digital Divide programme, which is led for Shaping by Hasmukh “Husky” Patel and delivered alongside Portsmouth City Council, The Thinking Schools Academy Trust, and The Hive, won the Partnership Award at the Teach Portsmouth Awards 2021. The award recognises two or more organisations who have worked together on […]
Fareham College becomes a Shaping Patron
We at Shaping Portsmouth are very pleased to announce that Fareham College has joined us a Patron. Fareham College first came on board to support our successful 100 in 100 campaign, also the first time all four local colleges collaborated with us on a single project, and we’re looking forward to working with them on […]
Portsmouth’s Business Leaders and colleges working closely to improve Skills & Employability
During the first Portsmouth & District Business Week, which ran from the 5th to the 9th of July and was organised by the Portsmouth & District Business Strategy Group as part of the Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, we at Shaping ran our first Business Leaders Group (BLG) meeting since the Autumn of 2019. The topic […]
Port sparks interest from EV owners with new InstaVolt charging points
The electric vehicle charge point network, InstaVolt, have installed two charging points at Portsmouth International Port. It’s part of the port’s commitment to become the first net carbon neutral UK port by 2030, and the first zero emission port by 2050. Improving air quality and reducing carbon emissions are two of the most pressing issues […]
Smarter shopping – what Full Fibre means for the future of retail
For some time, we’ve been hearing about the decline of physical retail, spurred on by the digital age and our growing preference for the online marketplace. In the 10 years between January 2010 and January 2020, for example, the UK lost over 50,000 shops. Despite that, physical retailers still hold much of the market share. […]
Portsmouth’s daily newspaper launches new way for businesses to promote themselves to help them bounce back from Covid
Portsmouth’s daily newspaper The News has launched a new way for businesses to promote themselves and help them bounce back from Covid. The regional title, which covers a large part of Hampshire and has an online readership of more than one million unique users, plans to start its Business Bounceback scheme on July 12. The […]
The News joins the Shaping Team
We at Shaping are very pleased to welcome The News as the latest local organisation to become a Patron. Since the very start of Shaping’s formation The News has been a great supporter of our work and has helped us with both news coverage and Editor Mark Waldron’s personal commitment and activity on a number […]