City Businesses To Get £60,000 Boost From Council
Newport City Council has confirmed the launch of a business development fund which will be used to help new businesses set up shop in the city centre.
Councillor John Richards, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Investment, has supported four proposals to stimulate economic growth and investment in the city using a £60,000 funding pot.
One of the innovative ideas to be implemented is to use around £30,000 to tackle the issue of empty retail units in parts of the city centre.
Councillor Richards said: “We recognise that people can be discouraged by the cost of rents and business rates. As a council, we have no control over these, but we want to support entrepreneurs who would like to open up in the city centre so it has been decided to offer a number of retail grants.
“We will be offering retail grants of up to £6,000 per shop towards the costs of setting up a retail business in Commercial Street and High Street. This could give a great first start to people looking to open new shops in the city centre.
“As a council, we thought it was important for businesses in the city centre to work with us to implement a programme of improvements and events. As a result, the business improvement district, Newport Now, was established last year.
“We will shortly be exploring with Newport Now, the possibility of commissioning a company to market some of the larger vacant units by targeting national chains that don’t yet have a Newport presence.
“We are also planning to help start-up businesses “test trade” following a planned pop-up event aimed at giving advice and support to budding entrepreneurs.
“Finally, we are proposing to use some of the fund to establish and support a Newport Business Awards event which would allow us to celebrate all the great ventures we have in the city.”
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