This week, our Female Founders have been at the forefront of a number of amazing initiatives, from developing new apps which track the social impact of the COVID-19 crisis, to sharing stories about mental health, in the hope that it will help others. It’s inspiring to see our Female Founders banding together in uncertain times and championing inclusive and diverse innovation.
In this week’s FFF Newsletter, we cover the latest policy updates you should know about and share practical guidance to help you stay resilient in these uncertain times.
UK GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
1. Innovative Businesses and Start-ups competition
The UK Government announced an additional £40 million funding package to support the UK’s next generation of innovative businesses, doubling their investment in the Fast Start Competition. The competition aims to fast-track the development of innovations, borne out of the coronavirus crisis and support the next generation of UK cutting-edge start-ups.
2. Future Fund goes live
The Future Fund scheme went live last week and has opened for applications. Following the Save Our Startups campaign, the Government announced the Future Fund, a matched convertible loan scheme for startups looking to raise between £250k and £10m.
In last week’s Newsletter, we covered the open letter written by Emma Sinclair and Hephzi Pemberton, urging the Chancellor to set an “aspirational target” for backing diverse founders. Signatories included our Female Founders, Sam Smith, Tamara Lohan and Kathryn Parsons.
The British Business Bank published new guidance ahead of the launch. You can read the FAQ here. For an update on the Future Fund, you can check out our policy update.
3. Updated Guidance: Holiday Entitlement and pay during Coronavirus
The UK Government has published new guidance on how holiday entitlement and pay will operate during the coronavirus pandemic. It is designed to help employers understand their legal obligations, in terms of workers who continue to work and have been placed on furlough, as part of the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). You can contact the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) if you have further questions.
4. Updated Guidance: Statutory Sick Pay
The UK Government has published new guidance on how to claim back Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) paid to employees affected by coronavirus. The online service went live on 26 May 2020. The Coronavirus SSP Rebate Scheme will repay employers the SSP paid to current and former employees. The repayment will cover up to 2 weeks starting from the qualifying day of sickness.
5. Updated Guidance: National Cyber Security Centre advice for Sole Traders and SMEs
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has launched advice and practical tips to help SMEs move their business online. The advice comes, as many SMEs have had to adapt their organisations to remote working environments. If you are self-employed or a sole trader, you can find useful advice here. If you are an SME, advice here may be useful.
BARCLAYS SUPPORT AND OPPORTUNITIES
1. Barclays Coronavirus Support Hub
The Barclays coronavirus support hub provides the latest information, tools and guidance to support businesses throughout the coronavirus pandemic. This hub includes information about Barclays’ products, webinars, Facebook live events and more information on how to access the government schemes. You can also download Barclays’ coronavirus checklist to support your business resilience planning throughout this period. There is also an updated FAQs section on the hub.
Barclays is also developing further digital content, including Q&A videos with our Members, which will go live on our new YouTube channel. We will update you via Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn when the Q&A videos go live.
2. Back to Business Live Broadcast
As lockdown is lifted and we all continue to adapt to the situations around us, Barclays is hosting a ‘Back to Business’ live broadcast as part of its wider Business Banking live streaming series on Thursday 28 May, 10:00 – 10:30.
Join the discussion on the Barclays Business Banking Facebook and LinkedIn channels where a panel of experts will be exploring the support currently available for businesses as well as the opportunities and challenges for SMEs during this time.
3. Barclays Back to Business Programme
Your toolkit to build for tomorrow with the help of Barclays’ free online learning platform. Developed with Cambridge Judge Business School, the Barclays online programme is free for SMEs who are existing Barclays SME clients including Business Banking, Barclaycard Business, RISE and Eagle Labs tenants.
You’ll get practical frameworks to help you create a plan to sustain or grow your business during a period of uncertainty such as the current pandemic, downloadable workbooks, and you’ll be able to bounce ideas off a range of specialist from Barclays to finalise your plan at the end of the programme.
Register your interest here from 28 May, and subject to availability, Cambridge Judge Business School will get in touch to confirm your place on the programme, including how to access the online platform, which launches on 22 June 2020. For more information Search ‘Barclays Back to Business Programme’
4. Barclays Eagle Lab headline RE-Defined
Barclays Eagle Labs are this year’s headline sponsors of RE-Defined. A virtual conference celebrating the successes and resilience of female founders and underrepresented women in business across the UK. Taking place on Friday 29 May the conference will include practical workshops, curated talks and a panel session featuring inspirational female founders and leading women in business. This is a ticket-only event – to secure your place click here.
5. Highlights from Barclays Ventures Panel
Barclays ran a Ventures Panel with two fabulous female founders – Michelle Kennedy, founder of Peanut and Amber Atherton, founder of Zypher. The panel ran on 14 May and covered actionable tips, how the founders have pivoted during the pandemic. It included inspiring stories of how they’ve done this whilst managing remote teams and battling with personal challenges.
FEMALE FOUNDER HIGHLIGHTS
Here is a quick wrap up of some of the news highlights, featuring our Female Founders.
Buddi, a company founded by our Member Sara Murray, has been selected by the UK Government to support the NHSX against COVID-19. Member June Angelides, founder of Mums in Technology, spoke to Squiggly Careers in their podcast 'Stories from the front line – managing my mental health'.
Our Member, Tugce Bulut, founder of Streetbees spoke with EU-Startups about how the current pandemic has impacted Streetbees. Streetbees has recently launched a COVID-19 Human Impact Tracker which is already being used by several consumer brands. Streetbees has also given free access to a number of non-profits including Amnesty International, the NHS and the London Mayor’s office
Marta Krupinska, Head of Google Startup, Co-Founder of Azimo and one of our FFF Members, discussed with Spark how Google Startup, governments and NGO’s can partner to support entrepreneurs in the coronavirus crisis, so that we can come out of it stronger and more connected.
Sam Smith, founder of FinnCap and an FFF member, wrote a letter in the Financial Times, making the case for better funding support for UK SMEs.
Our Member, Annabel Karmel took part in Maternal Health Week, speaking about how she is dealing with lockdown and sharing her advice and tips for taking care of your mental health, during this crisis
Last week, Liz Johnson, gold-medal winning Paralympian and Co-Founder of The Ability People, spoke to Dr Lisa Cameron MP and Kush Kanodia about the key issues impacting disabled entrepreneurs in the APPG for Entrepreneurship Webinar.
We want to inspire female entrepreneurs across the UK. Do you know any inspiring female entrepreneurs?
Connect them to jess@tenentrepeneurs.org and sign up to our Newsletter, which we send out every two weeks.
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