Posts in category: TALK 14

During lockdown we have seen many of the benefits of working from home, wearing comfy’s all day being a personal favourite, our local businesses have been telling us they are missing the connection of face-to-face discussions, productive planning and workshop sessions. – we hear you loud and clear!

In January 2019, when we launched our shared space little did we know just over a year later our world of business space would be flipped on it’s head!

To put it plainly collaborative marketing is a strategy that involves working with similar companies to reach new customers, minimise costs and increase sales.

As Stirling Business Month draws to a close, it’s a good opportunity to look back
at our first fully virtual month and reflect on what we learnt.

“Nothing ever becomes real ’til it is experienced.” (John Keats)
When you started out in business, what did you do first? You probably considered what products and services you would offer, how to make and deliver them, your pricing structure, and maybe how you would market them.

As a business owner or director your time is precious and you’ll be keeping a number of plates spinning at the minute. At this challenging time for businesses across the globe, it’s more important than ever to find time to stop, take a step back and look at your business properly.

STEP’s rental kitchens are designed to support local food entrepreneurs and food-based businesses with access to affordable space and high tech equipment combined with on-site business support.

As the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has rocked all of our worlds over the last six months, small business owners and self-employed individuals in particular have been hit hard and are understandably worried about how it will impact them over the coming months. STEP has put together support solutions to help your business recover.

In recent times there have been reports of possible tax increases to recoup the monies spent on the
COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2018 the UK Government published the Good Work Plan which was the response to the 2017 Taylor

Destiny Productions provide sound, lighting, projection, audio visual solutions for conferences, exhibitions, gala dinners and other live corporate events. The business prides itself on providing all the equipment an organiser might need and also attending to set up and offer technical support throughout the event.

A letter to the business community from Alyn Smith MP.

Something Perfect Penny Marketing (PPM) had been thinking about for a while and a service we wanted to add to our forever growing marketing armoury was Apps.

Forth Valley Food Festival provided a welcome boost for local food and drink businesses during the school October break (10- 25 October).

Blairhoyle based craftsman Keith Burnett has gone from cutting through giant 25 tonne rocks to hand-finishing tiny 20-millimetre cubes, in a bid to break into Scotland’s thriving drinks industry.

Stirling’s Business Improvement District (BID) has cut this year’s levy payment by half to help companies hit by the COVID-19 crisis.

Arnold Clark Stirling celebrates grand opening of brand new showroom.

Local preserves company Perthshire Preserves is celebrating having beaten entrants from over 40 countries to receive a prestigious Gold award at the 15th World’s Original Marmalade Awards.

We’re now nine-months into a year that feels like it never started and what a whirlwind COVID-19 has caused!

Over the last six months, we’ve been working hard to develop our new normal, to support our tenants and local businesses with the latest funding opportunities, re-opening regulations and guidance to keep businesses going.

Like you, lockdown has been a challenge for us, some of our team were furloughed, some could work from home and others were essential to remain on site. After a short time of getting used to the situation we are now fully functional with regulations in place across our locations, new procedures for shared space, meeting space and property space viewings.  Our teams are using digital options for webinars, 1-2-1 appointments and more..

We’ve also been busy introducing: New Kitchen Space,
Day Space, where you can rent a desk for the day, Changes to our Meeting Space, New HR Audits, Stirling Business Month virtually, Advice on re-opening guidance, Weekly updates on guidance, funding and more.

We have also been working on our next five-year strategy which we will hopefully be able to share with you all soon.

As ever if you have suggestions for what we could do to support local businesses, get in touch with us on step@stepscotland.co.uk.

Best Wishes,
The Management Team