I was joined this afternoon by DAVID ROOKE from LET’S DO BUSINESS GROUP, who you may recall was on the show a couple of years ago.

Many businesses have been seriously impacted by the shutdowns introduced to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus, so LET’S DO BUSINESS GROUP are delivering BACK TO BUSINESS ESSEX which as the name implies is introducing a number of initiatives to help businesses recover.

As an initial part of this, BACK TO BUSINESS ESSEX has just announced a free business support and advice package.

The range of business support services available, include, but are not limited to : –

• business planning and marketing
• providing connections to key personnel, prospective business partners and support organisations
• identifying potential sources of business funding
• building local supply chains
• recruiting and training a high-quality workforce
• accessing university knowledge and research and development expertise
• evaluating and selecting an ideal business location, property or site.

Listen again here to what David told me about the scheme, how it works in practice, who is eligible and how to get more information: –

There are two websites where you can get more detailed advice –

The Back to Business website at – https://backtobusinessessex.co.uk outlines a range of support services including identifying potential sources of funding, planning and marketing, managing staff and workplace operations.

The Let’s Do Business group details business loans, access to other finance, training and business events across the South East and East of England and their website is https://letsdobusinessfinance.co.uk

Or you can call them on 0800 9708981 or e-mail them at essex@ldbgroup.co.uk 

Turning to a somewhat less serious subject, in the second hour, we heard about the letting agent, who was found to be camped and living in the property for which he was supposedly acting as agent.

Things came to light after the tenant discovered the agent in the flat, who said he was just there to ‘inspect” the property.

Initially accepting this explanation, the tenant just left him to get on with his inspection, only to subsequently discover that the agent had left the light on in the spare room, but that the door was locked. When they contacted him by phone to ask him to return the key and turn the light out, he replied that he was in fact still in the house and that he’d already told them that he would be staying there for a few days.

He subsequently claimed that he would be staying there permanently, had a signed contract and paid a deposit, something that the landlord denied.

The landlord subsequently ordered him to leave which he did, but he still locked the door and kept the key.

When the tenants took a ladder to look through the window, they saw that the man had left all his belongings including stale buns, booze and a sex toy!

Although the police have been notified it now seems that the legal position is “more complex” than anyone imagined ………….. so what now?

Watch this space!

I’ll see you again tomorrow,
Scott