Now entering its 14th year, Northamptonshire Community Foundation’s Warm this Winter appeal has so far raised more than £267,000 to tackle fuel poverty and to support residents across the county who are not turning on their heating, or cutting back on food, to save money. The foundation is reaching out to anyone who feels able to give to this year’s appeal. Rachel McGrath, Chief Executive of Northamptonshire Community Foundation, said: “Too many members of our community are struggling in these freezing temperatures. “We are committed to supporting our county’s most vulnerable residents; every penny donated to our Warm this Winter appeal goes...

31 January, 2025

Ministers are encouraging UK businesses to work with Jobcentres to fill the thousands of jobs currently vacant as the UK goes for growth, the Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall set out today (30 January). It comes as the Work & Pensions Secretary visits B&M - a retailer that has had huge success using the Jobcentre network. As a fast growing UK retailer, B&M has filled almost 3,000 vacancies through the jobcentre network, with over 85% of new recruits coming directly through the DWP – benefiting jobseekers and the businesses’ growth. The DWP has hit the ground running to reset engagement with...

30 January, 2025

An aesthetics clinic in Northampton has partnered with a global manufacturer of medical equipment to bring groundbreaking aesthetics and wellbeing treatments to the county. Total Body Sculpt, which has a clinic in the St Crispins area of the town, is working with BTL Industries to host an event presenting the latest in non-invasive aesthetics and wellbeing treatments to the public. Taking place at Vulcan Works on Thursday, February 6, the ‘New Year, New You’ event is free to attend and will showcase: EMSculpt Neo - a fat loss and muscle-building treatment. Emsella – strengthens pelvic floor muscles to alleviate incontinence and aid...

30 January, 2025

It is two years since local charity Groundwork Northamptonshire was awarded lottery funding for its ‘Come Together @ Green Patch’ project. Thanks to this project, now entering its third year, the charity has been able to invest in its Kettering based community garden Green Patch, run a host of events and projects with and for young people and recruit new staff and volunteers. Edgeworth Taderera, Youth Engagement Officer for Groundwork Northamptonshire, is one of the team members recruited thanks to the lottery funding. One of Edgeworth’s latest projects has been to organise three after-school events, set to take place at Green Patch...

29 January, 2025

Charter for Budget Responsibility has been approved in the House of Commons, enshrining new fiscal rules into law. Today (Wednesday 29 January) the House of Commons voted to enshrine the Charter for Budget Responsibility and the new fiscal rules into law. These fiscal rules provide the stability which underpins the Plan for Change and the Government’s number one priority to kickstart economic growth. There are two new non-negotiable fiscal rules. The first is the stability rule which ensures that day to day spending is matched by tax revenues, so the Government is only borrowing to invest. The second is the investment rule which requires...

29 January, 2025

Lift-off for growth as government backs expansion at Britain’s busiest and only hub airport. Working people and businesses across Britain will benefit from a government going “further and faster” to kickstart economic growth, as the Chancellor today [29 January] announced the government’s support for a third runway at Heathrow. Speaking to an audience of business chiefs at Siemens in North Oxfordshire this morning, the Chancellor set out the government’s latest set of reforms to kickstart economic growth and drive up living standards across the UK by driving investment, getting Britain building and tackling regulatory barriers. This included the announcement that the government...

29 January, 2025

A property maintenance company in Wellingborough has employed the services of a fellow local business to support with its expansion plans, which will see a doubling of its office based staff. Lakeview Property Maintenance (LPM), a premier property maintenance provider, has partnered with IT consultancy 3RS IT Solutions to assist with its growth plans which will see additional infrastructure being put into place to support a rise in office staff, from 6 to 11. Since moving its IT support to 3RS eight months ago, LPM has benefitted from a wealth of IT support to enable it to action its growth plans while...

29 January, 2025

A new business support initiative for ambitious entrepreneurs has started at Vulcan Works. The John Franklin programme was recently launched to run alongside the town centre workspace’s existing incubation programme for start-up businesses, known as Vulcan Creatives. Vulcan Creatives, led by business growth manager Darren Smith, supports 10 ambitious local people hoping to kick start a new business or grow an existing idea with specialist support. The second cohort began in November with business support workshops, specialist grant opportunities and one to one coaching from Darren. The popular six-month initiative, funded by West Northamptonshire Council utilising £40,000 of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund...

29 January, 2025

Construction will commence on the highly anticipated Marefair Heritage Park in early March 2025. This ambitious project will create a vibrant new green space, fostering connections between Northampton town centre and the train station, while driving footfall to the heart of the town. The Marefair Heritage Park complements the wider transformation of Northampton Town Centre, enhancing the entrance into the town from both rail and car, with work scheduled for completion by late summer 2025. Funded through £1.6 million from the Towns Fund, further funding from Section 106 contributions and West Northamptonshire Council, this project reflects the council’s commitment to revitalising...

29 January, 2025

NLive Radio is celebrating with new presenters joining the station and the daytime schedule being full of passionate local people, producing over 100 hours of local programming making NLive Radio Northampton’s most local - local radio station. Station Manager Martin Steers said; ‘Being Northampton’s local radio station with the most local content is a great achievement, and I thank all our presenters for their hard work and dedication to the people of Northampton, I especially welcome some great new and not so new voices to the Northampton airwaves!’ Amanda Hollingsworth-Hellery kicks off the day with the breakfast show weekdays from 7am with...

28 January, 2025

A Raunds entrepreneur is celebrating one remarkable year in business as her own boss - after launching her wellbeing clothing and community brand. The Epiphany Closet, started by Vanessa Ridout, was created to empower women to live their best lives through promoting healthy habits, a strong-knit community and inspirational slow fashion. Vanessa, who is a solo parent to four children, took on the new venture after waking up one morning after what she described as “having an epiphany”. On 28 January last year, also Vanessa’s birthday, The Epiphany Closet launched online, making her dreams of becoming her own boss a reality. Armed with nothing...

27 January, 2025