CBI - East of England

Our mid-summer banquet is on 24 June 2010 at Homerton College in Cambridge. Guest speakers are Ian McCafferty (CBI chief economic adviser) and Peter Ibbetson (business banking chairman for The Royal Bank of Scotland and Nat West), and the evening is kindly sponsored by Nat West Bank.

If you're interested in hosting/sponsoring an event with us in 2010 please contact Anne Cullom, on 01638 242404.

Carbon Coalition – East of England – merged with The Prince's Mayday Network

Regional council chair Steve Sharratt has been instrumental in the setting up of the Carbon Coalition – a growing group of public, private and third-sector organisations committed to helping each other reach substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from our operations. Visit www.carbon-coalition.com to find out more.

Interest-free loans for energy efficiency

With more businesses recognising the bottom-line benefits of energy efficiency, we have been lobbying for financial support for businesses to help overcome the upfront costs required to make energy savings in the longer term. In our recent energy efficiency report Less is more we said the government should provide more financial help for business, particularly SMEs.

In 2009's budget, the government extended coverage of the Carbon Trust loan scheme, to provide unsecured interest free loans to more businesses (mainly SMEs) for the purchase of energy efficient equipment. The Carbon Trust is now able to lend businesses as much as г500,000 or as little as г3,000. To find out more visit the Carbon Trust website

A14 improvement – public enquiry

The secretary of state for transport and the secretary of state for communities and local government have announced a public inquiry to consider objections to the draft orders regarding work to improve the A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton.

The meeting takes place on 24 May at Burgess Civic Hall in St. Ives from 10:00am. Further information can be obtained here.

Low-carbon funding ringfenced

Do you need funding for a research or development project? If so, you could claim grant funding.

The East of England Development Agency's (EEDA) extensive grant funding programme includes г5.5m from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) that is ringfenced to invest in the Research and Development (R & D) of technology-led solutions for a low-carbon future.

As with the core programme, grants range from г5,000 to г250,000 and are awarded to entrepreneurs or companies wishing to develop a prototype or investigate the feasibility of an innovative technology.

EEDA's green grants panel meets every fortnight to evaluate applications, and they've already approved г1m of funding so far this year – so don't delay. More information and a downloadable a pre-application form are available here.

National events

Annual dinner
A well-established event attended regularly by over 1500 guests, our flagship dinner on 19 May is a must for businesses looking to nurture their relationships in this tough economic environment.

The event gives you the chance to network with key political figures. We are also pleased to welcome special guest speaker round-the-world yachtswoman Dame Ellen MacArthur. The dinner is sponsored by IBM. Prices and booking details are available here.

Barclays Business 'Take One Small Step' competition

Barclays Business is on the hunt for Britain's best business ideas, whether it's new businesses or an existing business with a new idea.

Until the end of July, Barclays is running a competition to reward ten regional winners with prizes of г50,000 each to get their ideas off the ground. Entrants can be looking to start a brand new business, manufacture new products, or expand into new markets.

A panel of expert judges, including celebrity and business icons, will shortlist the three best business ideas per region. With Barclays' support, each shortlisted entrant will canvas their community, galvanising local support to encourage the public to vote for them. Then it's over to the public to choose their regional winner during May, with the winners to be announced in July.

To take part, entrants can go online and fill in an application form, or make an application video to bring their ideas to life.

Events – get involved