Faster News
The rollout of ultrafast broadband in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire has passed the 34,000 homes and businesses mark, and plans have been expanded to reach more rural properties.
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Business Stories
Way2Go Adventures is a family owned outdoor activity provider in the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley, run by mother and son team, Dianne Worrall and Wayne Morgan. Dianne has accessed a range of business support and training offered by Fastershire, FasterBusiness programme.
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EventsSorry, no forthcoming events found.
The rollout of ultrafast broadband in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire has passed the 34,000 homes and businesses mark, and plans have been expanded to reach more rural properties.
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The grant has been created by the Herefordshire Council’s Fastershire Broadband Project, and is available to any not-for-profit groups or organisations, including charities, community groups and Parish/town councils.
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As many more of us now need to work or run a business from home at this difficult time, and we’re working to make sure you’ve got the broadband connection you need.
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Fastershire and Worcester-based broadband network supplier, Airband, have reached the 1000 premises milestone under their rollout of fibre broadband in Herefordshire.
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Over 90% of Herefordshire homes and businesses can access superfast broadband and speeds of 30mpbs or above according to new figures released by ThinkBroadband, the UK’s largest independent broadband information website.
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Businesses at the Churcham Business Park can now benefit from faster broadband thanks to a grant from Fastershire. Part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the grant provides up to 100% of the capital installation cost, up to £25,000.
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Climbing the Laundry Ladder
“The workshops were a fantastic opportunity to meet women in a similar situation as ourselves. As well as networking with other local business women we were able to share best practice and learn from others who were already using social media in ways that we hadn’t discovered yet. It was a great confidence booster!”
Based in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, Julu is the home of innovative products aimed at revolutionising domestic problem solving. Launched by childhood friends Julia and Lucie in August 2014, the first of their British manufactured designs is the ‘Laundry Ladder’ - a new clothes airer which hangs off the wall and out of the way while looking attractive.
As well as exhibiting at shows and advertising nationally, Julia and Lucie were aware that Julu’s online presence was crucial to growing their business. Having discovered the Faster Women project via Twitter they attended the workshops and are now embracing the power of social media in order to successfully spread the word about their new venture.
‘Social’ media
While picking up extremely useful tips and pointers on how to market their business through Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, Julia and Lucie particularly enjoyed meeting other members of the workshops. Julia said “Working from home can sometimes be isolating but discovering that others make the same mistakes as we do, and being able to share ideas, was great. We also gained some useful contacts and know who to ask the next time we need a bit more guidance on using social media sites to their full potential.”
Being relatively new to running websites and creating an online presence in the ever-changing realms of social media, the workshops also gave the founders of Julu the confidence to ask the right questions and realise that no question is ever too simple!
A positive experience
Julia and Lucie would highly recommend the workshops for:
Networking with local businesses
Sharing best practice and learning new skills
Personal contact with others in the same situation
Confidence building
Course value – it’s free!
The Faster Business Review is a free consultancy session with one of our specialist Faster Business Advisors and is available to any business in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.
This session is completely tailored to your business and can cover any topic, including, social media, online marketing, websites, e-commerce, data/online security, software and hardware or you can seek expert advice on any area you feel would most benefit your business.
Whether your business is a start-up and a small or medium sized business looking to grow, the Faster Business Review can help.
To request a business review please complete the registration form at the bottom of the page and one of our business advisors will contact you to arrange your free face to face review.
Please note: Business Reviews will be delivered via video or telephone call during the Coronavirus COVID-19 period
Meet with a Faster Business Advisor
Faster Business Action Plan
Faster Business Voucher & Exclusive Offers
With your action plan you will receive £100 worth of Fastershire Vouchers to help you deliver one of the actions. To claim your Faster Business voucher, please click here. These vouchers can be redeemed to pay for software subscriptions, online marketing or even a professional's time. As a Faster Business you will also have access to a range of exclusive offers from local businesses.
Cost: Free
Location: Your premises (or as arranged)
Discussion topics: Troubleshooting, social media, connectivity, software, hardware but you can drill down into any particular area you feel would most benefit your business.
Duration: The discussion can last anything between a couple of hours and half a day.
Sorry, no forthcoming events. Check back again soon.
Fastershire in partnership with Connecting Shropshire and Superfast Telford and part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), have designed the Marches and Gloucestershire Broadband Grant.
Here's a list of business broadband providers who offer packages for businesses connected by Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) or Fibre to the Premises (FTTP), with links to their web sites, so you can find out if they're up and running where you live.
Click here to view FTTP providers >
Fibre to the premises (FTTP) is one of the world's most cutting edge types of fibre broadband with blistering speeds of up to 330Mbps and 1000Mpbs.
If you get enabled with FTTP, you can order it through one of the following Service Providers.
We'll update this page as more ISPs start to offer FTTP.
Below is a list of videos from our YouTube channel.
Thanks to funding from the Government Equalities Office we have now run two Faster Women projects to support Herefordshire and Gloucestershire women to develop the digital and internet skills required to setup and develop their businesses. The second project ended in April 2016. We are now offering occasional workshops throughout the year.
Please register your interest through the link below if you would like to be notified when Faster Women workshop dates are confirmed.
If you are part of a local business network organisation that would be interested in providing workshops and training to your members and others please email faster-women@fastershire.com.
Faster broadband provides an opportunity for businesses and potential entrepreneurs to take advantage of faster speeds to expand current or set-up new businesses, including home-based businesses, however the Women’s Business Council has found that for women in particular increasing digital confidence and internet know-how is key to this. Thanks to funding from the Government Equalities Office, Fastershire provided Faster Women networking opportunities, workshops and training for women to take advantage of how the internet can boost new and existing businesses.
Upcoming Workshops
Click here for our Fastershire events page, which includes details of any Faster Women workshops...
Faster Women Stories
"I've learnt new ways of doing things and how to use my time much more effectively so I can focus more on working with my clients than running the day-to-day elements of my business."
Are you a successful business woman working in Herefordshire or Gloucestershire who would like to share how you’ve used the internet to effectively develop a business? Do you make the most of the benefits that using the internet can bring whether it’s marketing through social media, online selling, maintaining a website, cloud computing, running a business from home?
If you’d like to help shape future projects by sharing your own knowledge and experience of successfully using digital technology please get in touch.
Free business support for farming, agricultural and land-based businesses in the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire.
The Fastershire broadband project and the Herefordshire Rural Hub have come together to create our Faster Farmers project, offering:
Faster Farmers WorkshopsFaster Farmers offers free training and advice to help farmers exploit new digital technology and methods of working to expand and grow their business. Please visit the events section for details of Faster Farmers workshops, and workshops available to all businesses.
Tailored One-to-One AdviceFor tailored one-to-one advice about your business's use of IT and the internet, covering topics such as new software, hardware, social media, online marketing, websites and more, Farming businesses can also request a free Faster Business Review.
Request a FasterBusiness Review
Contact for Faster Farmers
For any other information about Faster Farmers, please contact us.
The Fastershire broadband project and the Hereford Business Improvement District (HBID) have teamed up to create the Faster City project.
The Faster City project has developed a WiFi city centre scheme in Hereford that delivers three elements:
Hereford boasts the largest retail offer in the county with many of Herefordshire’s key retail and tourism businesses located in a highly concentrated area.
The Faster City project will enhance the shopping experience for consumers and help city centre retailers to understand and exploit the changing market trends
The scheme will also pave the way for other innovations including smart infrastructure including an upgraded CCTV circuit and interactive signage.
Faster City launches free WiFi network in Hereford City Centre.
To read the full story, please click here.
96,516 Faster homes & 
99
exchange areas 
7,000 km of 
621
cabinets Faster broadband is being rolled out across Herefordshire and Gloucestershire between now but it is not possible to flick a switch to make every area go live on the same day and some areas will go live before this. Register your interest today and we'll let you know when you can order.
Faster Women
Faster Farms
Faster City
