This week FutureGov launched http://simpl.co, a social innovation marketplace where people with ideas for delivering public services in new ways can meet people from organisations who can offer the opportunities to make them happen.  It could be a great break for businesses looking to work with government and public bodies. The service is aimed at helping non-profits, charities and businesses of all sizes looking for government organisations open to innovative ideas.

At VentureNavigator we’ve been doing some work with Futuregov around our Local Business Communities service for Local Authorities. They are full of great ideas and this innovation network is a result of their realisation that people in local government often don’t get to hear about the social innovations happening across the globe or even their backyard.

The service is bit like Ebay for ideas, the site lets users post and bid on innovative solutions, but the focus is on in-kind resources rather than money.  In these cash-strapped times some non-financial support can go a long way in getting ideas off the ground and innovators are crying out to work with forward-thinking organisations to prototype and develop their ideas.  

Check Simpl out here: http://simpl.co and read more about what they are up to on their blog.

Key measures in the Budget for businesses include:

• a reduction in the main rate of corporation tax by a further one per cent. From April 2011, the rate will be reduced to 26 per cent with further yearly reductions of one per cent until 2014 when it will reach 23 per cent;
• new Controlled Foreign Company rules to allow groups based in the UK to compete more effectively with those based overseas;
• the abolition of 43 tax reliefs whose rationale is no longer valid – following recommendations from the Office of Tax Simplification;
• dropping existing proposals for specific regulations which would have cost business over £350m a year;
• £100m for local authorities to repair potholes caused by the cold winter weather;
• increase the rate of R&D tax credits for small and medium-sized enterprises from 175 per cent to 225 per cent by April 2012;
• 21 new Enterprise Zones, to focus growth in specific parts of the UK;
• fuel duty will be cut by one penny per litre from 6pm on March 23. The April 2011 inflation-only increase in fuel duty will be deferred to 1 January 2012; the April 2012 increase will be implemented on 1 August 2012;
• a further increase to the income tax personal allowance for under 65s of £630 to £8,105 in April 2012;
• additional work experience placements and additional apprenticeships for young people;

The Budget also launches the Government’s Plan for Growth, a package of measures aimed at supporting private sector investment, enterprise and innovation. This includes measures to increase the competitiveness of the UK tax system; reduce the burden of regulation; and increase incentives for business investment.  More details on the Treasury Web site

Emma Jones, founder and editor of Enterprise Nation has come up with a great idea for start-ups. Called the “Start-up Kit”, it’s a book that covers all the basic aspects of starting up – from developing a business idea and setting up a company to marketing your new business, getting that first sale and making the most of the latest tech developments. Full of great advice from Emma Jones and packed with case studies from people who’ve already started their own successful businesses.  The really clever bit is that Emma has managed to round up some great offers from some of the leading brands for small business: 

• Barclays – a business bank account with ££25 in the account
• O2 & BlackBerry – a free month’s line rental
• Google – £30 of free AdWords advertising
• Free pack of 50 MOO business cards
• HP – 10% discount on any HP products
• Experian – 200 free sales contacts
• Powa – save up to ££270 on a website for your new business
• PayPal – no fees for 3 months on your Powa site
• Regus – 1 month’s free businessworld membership
• iStockphoto – 20% discount on stock imagery plus 25 free images
• GoToMeeting – 60 day free trial
• Bitsy – 2 months’ free subscription

Worth far more than the £25 asking price, we think it’s a good investment for an aspiring ultralight start-up.

You can get a copy of the Start-Up Kit here.