The New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership is delighted to announce that they have grants for businesses in Norfolk and Suffolk available until March 2015. The LEP has recently been awarded an additional £1.4m from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund to expand its existing Growing Business Fund and offer smaller grants of between £5,000 and £25,000 to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Businesses wanting to grow and create new jobs are now able to apply for grants of between £5,000 and £500,000.
The fund can provide up to 20% of the total funding needed for investment, and be used to leverage funding from other sources, such as banks and other financial organisations. Each application must also create at least one job for every £10,000 worth of grant. All payments are retrospective. For example, a company’s plans for growth might include a range of activities; expansion into a neighbouring unit, updating and buying additional equipment, creating a new website and developing a marketing campaign, the total costs of which are £50,000. The application to the Small Grants Scheme would demonstrate that the company has funding of £40,000 (from perhaps a bank and/or other sources); therefore the Small Grant Scheme application would be to fund a top up of £10,000 – 20% of the costs. For our £10,000 grant you would need to provide employment for a person, full time for at least one year.
A larger project might be to purchase new equipment to create a new production line. To expand this production a company might employ 3 new staff and an apprentice. The total project costs are £200,000 which includes some staff costs, professional fees, rewiring, training of staff to use the equipment etc. The application to the Growing Business Fund would show that the company has £160,000 from the bank and/or other sources; therefore the Growing Business Fund would fund a top up of £40,000; (4 x £10,000 per employee).
The New Anglia LEP is working in partnership with Suffolk County Council and Finance East delivering the programme. The application process is simple and straightforward; it can be as quick as 5 to 8 weeks for a decision. The process consists of the following stages:
- Expression of Interest form;
- Financial Appraisal;
- Growing Business Fund’s Approval Panel’s decision.
FACTS AND FIGURES Of the £12m GBF programme to date, the Approval Panel has agreed to support 35 projects (19 in Norfolk and 16 in Suffolk) worth of over £25.6m and to award grants in the amount of over £3.1m forecasting to create 495 new FTE jobs within the next 2 years. Click here to see a list of approved projects, have already been awarded with grants, the remainder are subject to contract.
To view the eligibility criteria for both funds click here.
CONTACTS:
Growing Business Fund £25,000 – £500,000
To register your interest in the Growing Business Fund and to receive an Expression of Interest Form, please contact Nataliya Klymko, Growing Business Fund Coordinator,[email protected] tel: 01603 510073.
Deadline for returning completed Expression of Interest forms is 31st October 2014.
Small Grant Scheme £5,000 – £25,000
To apply for a Small Grant Scheme please click here.
Deadline for returning completed Expression of Interest forms is 31st December 2014.
Want to discuss your project? Contact Nataliya Klymko, Growing Business Fund Coordinator via email: [email protected] or tel: 01603 510073.
