The areas and the offers available at present are;
Business development grants in:
- Coventry and Warwickshire LEP
- South East LEP and
- South East Midlands LEP
Food processing grants in:
- Greater Lincolnshire LEP and
- Worcestershire LEP
Business Development Grants
Growth Programme business development grants are available to develop a new or existing business in a rural area. Applicants should contact the RPA to check whether they are eligible. (0300 0200 301). Each LEP issues a “call for applications” which specifies the details of the grants available. Growth programme grants will normally be above £35,000 and cover up to 40% of the project’s eligible costs. Grants will normally be to a maximum of £155,000. The minimum eligible cost of the project would therefore be £87,500.
Applicants can get funding for these costs:
- building or improving fixed property
- buying new equipment and machinery and
- architects, engineer or consultant fees – these can’t add up to more than 15% of the project’s total eligible costs
The following costs are also eligible, as long as they only form part of the project being funded:
- buying or developing a dedicated piece of computer software – but not an off-the shelf piece of business software (like Microsoft Office)
- patents, licences, copyrights or trademarks and
- energy-saving and resource efficiency equipment
Food processing grants: Growth Programme
These Growth Programme grants are for businesses that process agricultural and horticultural products. They are to help these business gain access to new national and international markets, with new or existing products, by creating new processing facilities. The application will need to show how the farmers and growers that supply the raw materials will benefit from the project. This could include by:
- shared risk and reward; and
- paying price premiums to suppliers
Businesses can apply for this grant if they process Annex 1 agricultural and horticultural products. The exception is fisheries products, which are not eligible for these grants.
The applicant business can be a micro, small or medium-sized business. Micro and small businesses that have a Growth Programme business development grant can also apply for these food processing grants, as long as the grants are for different projects.