Welcome to our Financial Assistance Hub
Funding for capital investment
Furness is one of UK's special Assisted Areas. Here discretionary funding is on offer until 31 December 2013 in the form of :
- Grants for Business Investment which contribute towards capital investment and job creation grants are on offer for projects requiring 2m or more of grant aid and for investment in port infrastructure required for manufacture of renewable energy systems.
A bid under this scheme has to set out the business case for support showing how much will be invested and how much grant aid is sought. Projects must meet criteria on productivity, job numbers and quality of a project as well as demonstrating a need for funding. Grants are normally available for projects with 1 to 3 year time horizons.
Funding amounts can vary. Large firms employing over 250 people may qualify for up to 15% eligible project costs. Companies with below 250 employees can apply for grants towards 25% of eligible project costs whilst medium sized firms can seek up to 35% if they can justify it is essential to fill a funding gap, or achieve a particular minimum return on investment.
The Regional Growth Fund,
- This will open for bids in February 2012. Applications by private sector companies and / or public-private sector partnerships can bid for minimum amounts of 1m of discretionary grant assistance. In Assisted Areas large and small firms can obtain a larger percentage of support than in non Assisted Areas.This is a competitive bidding grant scheme with specific opening and closing dates for bids , which do not always coincide with company investment cycles.Firms which havwe projects likely to start in the next two years where their size and scale could extend over three years should consider bidding for this funding source.
Funding for innovation is available from :
- an Innovation in Business Grant Fund operated by Furness Enterprise. It enables development of new products and processes by offering up to 20,000 as a discretionary grant for each company towards eligible project costs.
Open to firms of all sizes in Furness this scheme adelivers discretionary support for companies to develop new products or processes. THe Scheme supports:
- Product design development. This could involve conceptual through to detailed engineering design and prototyping.
- Production capacity changes which promote the manufacture of new products.
- New production process development.
- Systems integration.
- Pre-commercial product business development.
- Information technology development that supports the preceding activities.
You can download the Guidance Notes for the scheme here or apply for an application form from Christine Hodgson (Tel 01229 820611) EMail: chodgson@furnessenterprise.co.uk
Technology Strategy Board funded schemes such as
- SMART;
- Innovation vouchers;
- calls for bids for specialist funds.
Local discretionary grant and loan schemes for existing firms or new businesses include :
- the GlaxoSmithKline Enterprise Fund which offers up to 5,000 for each job created by either newly formed or existing businesses. The fund is also accessible to former GlaxoSmithKline employees leaving employment at their Ulverston site regardless of the geographical location.of where they live. For further information call Val Robinson 01229 820611 vrobinson@furnessenterprise.co.uk
- CART Loans. For further information call Val Robinson 01229 820611 vrobinson@furnessenterprise.co.uk
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Open For Business Grants enable new businesses located in Barrow in Furness Borough Council's administrative area to gain discretionary grant aid of up to 1,000 after receiving counselling advice, training, help with preparation of a business plan. Free mentoring and ongoing support for a further 12 months after your business starts trading is also available as a condition of any financial offer.
For Exporters
- UKTI export support can help you identify overseas markeyt opportunities.We work with UKTI's local representatives Gordon Bettany and Peter Gawn Caine to run export clinics at Barrow or on a firm's own premises to assist companies to access civil and defence markets all over the world.
Return to Work Support
This is available through The Workshop and other Job acess schemes to help those individuals who are detached from the labour market to get back into work.
- Individuals can obtain up to 800 of support to help reskill
Independant Retailers - Barrow in Furness Borough Council Shop Front Grants Scheme
This scheme applies in Barrow and Dalton Town Centres.
The aim is to support the creation of attractive and customer friendly town centres in Barrow and Dalton which enable shopkeepers to work effectively together to market their town centres, in order that they can compete effectively with out of town shopping. The scheme will assist with the provision of the following on the principle trading elevation of the property:
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new windows
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exterior treatment and vinyl graphics or lettering including fascias or signage
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lighting
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canopies
Small Units - A non-contributory grant of up to 2,000 aimed at small shops whose frontage could be improved.
Larger Units - An additional grant of 50%, up to a maximum of 20,000.
Application forms and guidance can be downloaded here:
Download Guidance Leaflet (PDF 113 Kb)
Download Application Form (MS Word 700 Kb)
For further information on this scheme please contact:
Mrs A. Taylforth,Town Centre Manager
Barrow Borough Council, Town Hall, Duke Street
Barrow-in-Furness,,Cumbria, LA14 2LD
The scheme is targeted at small retailers in Barrow Town Centre and Dalton Town Centre.
The scheme will be open only to small independent businesses with less than 50 employees
Venture Capital Funds
NW Business Fund
Open to SMEs (with less than 250 full time equivalent employees, an annual turnover less than 50m Euros and balance sheet not more than 43m Euros) the loan fund comes with a strict set of criteria listed below:
Must be a limited company
Company must not be listed on any stock exchange
Must be located in or moving into the North West
Primary sales income must come from business to business sales this is subject to sector eligibility criteria
To be eligible for the loan fund a request for funding from a bank or other funder needs to have been declined in full or in part. Loans are available of between 50,000 to 250,000.
There are also five different venture capital/mezzanine funds, for more information please contact Simon Berry on 0151 600 5340 / 07879691478 or email simon.berry@fwcapital.co.uk
Any business wishing to apply will need to provide two years projections and a business plan, but contact Simon to check eligibility of the proposed project first.
More information can also be found by visiting www.thenorthwestfund.co.uk.
Seed and Venture Capital Funds
To assist small businesses raise the finance they need a number of seed and venture capital funds can be acessed. Venture capitalists look to invest large sums of money in return for shares in your business.Current funds include:
Rising Stars Growth Fund - a 19 million fund specifically for high growth, early stage technology companies. Managed by Enterprise Ventures, the fund will invest up to 500,000 in selected companies.
Northwest Equity Fund - a 35.5 million fund managed by WM Enterprise which can make investments of up to 500,000.
Northwest Seed Fund - a 4.5 million scheme to help the region's entrepreneurs. Initial investments of up to 100,000 will be made in innovative early stage businesses to help develop their ideas and exploit early sales. Managed by Axiomlab Investment Management.
Northwest Business Investment Scheme - a 23 million scheme to provide seed and venture capital investment to small and medium sized businesses using money allocated by the European Regional Development Fund. Managed by YFM Private Equity.
Enterprise Finance Guarantee
Helps businesses with viable proposals but who are unable to obtain conventional loans because of a lack of security. A government guarantee covers 75% of the loan, encouraging commercial lenders to provide loans to businesses lacking security. Borrowers pay the dti a premium of 2% p.a. in return for the guarantee.
Some of the main sources of funding available to businesses based within Furness are included in a leaflet shown below:
Here is a [pdf] of the latest Looking for Business Finance? Leaflet
For more details call 01229 820611 or email sklosinski@furnessenterprise.co.uk
Other Forms of Support
Knowledge Transfer Networks
Open to all businesses that want to grow by exploiting technology.A grant to an intermediary to set up a network in a priority technology area, bringing together businesses, universities and others with an interest in technology applications.
Collaborative Research and Development (R&D)
Open to all UK-based businesses wishing to exploit technology.
Funding for collaborative R&D projects between businesses, universities and other potential collaborators.
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
Open to all businesses who heed expert help to innovate.
A grant to cover part of the cost of using a person to transfer and embed knowledge into a business from the UK knowledge base via a strategic project.
Access to Best Business Practice
Open to all businesses wishing to find out how to improve their performance through better ways of working. Materials on best practice, networking events, organized visits to businesses successfully implementing best practice.
Support to Implement Best Business Practice
Available to small businesses wanting practical help in implementing best practice. (Also open to larger firms for certain projects).
A free diagnostic run by a Business Link adviser, with subsidized consultancy for selected projects.
Business Rates Deferral Scheme
The following pdfs explain how to access this scheme which came into effect in April 2009.
Adviser Briefing
Adviser Q&A
Grants and Loans are normally only available as a means of filling a funding gap or as a way of improving the investment rate of return. Remember it may be possible to combine one or more grants or loan schemes to help make up a funding package to support your business project. All project assistance has to comply with European State Aid Rules (see below).
State Aid Rules
European State Aid Rules often limit the amount of grant aid that can be made available. For companies employing fewer than 50 people the State Aid Rules limit the amount of grant aid payable to no more than 35% of project costs, for businesses with 50-249 employees the limit is 25% and 15% for companies employing more than 250 people
North West Fund
The North West Fund is a 185m evergreen investment fund established to provide debt and equity funding from 50,000 to 2m to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) based in, or relocating to, the North West of England. The Fund is one of the largest public sector funds of its kind in Europe and the largest in the UK. The North West Fund is the umbrella name for the six funds that are available to businesses in the form of debt, equity and quasi-equity. These funds are managed by six fund managers under contract with North West Business Finance Limited (NWBF), which has been established to oversee the delivery of the Fund under the Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises Initiative (JEREMIE) in the North West.
Initially, 170m of The North West Fund has been allocated to the six fund managers.
Each fund manager now has a mandate to invest their allocation into the specific product or sector they manage, until 31st December 2015. The remaining 15m will be available for further allocation and investment through to the end of 2015. Such further allocations will be made as investment needs
become more apparent.
The North West Fund is made up of a 92.4m European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) grant, making it the biggest ERDF project of the 2007-13 regional programme, and a 92.4m loan from the EIB. In addition to this funding, the six appointed fund managers have been targeted withsecuring over 200m of co-investment capital from a wide range of sources,including finance angels, banks, pension funds, venture capital, private equityinvestors, and other private funds. It is expected that this initiative will generate total funding in excess of 400m.
Between 2010 and 2015, the Fund is expected to create or safeguard almost 14,000 jobs and, over the life of the Fund, to improve the economic performance of the North West region with an estimated GVA increase of 700m.
Further information on The North West Fund is available at www.thenorthwestfund.co.uk
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