Investment Support
A huge number of companies can gain a contribution to a project that is creating / safeguarding jobs and making a capital investment. Any small or medium sized company may have an opportunity to gain a contribution to their project plans and large companies can as well where the investment is taking place in an assisted area.
In order to qualify as a small or medium sized company you must meet the following criteria (as a complete Group):
- < 250 employees
- < €50m turnover
- < €43m balance sheet total
If you don't meet these criteria but you are located within an assisted area, the opportunities remain the same. The assisted areas in the UK are published on the Department for Business Innovation and Skills web site but are predominantly found in North West England, Yorkshire and Humber, North East, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, West Midlands and the South West with small pockets elsewhere.
The grant scheme which provides funding for investment support in England is Grant for Business Investment (GBI), although a similar scheme with different names operates in Scotland, Wales and N.Ireland. The grant seeks to fund projects which would not happen without grant support and there are a number of valid arguments to allow this 'additionality' to be demonstrated. The grant application must also demonstrate how much support would be required to allow the project to take place.
The key to a successful grant application is the argument for why support is required and then demonstrating what level of support is the minimum grant that would allow the project to take place.
In some circumstances it is possible to gain 35% of capital costs but in reality the amount that can be gained is a more complicated formula of capital, jobs, strength of project and the application itself.
Mickledore has gained a huge amount of experience in supporting large and small companies through this process to a highly successful conclusion. In the experience of our clients, professional help reduces the time to complete the application, increases its chance of success and can increase the grant award.
Mickledore is expert in government funding opportunities for companies and would be delighted to talk to you about the opportunities for your business.