Could your business benefit from the Regional Growth Fund?

The government recently announced a new round of funding for businesses through the Regional Growth Fund (RGF).

The aim of this fund is to provide a grant for larger businesses who want to strengthen, consolidate or grow and in a way which will create or protect jobs.

RGF round five opens on October 11 and closes on December 9 2013. The minimum grant on offer is typically £1m and will cover 20% of total project costs. In previous rounds of RGF, seven companies from Lancashire have successfully applied to the fund. 

As with all grants, the funding comes with strings attached and in this case these are about jobs and growth, but not just any jobs anywhere. The majority of these jobs have to come from economically disadvantaged areas and there is an onus on the jobs being higher value, for example in the engineering sector, where possible. The ratio of grant per job is also an  important factor in determining the success of an application.

Boost Business Lancashire (Boost), can provide access to a range of free advice services from advisors who have already supported successful RGF applications.

Typically, Boost can assist with:

• Identifying what funding you could attract and for what
• Determining how the location of your business might impact on what you can apply for
• Support to understand the nuances of form filling and how the wording / key phrases in the application can assist with a successful application

There is a big opportunity to bid into RGF with this latest round, and ambitious SME companies should not fear the process. Obviously the minimum RGF spend is £1 million but for businesses looking to grow significantly this should not be a barrier.

Find out more

Start the growth conversation by completing our online form or call 0800 488 0057.

Author

Jonathan Thomas, sector lead for advanced manufacturing for the Business Growth and Innovation team at Lancashire County Developments Ltd