£20 million in Small Business Recovery Grants

On 30 July, the Government announced a new grant scheme to help small businesses recover and adapt from the challenges arising as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.

The package of funding is supported by the England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The grants will be fully funded by the Government with no obligation for businesses to contribute financially.

The funding has been allocated to local Growth Hubs within each Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) area (or associated projects). Growth Hubs work across the country with local and national, public and private sector partners, co-ordinating local business support and connecting businesses to the right help for their needs.

Small and medium sized businesses in England will typically be able to access grants of up to £3,000, although under certain circumstances and on a case-by-case basis, grants of up to £5,000 may be awarded.

The grant size and allocation will be managed locally by the Growth Hubs.

The grants are intended to help businesses access specialist professional advice such as human resources, accountants, legal, financial, and IT/digital, and purchase minor equipment to adapt or adopt new technology in order to continue to deliver business activity or diversify (for example, to support a move online).

Other activities supported through the £20m may include one-to-many events providing guidance to respond to coronavirus.

Many Growth Hubs are still only inviting registrations of interest with the formal grant applications to be opened in September.

There will be more detailed application requirements – some Growth Hubs have published some specifics regarding the grant, requiring multiple quotes to be obtained and the funds to be claimed back once the expenditure has been incurred.

To apply and find out more, you can locate and contact your local area Growth Hub. We understand that some Growth Hubs have already exhausted their allocations so if you are interested in applying for a grant for your business, register your interest now.

Details of local Growth Hubs can be found here: https://www.lepnetwork.net/local-growth-hub-contacts

Please visit our recent blog for details of other recent announcements in connection with the Government’s Covid-19 support and recovery measures. If you have any queries about the support available to you and your business, please do not hesitate to get in touch with your Barnes Roffe contact.