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Business Grants
For the United Kingdom there are some 850 different grants
provided by UK national organisations or European Union sources.
In addition, there are some 3,000 "grants" provided by local
councils, economic development units, enterprise agencies and
other specific local bodies. The amount of grant depends upon
the purpose for which it is given.
The main purposes are as follows: -
CAPITAL GRANTS FOR INVESTMENT In reality these grants are more
concerned with the protection or creation of employment. Grant
levels range between 5% and 25% of overall project costs,
alternatively, between £2,500 and £7,000 per job created.
TRAINING GRANTS Grants and soft loans cover both design and
delivery of training. Soft loans of up to 80% of training costs
may be obtained by SME's and other grants of between 20% and 50%
of training costs are available in specific instances whereby
engineering training is particularly favoured.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT GRANTS R&D grants run at between 30% to
50% of the total project cost. Costs may include salaries,
consumables, related capital expenditure, consultancy, IPR
protection and a substantial contribution towards overheads. *
Feasibility Studies into innovative technology will provide a
grant of up to 75% of eligible project costs to a maximum of
£45,000. Eligible costs to be at least £30,000 and project
duration 6 - 18 months for SME's with less than 50 employees. *
Development Projects up to pre-production prototype stage of new
products and processes involving a significant technological
advance. This will produce a grant of up to 30% of eligible
project costs to a maximum of ECU 200,000 (including any grant
already received for a feasibility study). Eligible costs to be
at least £60,000 and project duration 6 - 36 months. Open to
SME's with less than 250 employees. On the face of it there is
little change from the old SPUR/SMART system, however all awards
are considered on a competitive or challenge basis.
INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS These grants target specific areas which
have suffered industrial or sectoral decline e.g. textile,
fishing or defence industry locations.
EXPORT GRANTS These may subsidise the cost of setting up export
activities, or provide joint venture finance. Joint venture
support may run at 50% of feasibility studies or a substantial
20% to 50% of joint venture set-up costs.
ADVISORY SERVICES Free or subsidised consultancy or provision of
specialist information. Consultancy grants for specific tasks
will run at up to 50% of consultancy fees. Specialist
information services, access to databases etc is free or
requires a nominal contribution.
MISCELLANEOUS GRANTS e.g. assistance for museums, the disabled,
rail and water freight projects, craft industries and rural
development. The key point is that grants and soft loans will
always only meet a percentage of the total cost. The applicant
will invariably have to demonstrate that the balance of funding
to see the project through to completion is readily available.
Why use a grant consultant? Where capital grants or substantial
grants for research and development are concerned, and some
others, the application procedure and forms are complex. More
importantly, the decision-making criteria with which civil
servants both in the UK and the EU work are not in the public
domain. It is thus difficult for outsiders to know or understand
exactly what points would favour their application as opposed to
those which would condemn it.
Grant bodies are invariably striving to give the minimum grant
necessary, in their opinion, to assist the project. whereas the
consultant acting, on behalf of the client, will be striving to
maximise the grant obtained. Consultants can help senior
management, which invariably has many other priorities, by
saving time and effort by carrying out the application
procedures on their behalf.
Consultants are most valuable where grants are issued on a
"challenge" or competitive basis. Almost all EU R&D grants are
issued on a competitive basis, i.e. applications are submitted,
ranked in order of merit and only those deemed the most
deserving will receive funds.
The UK has been moving strongly towards "challenge" grant
awarding. In these instances the use of a consultant is
imperative.
About the author:
John Courtney AIMC, MABS, MInstDis, is the managing director of
Strategy Consulting Limited
(http://www.strategyconsultinglimited.co.uk). Having trained at
The Academy of Business Strategy, and is an associate of the
Institute of Management Consultancy and a member of the
Institute of Directors, he is also a visiting lecturer on the
MBA course at Cranfield University School of Management and a
Judge in The National Business Awards