Rural England Prosperity Fund – North Devon Council (UK)

The Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) grants are funded by North Devon Council through the central governments wider UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKPSF).

Objectives 

• Intervention 1.1: capital grant funding for small scale investment in micro and small enterprises in rural areas
  • Create jobs and increase private sector investment in growth-enhancing activities, through targeted support for small businesses to:
    • undertake innovation
    • adopt productivity enhancing, energy efficient and low carbon technologies and techniques
    • meeting a local demand for a product or service that is not currently being met.
• Intervention 1.2: capital grant funding for growing the local social economy and supporting innovation.
  • Create jobs and provide capital grant support for improvements to local retail, hospitality, and leisure sector facilities. To enhance rural visitor economy and rural leisure opportunities.
• Intervention 1.3: capital grant funding for developing and promoting the visitor economy.
  • Create jobs and enhance rural visitor economy and rural leisure opportunities.

Purpose

• To be eligible for grant funding, projects under the REPF programme businesses must be in a rural area. For Rural Fund purposes, these areas are defined as:
  • towns, villages, and hamlets with populations below 10,000 and the wider countryside
  • market or ‘hub towns’ with populations of up to 30,000 that serve their surrounding rural areas as centres of employment and in providing services

Priorities

• Intervention 1.1: capital grant funding for small scale investment in micro and small enterprises in rural areas
  • This includes capital funding for net zero infrastructure for rural businesses, and diversification of farm businesses outside of agriculture to encourage, expanding, or scaling those businesses.
    • Funding for net zero infrastructure: Capital funding for net zero infrastructure for rural businesses e.g., energy saving equipment, energy efficiency measures and or processes (excludes electrical vehicle charging points).
    • Diversification of farm businesses outside of agriculture: Capital funding for the diversification of farm businesses outside of agriculture to encourage, expansion, or scale up of these businesses
• Intervention 1.2: capital grant funding for growing the local social economy and supporting innovation.
  • Growing the local social economy and supporting innovation
• Intervention 1.3: capital grant funding for developing and promoting the visitor economy.
  • Developing and promoting the visitor economy

Funding Information 

• For North Devon based businesses North Devon Council have allocated grant funding to the following priorities for 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 (subject to confirmation of Year 2 funding).
  • Total Budget 2023-2025: £798,000
  • 2023-2024: £399,000
  • 2024-2025: £399,000
• The minimum award for a grant is £2,500 up to a maximum of £35,000.
• Only one application per organisation/sole trader can be submitted during 2023-2025. In some exceptional circumstances they may consider a second application.
• There will be a requirement for all applicants to be able to provide match funding of 20-30% dependant on the total value of the items.

What is eligible?

• For North Devon Council registered business, the principal objective of the REPF scheme is to provide funding to assist with the purchase of capital items (e.g., equipment or software) that will help the business to achieve one or more of the following outputs:
  • Jobs created
  • Number of businesses adopting new to the firm technologies or processes

Ineligible Projects

• Live projects that have received funding from other Defra Schemes. This includes:
  • The Farming in Protected Landscape Programme – funding for farmers and land managers to work in partnership with National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty bodies to deliver projects on climate, nature, people and place.
  • The Platinum Jubilee Village Hall Improvement Grant Fund – grant funding over three years, to 2025, to support capital improvement projects for village halls, covering extending buildings and modernising facilities.
• Any revenue costs – this is a capital only grants programme.
  • Businesses who are not registered within North Devon Council area.
  • Payments for the project or purchases that have already happened / prior to a Grant Funding Agreement.
  • Grants that seek to cover operational costs such as employees’ wages, rent, bills, insurances, utility costs and repairs will not be considered.
  • Internal staff costs are not eligible nor are the costs of any self-employed staff to cover operational activities.
  • Repeat funding for the same project (i.e., a project which has already been funded from other sources or where an application that you have already applied for funding from elsewhere).
  • Any VAT on grant funded items for those who are VAT registered.
  • Any items purchased on a credit card where the credit card balance has not been paid off in full before the claim is submitted.
  • Any items purchased through Asset finance agreements are not permitted.
  • Ongoing financial support once the project has ended.
  • Fundraising activities.
  • Grants that seek to cover statutory requirements.
  • Interest payments or service charge payments for finance leases.
  • Gifts or payments for gifts or donations.
  • Statutory fines, criminal fines, or penalties.
  • Payments for works or activities which the project deliverer, end beneficiary, or any member of their partnership has a statutory duty to undertake, or that are fully funded by other sources.
  • Bad debts to related parties.
  • Payments for unfair dismissal or other compensation.
  • Depreciation or amortisation costs.

Who can apply? 

• Any small or micro business registered within the North Devon Council area actively trading for 12 months or more, with a UK-based bank account in the name of the business and without unmanageable debt.
• Not all areas of North Devon are eligible to receive rural funding as determined by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. (DEFRA). Businesses must be located in a rural area which are defined as:
  • towns, villages, and hamlets with populations below 10,000 and the wider countryside
  • market or ‘hub towns’ with populations of up to 30,000 that serve their surrounding rural areas as centres of employment and in providing services
• Area-based grants eligibility will be determined by the address where the business is registered e.g., address on business bank statement and which local authority the business pays rates to.
• You can apply if you are a Sole Trader, Partnership, Limited Business, Community Interest Company or Registered Charity, Social Enterprise, or Parish Council (where these engage in economic activity). Providing you have under 50 employees and a turnover less than €10m and are not part of a wider national organisation or group). You must be actively trading, not in administration or insolvent. Please note if your status changes during the application process you must advise us immediately.
• Please note this grant is not for start-up businesses, you need to have been actively trading for 12 months or more and have a Unique Tax Reference, Companies House, or Charity Commission Registration.

For more information, visit North Devon Council.