Angus Council SME Start & Grow Business Grants – UK

Themes

• The following themes have been designed to reflect local and national evidence of need and demand.
  • Start Up
    • Grants for new businesses in their first 12 months of trading. Eligible applicants must:
      • Be engaged with Business Gateway and have a named advisor
      • Provide a Business Plan.
      • Demonstrate that the business has been established for less than 12 months and that trading has started.
  • Resilience
    • Grants for businesses at all stages to help run an industry standard healthy and compliant business with strong foundations. This could include support with:
      • Business finance management.
      • Implementing Digital Systems.
      • Improving Business Confidence and Wellness.
      • Emergency Planning.
      • Business Resilience and sustainability, including physical adaptations to business premises.
  • First Employee
    • Grants for businesses at all stages to support wage costs of a first PAYE employee. Employees must be Angus residents. Family members, business partners and company directors are not eligible first employees. Eligible applicants must:
      • be registered with HMRC (HM Revenue and Customs) and be able to provide a PAYE reference number
      • adopt fair working practices.
  • Market Development
    • Grants to enable businesses to expand their market overseas or into other parts of the UK. Examples of eligible costs could include the following:
      • Transport and accommodation (where these are related to a specific business event or initiative).
      • Exhibition and trade show attendance and stand costs.
      • Marketing activities and brand development.
      • New product development.
      • Consultancy services.
      • A follow-up report outlining activity and anticipated business benefit is required following visits undertaken or stands taken at exhibitions.
  • New Property
    • Grants for businesses at all stages to assist with the costs of fitting out new premises where they have been vacant for over 12 months. This is particularly (but not exclusively) for vacant Town Centre properties and aims to help improve the high street environment and stimulate an increase in footfall. Eligible applicants must:
      • Have identified a suitable property.
      • Be engaged with Business Gateway and have a named advisor.
      • Provide a Business Plan.
  • Growth
    • Grants for established businesses who are ready to look forward and improve business potential through development, growth, and adaptation. This could include support with:
      • Business Development.
      • Planning and Preparing for Growth.
      • Diversification.
      • Scaling Up Increasing Productivity
      • Relocation.

Funding Information

• Businesses can apply for a grant of a minimum of £500 and up to a maximum of £7,000.
• Businesses can apply for Capital and/or Revenue costs.
• 100% of project costs can be met up to a maximum of £7,000 with no match funding requirements. However, project costs that exceed the maximum grant available must be met by the business.
• The grant will be paid in one instalment in arrears on submission of the final report accompanied by copies evidence of payment for approved costs.
• Grant Amounts
  • Small: £500 to £3,000
  • Medium: £3,000 to £5,000
  • Large: £5,000 to £7,000

Ineligible Funding

• The types of costs will vary depending on the needs of the business, and so they will not be prescriptive on what costs can be included in the application. There are however some costs that they cannot fund, these include:
  • Activity which does not support an Angus business or Angus-based employee
  • Any goods or services that have been bought or ordered, or activities that have already taken place, or already started before receipt of their grant offer
  • Any activity where there is another known source of funding available to fund it
  • Core running costs
  • Working capital, including the purchase of stock or materials
  • Expenditure undertaken to meet legislative requirements
  • Debt repayment.

Eligibility Criteria

• Business must be located within Angus Council boundaries.
• Must be able to provide evidence of business registration status.
• Sole Traders are ineligible.
• Fewer than 250 employees.
• Where there are business premises, they must be registered for non-domestic rates.
• Must have a dedicated business bank account, operational for at least 3 months.
• Business must not be connected to a tax haven.
• Business must have no outstanding debts to Angus Council.
• Only one grant is available per business in any individual financial year.
• It is preferable and, for certain themes, a requirement for businesses to relate to a Business Gateway advisor.

For more information, visit Angus Council.