UK: Rural England Prosperity Fund

Deadline: 29 September 2023

Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) aims to improve productivity and strengthen the rural economy and rural communities.

East Suffolk Council is providing two new capital grant schemes using REPF funding to provide capital grants to small businesses and community infrastructure organisations in the district’s rural area:

Rural Business Investment Fund
Rural Business and Community Hub Fund.

Grant Priorities

Rural Business Investment Fund

The main objectives of the Rural Business Investment Fund is to provide:
- Funding (capital grants) for small scale investment in micro and small enterprises in rural areas. Including capital funding for net zero infrastructure for rural businesses, and diversification of farm businesses outside of agriculture to encourage start up, expansion or scale up of these businesses where this involves converting farm buildings into other commercial or business uses.
- Funding (capital grants) for growing the local social economy and supporting innovation. The Rural Business Investment Fund, is 100% capital fund grant that will allow rural businesses to apply for funding across the following three priorities.
All applicants must ensure that their application evidences how it meets at least one of the priorities:
- Net zero
- SME investments and diversification
- Agriculture and farm diversification.

Rural Business and Community Hub Fund

The main objectives for the Rural Business and Community Hub Fund is to provide critical upgrades and improvements to community facilities so they are fit for 21st century use, including:

Funding (capital grants) for investment and support for digital infrastructure for local community facilities.
Funding (capital grants) for investment in capacity building and infrastructure support for local civil society and community groups.
Funding (capital grants) for rural circular economy projects.
Funding (capital grants) for impactful volunteering and social action projects to develop social and human capital in local places.
The Business and Community Hub Fund, is a 100% capital fund grant that will allow rural organisations to apply for funding across the following three priorities. All applicants must ensure that their application evidences how it meets at least one of the priorities:
- Digital upgrades
- Capital improvements to create suitable space for community and business use
- Net zero upgrades.

Types of Organizations

Rural Business Investment Fund

The Rural Business Investment Fund is suitable for Small to Medium Sized businesses that:
- Have a physical premises that you operate from and are seeking funding to support premises upgrades. This could include improvements for energy efficiency, general refurbishment of premises, machinery, technology etc.
- Or are a business within the agriculture and farming sector looking to diversify your business through other offers and supplement your existing income.
- It is also open to social enterprises, for example, if you are a community business, cooperative, or a research and development site.

Rural Business and Community Hub Fund

The Rural Business and Community Hub Fund is suitable for constituted voluntary, community and social enterprise groups and, Small to Medium Sized businesses that:
- Provide or are looking to provide a community or for-public-benefit facility and build on the idea of becoming central hubs to the local community by developing multi-purpose centres that provide access to a range of high quality and cost effective services.
- The organisations should be seeking capital improvements to their premises to make them fit for modern day use and attractive for community use.
- When they refer to organisations that are for ‘community or for-public benefit’ this could include:
  - Existing village halls
  - Local skills providers
  - Business and co-working spaces
  - Health, wellbeing and mental health providers
  - Sports and recreation providers
  - Arts, culture and heritage providers.