All about Grants

If you are in business or thinking about starting one you may well wonder whether you could obtain financial help in the form of a grant.

Pursuing the idea can be a daunting prospect partly because there are so many different schemes in operation. The good news is that most businesses are eligible for some sort of help but the bad news is that no one will knock on your door with a pile of cash in their hands.

We help you to make sense of what is available by providing a summary of the likely sources of funding, the factors that will be relevant in determining your eligibility and some things to think about when making an application.

There are many potential providers of funds and it would not be possible to list them all here. However, the awarding bodies fall into three main categories, European, national and local.

The European Commission is the main source of funds provided by the European Union. It administers a wide variety of funds.
The national government bodies providing funds include the DTI, the Department for Education and Employment, the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Development Agency, the Industrial Development Board (N Ireland) and many others.
Local providers include Business Link, Enterprise Agencies and TECs.

Whether or not you qualify under any particular scheme will depend upon your location, size and the industry or sector in which you operate.

Things to think about when applying for a grant

Make sure you apply for funds in respect of a particular project.
Don’t start the project before you apply for a grant.
Consider the awarding body’s objectives when applying and try to match them as closely as possible.
Demonstrate that you need the funds to be able to undertake the project.
Make sure you have matching funds available - a grant is very unlikely to cover all of your costs and typically will cover between 15% and 50%.
It may also be helpful to make personal contact with the awarding body before you submit your application.

If this is an area of interest to you then please talk to us. As a starting point you might find some helpful information on the Enterprise Advisory Service website at www.govgrants.com