Funding Help

Business Support Guides

Business Support Guide for Existing Businesses 

Business Support Guide for Start Ups

Grant Funds

South West Growth Fund

Covering the wider South West - as far as Gloucestershire and Dorset - this Regional Growth Fund (RGF) funded scheme supports businesses with grants of £15k to £1m for capital projects (note: ability to include revenue costs within a project is limited) with job creation.

North Devon+ Unlocking Business Investment (ND+ UBI)

Circa £4.7 million RGF backed grant scheme aimed at assisting growing businesses located in the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership area (Plymouth, Devon, Torbay and Somerset County Council) to bring forward projects that will result in job creation. Individual grants of £25,000 to £499,000 will be awarded on a competitive basis to eligible businesses that present a strong case and offer value for money in terms of quality and cost per job, and private sector match funding.

European Structural Investment Funds (ESIF) Growth Programme

Schemes are coming on stream and being administered centrally via a national ‘call’ process. To view current ‘calls’ visit https://www.gov.uk/european-structural-investment-funds then tick Location: South West but note that this indicates calls within the South West as a whole. Each call has its own specifications including LEP area(s) covered.

Countryside Productivity Scheme

National programme for farmers, woodland owners and forestry contractors to apply to for grants under specific investment areas. Details can be found on the gov.uk website.

LEADER

Local Action Groups in Heart of South West and West of England areas that cover the majority of rural areas e.g. “Making it Local” covers Blackdown Hills and East Devon Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty along with the surrounding parishes and market towns, has a grant pot of £1.371m available for projects in a number of sectors including microbusinesses and tourism. We have details of websites and contacts for each area should further information be required.

EAFRD Growth Programme

£15.5 million fund allocated to the Heart of South West LEP. The funding will help towards “building and strengthening the local economy”. LEP has launched “calls” for applications.

Assisted Asset Purchase Scheme/ Regional Growth Fund

Grant support for asset purchases, effectively increasing deposit paid. Operating across England creating additional employment or safeguarding jobs, which could otherwise be lost within 12 months. Currently there are a limited number of operators of this scheme. .

Innovation Vouchers

A grant of up to £5,000 is available to SMEs to work with a supplier for the first time and is used to pay for knowledge or technology transfer from that supplier. Vouchers are issued every 3 months around specific themes. .

European Maritime Fisheries Fund (EMFF)

EMFF opened in 2016 and will run until 2020 or until all available money has been allocated. It will open on a phased basis; with phases covering some of the 6 broad categories covered by EMFF which are: Fishing vessel energy improvements; Investments on board vessels; Improvements to shore based facilities; Partnerships and information sharing; Seafood processing and investments in fisheries management and Aquaculture, animal health and inland fishing.

Loans (Non-Bank and Non-Asset Finance)

Wellcomefunding

Their funding schemes support indiviguals, teams, resources, seed ideas, places and major initiatives in the following areas:

• Biomedical science
• Population health
• Product development and applies research
• Humanities and social science
• Public engagement and creative industries

Energy Efficiency Financing Scheme

Debt finance for purchase of equipment to make operations more efficient and lower energy costs. Terms to match with energy savings.

ReEnergise Smart Energy Finance

The ReEnergise Smart Energy Fund provides access to finance for renewable energy and energy efficient projects.  Commercial energy projects from around £25,000 to £250,000, applicable to commercial businesses, farms and estates, schools, local authorities, communities and charities.

A choice of loan, lease or hire purchase facilities according to your requirements up to 100% of equipment and installation costs with terms of up to 10 years.

Start Up Loans

Finance for entrepreneurs who are at least 18 years old with a great idea and a passion to succeed. Need to have completed a business plan and financial forecasts. Average loan size of around £2,500.

Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme (EFG)

EFG is a loan guarantee scheme designed to facilitate additional lending to viable SMEs lacking the security or proven track record for a commercial loan.

Export Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme (ExEFG)

ExEFG facilitates the provision of short term export finance to viable SMEs which lack the security necessary to obtain such facilities commercially.

Equity

There are a number of Venture Capital/ Private Equity firms active in the South West. Each will have a focus in terms of sector and/or size of investment etc. In addition the following are potential sources of equity funding.

Business Growth Fund

A commercial fund which looks to provide long-term equity funding to established businesses, typically with turnover of £5m+ and strong growth potential. BGF provides growth capital investments of £2-10m for a minority stake and is very flexible. Some cash-out to shareholders but no buy-outs.

The Angel CoFund

The fund is able to make initial equity investments of between £100,000 and £1m into SMEs alongside syndicates of business angels, subject to certain geographical restrictions and an upper limit of 49% of any investment round.

Enterprise Capital Funds (ECF)

ECFs are commercially focused funds that bring together private and public money to make equity investments in high growth businesses. The programme invests into funds on terms that improve the outcome for private investors when those funds are successful. More information available through the British Business Bank website.

Crowdfunding

The South West is well represented in the growing area of “Crowdfunding”; with local representatives in equity, peer to peer lending and rewards based funding platforms. Examples of crowdfunding platforms available:

• Equity - Crowdcube

• Debt - Folk 2 Folk and Funding Circle

• Reward - Crowdfunder

British Business Bank

Whilst the British Business Bank does not provide funding directly to smaller businesses. It does work in conjunction with private sector partners to enable businesses to access more finance, from a greater number of providers, through a wider range of products.