Regional Growth Fund
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Do you need funding to develop your business?
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Does your proposed development create sustainable new jobs within your business?
If so, you may wish to consider applying for the Government's Regional Growth Fund Round (RGF) Round 4.
At the 2012 Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced a further £350 million for the Regional Growth Fund (RGF), which will be extended into 2015-16. RGF is a competition to fund projects which create jobs and attract private sector leverage.
Round 4 of RGF is now open and private sector organisations are being invited to bid for funding, the government has set a deadline of 12:00 noon on 20th March for applications to be submitted.
Applying for this funding is not any easy process and before deciding to apply, businesses first needs to consider:
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Do you have the resources needed to complete the application form? (have a look at the Round 4 application on line at https://www.gov.uk/understanding-the-regional-growth-fund
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All grant is taxable.
-
If you could get Research and Development tax credits for the project you need to check with your accountant first to see if it is also worth applying for the grant.
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If you are successful you will need to pay for a Due Diligence review and each claim you make will need to be audited by an independent accountant.
-
If your application is for less than £1 million you cannot apply directly for RGF funding, you will need to talk to the Black Country RGF team about the possibility of being part of a 'package' of projects.
-
The maximum amount of RGF funding will be a percentage of your total project costs you cannot apply for the full cost so you will need to demonstrate available match funding.
Please click here to download the RGF fact sheet which provides some more information on the Black Country LEP approach to RGF 4 and the issues businesses need to be aware of.
If you are interested in discussing a potential project please call one of the Black Country RGF Round 3 Team:
Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership - Sophie Thompson 01384 471116 sophie_thompson@blackcountryconsortium.co.uk
Dudley Council - Wayne George 01384 812001 info@dudleybusinessfirst.org
Sandwell Council - Paul Mountford 0121 569 2101 paul_mountford@sandwell.gov.uk
Walsall Council - Daniel Carins 01922 652545 carinsd@walsall.gov.uk
Wolverhampton Council - Graham Clark 01902 555850 Graham.Clark@wolverhampton.gov.uk
MAS- The Manufacturing Advisory Service- 07968 025406 Rachel.Eade@mymas.org
Note: RGF is a Government grant, you do not need to contact the Black Country Regional Growth Fund in order to apply. The team will aim to provide initial advice on whether you can apply .
News
Thursday 25th October 2012: LEP CELEBRATES FUNDING SUCCESS
Around 900 new jobs will be created at up to 40 Black Country businesses after the Local Enterprise Partnership successfully secured funding to drive exciting growth plans.
The Black Country LEP is celebrating after it successfully attracted over £11 million from the government's Regional Growth Fund by compiling a bid on behalf of around 40 local businesses.
The LEP pulled the bid together for the companies, whose bids individually would not have met the minimum threshold criteria of £1 million. And now the joint bid has been given the green light it is expected that the £11 million fund will stimulate £44 million of private sector investment from the companies.
Companies benefitting from the bid include Pasab Ltd, trading as Jhoots Pharmacy in Darlaston, Melllish Engineering Services Ltd in Walsall and Shakespeare Forgings Ltd in Cradley Heath.
In addition to these companies, dozens more businesses from sectors including automotive, advanced manufacturing and environmental technologies are all celebrating receiving funding.
The Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership worked with partners including the four Black Country local authorities, Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) and Black Country Chamber of Commerce to co-ordinate the bids and also provided support and advice to applicants in separate bids from businesses in the area.
Including the £11million programme bid, it was announced last week that a total of £28 million of funding has been secured by Black Country businesses that will help create over 1,500 jobs.
The programme bid was one of five separate bids from the Black Country that will help a total of around 90 local companies expand their business operations. And it is expected that the £28 million grant funding will lead to over £130 million of private sector investment being made by the businesses involved.
Stewart Towe, chair of the Black Country LEP, said:
"Supporting local businesses to overcome barriers to growth is the key objective of the Black Country LEP. In this programme bid we have worked closely with a number of businesses to help secure significant funding that will help companies take their business operations to the next level."
Councillor Darren Cooper, LEP board member and leader of Sandwell Council, which will administer the funding, said:
"The £11 million secured in the programme bid is fantastic news for scores of local businesses who will directly benefit. The LEP and all of its partner organisations deserve credit for pulling together a bid of this size which will significantly support economic growth in the local area."
The Regional Growth Fund is administered by BIS (Department for Business Innovation and Skills) and all successful applications will now go through a due diligence process before money is released.
-
Do you need funding to develop your business?
-
Does your proposed development create sustainable new jobs within your business?
If so, you may wish to consider applying for the Government's Regional Growth Fund Round (RGF) Round 4.
At the 2012 Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced a further £350 million for the Regional Growth Fund (RGF), which will be extended into 2015-16. RGF is a competition to fund projects which create jobs and attract private sector leverage.
Round 4 of RGF is now open and private sector organisations are being invited to bid for funding, the government has set a deadline of 12:00 noon on 20th March for applications to be submitted.
Applying for this funding is not any easy process and before deciding to apply, businesses first needs to consider:
-
Do you have the resources needed to complete the application form? (have a look at the Round 4 application on line at https://www.gov.uk/understanding-the-regional-growth-fund
-
All grant is taxable.
-
If you could get Research and Development tax credits for the project you need to check with your accountant first to see if it is also worth applying for the grant.
-
If you are successful you will need to pay for a Due Diligence review and each claim you make will need to be audited by an independent accountant.
-
If your application is for less than £1 million you cannot apply directly for RGF funding, you will need to talk to the Black Country RGF team about the possibility of being part of a 'package' of projects.
-
The maximum amount of RGF funding will be a percentage of your total project costs you cannot apply for the full cost so you will need to demonstrate available match funding.
Please click here to download the RGF fact sheet which provides some more information on the Black Country LEP approach to RGF 4 and the issues businesses need to be aware of.
If you are interested in discussing a potential project please call one of the Black Country RGF Round 3 Team:
Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership - Sophie Thompson 01384 471116 sophie_thompson@blackcountryconsortium.co.uk
Dudley Council - Wayne George 01384 812001 info@dudleybusinessfirst.org
Sandwell Council - Paul Mountford 0121 569 2101 paul_mountford@sandwell.gov.uk
Walsall Council - Daniel Carins 01922 652545 carinsd@walsall.gov.uk
Wolverhampton Council - Graham Clark 01902 555850 Graham.Clark@wolverhampton.gov.uk
MAS- The Manufacturing Advisory Service- 07968 025406 Rachel.Eade@mymas.org
Note: RGF is a Government grant, you do not need to contact the Black Country Regional Growth Fund in order to apply. The team will aim to provide initial advice on whether you can apply .
At the 2012 Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced a further £350 million for the Regional Growth Fund (RGF), which will be extended into 2015-16. RGF is a competition to fund projects which create jobs and attract private sector leverage.
Round 4 of RGF is now open and private sector organisations are being invited to bid for funding, the government has set a deadline of 12:00 noon on 20th March for applications to be submitted.
Applying for this funding is not any easy process and before deciding to apply, businesses first needs to consider:
Dudley Council - Wayne George 01384 812001 info@dudleybusinessfirst.org
Sandwell Council - Paul Mountford 0121 569 2101 paul_mountford@sandwell.gov.uk
Walsall Council - Daniel Carins 01922 652545 carinsd@walsall.gov.uk
Wolverhampton Council - Graham Clark 01902 555850 Graham.Clark@wolverhampton.gov.uk
MAS- The Manufacturing Advisory Service- 07968 025406 Rachel.Eade@mymas.org
Note: RGF is a Government grant, you do not need to contact the Black Country Regional Growth Fund in order to apply. The team will aim to provide initial advice on whether you can apply .
News
Thursday 25th October 2012: LEP CELEBRATES FUNDING SUCCESS
£28 MILLION INVESTMENT SECURED WILL CREATE OVER 2,200 JOBS
More than £130 million of investment is on its way to the Black Country to support exciting business plans that will create over 2,200 jobs.
A total of £28 million has been secured through the government's Regional Growth Fund (RGF) via 5 separate bids that will help a total of around 90 Black Country companies expand their business operations. And it is expected that the £28 million grant funding will lead to over £130 million of private sector investment being made by the businesses involved.
Successful businesses include Tipton-based manufacturer Cab-Automotive and Wolverhampton based BRM Packaging.
In addition to these, dozens more businesses from sectors including automotive, advanced manufacturing and environmental technologies are all celebrating receiving funding.
The Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) supported all the applications and co-ordinated one of the 5 bids in a joint programme bid on behalf of around 40 companies. These firms' individual bids would not have met the criteria for the government funding stream as it required minimum applications of £1 million.
Stewart Towe, chair of the Black Country LEP, said:
" We are absolutely delighted to have helped attract hundreds of millions of pounds worth of investment into the Black Country. The LEP has worked closely with a number of private sector bids to maximise their chance of success and compiled an excellent programme bid to help more businesses benefit from the funding."
Councillor Darren Cooper , LEP board member and leader of Sandwell Council, said:
"Around 90 businesses from across the Black Country will be directly benefitting from these successful bids which is clearly excellent news. It is expected that in total this investment will create more than 2,200 new jobs."
The Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership worked with partners including the four Black Country local authorities, Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) and Black Country Chamber of Commerce to co-ordinate bids and provide support and advice to applicants.
Rachel Eade, Supply Chain Specialist for the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), added:
"We are delighted to have supported the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership and manufacturing companies in compiling successful Regional Growth Fund bids. Accessing investment to facilitate growth, new products and projects is vital to the success of the local economy and in the creation of new jobs. It also highlights the close working relationships we are developing with the LEPs to ensure our industry knowledge is maximised to leverage more funding."
The Regional Growth Fund is administered by BIS (Department for Business Innovation and Skills) and all successful applications will now go through a due diligence process before money is released.
