A £3.7 million fund to help Solent SMEs is to be re-launched this summer, giving more business access to bigger pots of money.
The Solent LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership), in partnership with Portsmouth City Council, is set to re-launch its Solent Future SME Programme Fund on Monday, June 16.
Under the re-launched programme, more businesses will be eligible to make bids for cash and the amounts they can apply for has increased.
Previously the Solent Futures SME Programme Fund was only open to businesses directly within the supply chain of Portsmouth Naval Base. Now it is being extended to any SMEs in the Solent maritime, defence, aerospace, advanced manufacturing and general services support for the defence and advanced manufacturing cluster supply chains. The limit available for individual companies will also be raised from £300,000 to a maximum of £500,000.
The re-launch was revealed today at Portsmouth Naval Base, where some 40 businesses came to hear from parliamentary under secretary of state and minister for defence equipment, support and technology (including defence exports), Philip Dunne, who also met with staff from the Solent LEP for an advanced notification on the new funding opportunity.
Solent LEP senior account manager Steve Futter said: “The Solent has a strong specialism in defence industries and we need to secure this for decades to come. This fund aims to safeguard and develop the industry, creating new jobs, safeguarding existing ones, exploiting innovative business models, improving competitiveness and increasing export business.
“Today's event was a great opportunity to meet with businesses to discuss the fund directly, and we would urge any eligible SME with a project that ties in with this to get in touch.
"We have also been able to secure additional funding to support those with smaller scale projects and so we have a really strong support package for the advanced manufacturing and defence sectors.”
The new fund will officially launch on June 16, when all application documents will be made available at www.solentlep.org.uk
Companies wanting to be notified as soon as the fund is live, can register their interest now by emailing the LEP at solentfutures@solentlep.org.uk
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