£23.5m Grant Support Available for Growing Start-Up and Existing Businesses

Published by

Kirsty Muir

If you are a Start-Up or growing Small to Medium sized Enterprise (SME), then there is a grant funding programme designed to help you realise your expansion plans.

The Business Growth Programme 2 was launched in April 2019 and offers grants of:

£2,500 – £10,000 for Start-Up businesses; and
£10,000 – £1,000,000 for existing SMEs

to businesses based in, or moving into the Herefordshire, Shropshire or Telford and Wrekin areas.

Funded by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Birmingham City Council, the programme was launched following delivery of the highly successful £33m Business Growth Programme, which assisted in excess of 500 businesses and created more than 1,500 new jobs when it closed in 2018.

Building on the programme’s previous success story, the Business Growth Programme 2 has been improved, making it far more flexible to business needs.

Grants can be used for the purchase of capital equipment, relocation and expansion, new product and market development and Building Information Modelling. Start-Ups can also use the grants for set up, installation and internal refurbishment costs.

Business Growth Programme Case Study – Broadfix

Broadfix is the UK’s leading brand of plastic shims and is always willing to consider new and innovative shim styles to add to their range.

Their MD, Clive Haughton, noticed that they had received several enquiries for a unique shim which they didn’t supply, but tooling costs for UK production were prohibitive. However, with the able assistance of Nadine Kinsey at Herefordshire Council, they managed to secure a Business Growth Programme grant which allowed them to proceed with UK tooling and manufacturing.

There have been many benefits to Broadfix in UK production for this product, not only in reducing their exposure to currency fluctuations compared to overseas sourcing, but also in cost-efficiencies by enabling them to manufacture at their modern lean factory in Hereford. Meanwhile the local economy has also benefited from the extra jobs created by the project.

The programme is delivered in association with The Marches Local Enterprise Partnership. To find out more details on the programme, or discuss a potential project, please contact The Marches Growth Hub on 0345 600 0727 or the Birmingham City Council Grants Hotline number on 0121 464 6456.

Grants are awarded subject to availability/eligibility criteria and the creation of new jobs.

See website for full eligibility criteria https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/bgp2

Kirsty Muir