Grant Information Summary

More information on business grants and funding are listed below. This is the latest listing provided for us by J4B. This week we have information on grants helping SMEs in The North West to embrace sustainable innovation; a competition for film makers; help for redundant construction apprentices and a training scheme for managers and supervisors in Wales.
more information on these schemes can be found by contacting me at mparry@straightfinance.co.uk . Alternatively follow me on Twitter
New Scheme Helps North West Firms Go Green
More than £3 million is being made available to help North West of England-based SMEs embrace sustainable innovation.
The three-year Northwest Eco-Innovation Programme will encourage hundreds of businesses to exploit the growing market for environmentally-friendly products, processes and services.
Short Film Fund Looking For “Surprising Stories”
Aspiring filmmakers can win funding from a new competition to help them shoot short documentaries about things that are “good to know”.
Four winning entrants will each scoop £2,000 from the 4Docs scheme, an initiative run by the Channel 4 British Documentary (BRITDOC) Foundation.
Subsidy Scheme To Recruit Redundant Construction Apprentices
Construction companies are being urged to take advantage of a subsidy scheme to help them recruit redundant apprentices.
The Homes and Communities Agency has joined forces with Construction Skills to promote the sector skills council’s Apprenticeship Matching Service.
Training Fund For A Winning Welsh Workforce
The Welsh Assembly Government has launched a new £37 million training scheme for managers and team leaders.
Provided as part of the Workforce Development Programme, companies can claim subsidies for their staff to take part in a series of Leadership and Management Development Workshops.
Sc: http://www.j4b.co.uk http://www.mgba.co.uk http://www.ukba.co.uk

Help for Automotive Sector

My colleagues at the National B2B Centre have told me about this £3.5m support package for automotive suppliers in the West Midlands struggling during the economic downturn. Automotives Initiatives was launched by West Midlands Taskforce Chair and Regional Minister, Ian Austin.
The funding, which will come from Advantage West Midlands, will help struggling component manufacturers with up to £50,000 of specialist strategic consultancy to help with business consolidation, refinancing , new product introduction and restructuring.
The Automotive Response Programme will be delivered by the Manufacturing Advisory Service in partnership with Accelerate and will look to assist more than 120 companies, ranging from SMEs to tier 1s and even local car producers. It is anticipated that this dedicated support will safeguard up to 1000 jobs in the supply chain.
Sc: www.mgba.co.uk www.ukba.co.uk

NISPO Proof Of Concept Grant Northern Ireland

The Invest Growth Proof of Concept Fund is funded by Invest NI and set up as a pre-commercial grant-awarding fund. The Fund helps individuals, start-ups, micro-enterprises and SMEs to establish the commercial potential of a concept resulting from in-house research and ideas. Grants are awarded to help beneficiaries establish the commercial potential of a concept and more fully develop and test their ideas. The £3m fund will run for five years. An important aspect of the scheme is the commercial and entrepreneurial support the recipients receive through E-Synergy. These elements include: business mentoring, IP and copyright protection and advice.

www.mgba.co.uk www.ukba.co.uk

New Index Voucher Scheme In West Midlands

You may be interested to hear that the latest call for Innovation Vouchers has just been announced. If successful, these will provide you with £3,000 of assistance from a university in the West Midlands.

Further information is available at http://www.innovationvouchers-wm.com/

However to give you an idea, The Innovation Voucher Scheme awards West Midland SMEs a £3,000 voucher to purchase academic support for an innovation at any of the region's 13 universities. Here are some examples of the type of activity you could use the support to undertake:

• innovation / technology audit; new service delivery and customer interface; new business model development; tailored training in innovation management efficiency audits; process change; supply chain management and logistics; product and service testing and economic impact assessment; product development; business and leadership school; feasibility studies.

Priority will be given to businesses in the following sectors
Health and Medical Technologies; Environmental/Energy; New Materials; Digital Media; Transport; Construction.

All small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) in the West Midlands area are eligible to apply for an Innovation Voucher. Ineligible activities include:

• Achieving compliance with statutory regulations or legislation
  Intellectual property protection
  Standard training courses
  Software purchases
  Equipment purchases
  Aid that would promote / subsidise the cost of exports
  Internships for students of knowledge providers
  Design and production of advertising materials
  Sales and marketing activities this includes standard website design, development and search optimisation (the only exception would be the exploitation of new web technology for the region and/ or industry)
  Advertising and promotional activities e.g. design of posters, leaflets etc.
  Accreditations
  Capital items
  Travel costs
  Continuation and existing projects with the knowledge providers
  Legal advice
  Business Link Consultation

All voucher winners are required to have a free consultation with Business Link under the requirements of Solutions for Business. So if you think this might be something that you might like to apply for – and why not, drop me an email to martin.parry@mgba.co.uk

Sc: http://www.mgba.co.uk/ http://www.ukba.co.uk/

AWM Closes its Proof of Concept Grant

The popular and effective Proof of Concept grant is to close it has been announced.Several weeks ago I predicted the closure of the Advantage West Midlands Proof of Concept Grant managed on their behalf by Univesity of Warwick Science Park. My prediction has been proved sadly correct. UWSP has recently announced its closure on their website.Final applications must be recieved by 31st October this year after which no further applications will be accepted. This has been a very effective grant product, well managed by UWSP. It has offered much needed funds to produict developers and innovators throughout the region. I have been invoved in a number of great product initiatvies supported by this scheme and although alternatives to exist through the Research and Development grant and the Innovation Networks offering, the Proof of Concept grant will be sadly missed.

Sc: www.mgba.co.uk www.ukba.co.uk

Once again thanks largely to J4B I have been able to draw up another stop press of grant information. Our network of readers and followers is now becoming truly nationwide. So I am now including information from throughout the country. Please check these notices out and click on the links provided for more information. More information will be posted as it becomes available.
New Fund Fires Up Coalfield Communities
A new £20 million fund is being set up to boost business in areas crippled by the collapse of coalmining.
Housing Minister John Healey has announced plans to set up a Coalfields Growth Fund to support new and growing small businesses in former coalfield areas.
Places Up For Grabs On American Enterprise Programme
Aspiring Scottish entrepreneurs are invited to enter a competition offering subsidised places at a prestigious Boston-based business school.
Six lucky applicants from the Highlands and Islands region will receive funding to take part in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s renowned Entrepreneurship Development Programme at the end of January.
Climate Change Cash Still On Offer
There’s still time left for Chorley-based companies to take advantage of a scheme to help them go green.
Approximately £30,000 remains up for grabs through Chorley Borough Council’s Climate Change Business Grants programme.


Multi-Million Pound Boost For Marine Energy
Government grants totalling £22.5 million are up for grabs to speed up the commercial development of wave and tidal technologies.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has officially launched their Marine Renewables Proving Fund.
Closing Date Coming For Environmental Awards
There’s only a month left for businesses, schools, councils and charities to enter a prestigious competition offering cash prizes for great green initiatives.
The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy 2010 close to initial applications on 27 October.
Innovative Industrial Biotech Fund Launched
Up to £2.5 million funding is being made available to carry out feasibility studies into how industrial biotechnology can be used to produce high value chemicals.
The Government’s April 2009 New Industry, New Jobs report highlighted the potential impact that industrial biotechnology could have, in particular by shifting the focus of the chemical industry away from oil to one based on renewable and biological substances.
New Creative Competition Underway
A new £1 million programme to help Scottish artists team up with the wider creative industries sector has opened to applications.
First announced last month, the Vital Spark Awards is the first project to be financed by the £5 million Innovation Fund established by Creative Scotland, the new body set up to nurture the nation’s cultural and artistic talents.
Scots Given Incentive To Tell Apprentices: “You’re Hired”
Employers can receive £2,000 to recruit a redundant apprentice under a Scottish Government scheme.
Up to £1.7 million European Social Fund cash has been made available for “Adopt an Apprentice”, the first project to be supported through the Government’s skills development programme ScotAction.
Second Chance To Net Innovation Assistance
Companies in the East of England have a second chance to scoop £3,000 funding to boost their business by working alongside one of the region’s universities .
The second round of the East of England Development Agency’s Innovation Vouchers programme has opened to applications.
Source: www.j4b.co.uk www.mgba.co.uk www.ukba.co.uk
MPblog3009

Small Firms To Benefit from Big Business Refit

The Carbon Trust is set to launch a new programme they claim will help thousands of UK SMEs to reduce their energy bills by a combined £40 million. Their Big Business Refit initiative provides firms with expert advice and access to interest-free loans to replace old, inefficient equipment with new, environmentally-friendly models.
Through their long-standing Energy Efficiency Loan Scheme, the Trust offers SMEs funding ranging from £3,000 to £400,000 to upgrade their equipment.The fund currently has £100 million worth of loans available, a sum expected to help up to 3,000 businesses cut a total of £40 million off their annual energy costs.

Sc: www.thecarbontrust.co.uk www.mgba.co.uk www.ukba.co.uk