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