- Any support shall be awarded at Argyll and Bute Council’s (“the Council”) absolute discretion and the Council reserves the right to refuse any application.
- Applicants are required to declare all previous support received from UK, Scottish or Local Government support schemes to provide local authorities with the necessary information to ensure payments are compliant with subsidy control limits.
- Any support awarded is to the business not an individual.
- Applicants will be required to provide the Council with evidence that they are UK nationals, or have the right to work in the UK and access public funds.
- Applications from those with debts owing to the Council will not be approved and the Council shall carry out a check against business rates and/or Council tax as part of the application process.
- For the purposes of this grant programme, a small business is defined in line with the UK Companies Act 2006 (Part 15, Section 382 and related provisions) as an enterprise that employs fewer than 50 people on a full-time equivalent basis; and has either an annual turnover not exceeding £10.2 million; or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding £5.1 million. These thresholds reflect the statutory definition of a “small company” under UK company law.
- Franchise businesses must be ethical franchises and accredited by the British Franchise Association.
- A maximum of two applications per business or individual can be made. Where there is more than one owner of the business, for example in a partnership or limited company, details of all the other individuals involved in the business must be provided with the application.
- Applicants must engage with the specialist adviser appointed to support them within 2 weeks and complete the support sessions by 31st March 2027 or the support will be withdrawn.
- The expert help support will close to applications as soon as all funds are committed, or on 27th November 2026, whichever comes first.
- In the event of a successful application, applicants must agree that the Council and/or Business Gateway shall carry out monitoring of the progress of their business. This will be in the form of a telephone call or email, normally 12 months after any grant has been awarded. Applicants will be required to provide all relevant information to the Council to enable effective monitoring, including trading status, turnover and number of employees.
- The Council reserves the right to use details of the project for publicity for the programme and share information with any parties appointed to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of this funding, including the UK Government.
- The Council may be required to make any application for Council funding available for public scrutiny under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) or the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRS). Applicants should make the Council aware of any parts of its application or items and their cost that they are seeking grant support for, which may prejudice its interest if it were made public, however, nothing shall preclude the Council from making public, if required under FOISA or EIRS, any information provided by the Applicant.
- If, in the Council’s opinion, the Expert Help (or any part or condition thereof) does not comply with applicable Subsidy Control obligations, Argyll and Bute Council may require immediate repayment of the Expert Help or any part of it together with interest at such rate and on such basis as may be determined from time to time in accordance with law.
Expert Help - Terms and Conditions
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