Two types of grant are available via the Council’s Business Gateway service:
- a Small Business Development Grant of £1,000 to £3,000 for capital or revenue costs, for businesses actively trading for at least 6 months
- a Small Business Capital Grant of £3,000 to £10,000 for capital expenditure only, for businesses actively trading for at least 12 months
- if your business meets the criteria for both grants, you can apply for up to £13,000 maximum via one application form, but you cannot double fund the same item
The aim of these grants is to support a range of business development objectives including improvements in productivity, competitiveness, skills, growth, sustainability, resilience, profitability, innovation or net zero transition.
You must be able to specify what items you would spend the grant on and explain why your business requires financial support with those costs.
Eligible costs:
Costs are eligible on a discretionary basis, where linked to improvements in business growth or resilience. This can include:
Capital costs:
- machinery, tools and equipment,
- premises refurbishment
- energy efficiency improvements
Revenue costs (max grant £3,000):
- marketing costs, including digital or website development
- professional services or consultancy directly related to business growth
- new product development
- training
- trade fairs
- non statutory accreditation
Excluded items:
The grant cannot be used to fund the following:
- any single cost below £200 in value (please see below for more information on low-value individual costs)
- phones, tablets, printers and laptops, unless specialised equipment
- vehicles unless a commercial vehicle directly linked to business growth
- utensils, consumables, soft furnishings, stock, raw materials for production
- new for old replacement
- routine maintenance
- repairs, maintenance and like-for-like replacement of existing buildings or building fabric
- wage subsidy
- statutory costs - you can see the definition of statutory costs here
- debt repayment and Hire Purchase payments
- working capital
- second hand or used items unless purchased from a trade seller
- purchase of an existing business
- property/land purchase or development
- any item not directly linked to improving business growth or resilience
- all revenue costs are ineligible for the £3,000 to £10,000 capital grant
Low-value individual costs
- Funding will not normally be provided for single costs below £200.
- Where multiple items form part of a single justified purchase (e.g. uniforms, marketing or equipment), they may be considered together.
- The Council reserves the right to determine eligibility and may exclude low-value costs.
- All costs must be clearly identifiable and directly related to the approved project.
