Public holiday - Monday 25th September
We will be closed on Monday 25th September for the public holiday
This guidance has been designed to assist business owners in Argyll and Bute who are interested in improving their shop frontage to make an application for grant. Please read this guidance note, and frequently asked questions, in full before completing an application. Download a copy of the Shopfront Improvement Grants - guidance (PDF)
This guidance has been designed to assist business owners in Argyll and Bute who are interested in improving their shop frontage to make an application for grant. Please read this guidance note, and frequently asked questions, in full before completing an application.
Download a copy of the Shopfront Improvement Grants - guidance (PDF)
There is a strict total budget of £65,000, which is being split equally between the council’s four administrative areas as follows:
Applications are invited from business owners from Argyll and Bute looking to make repairs to their shopfront, with the exception of 6 towns highlighted below.
Applications are therefore encouraged from businesses in smaller settlements and rural retail businesses.
Please note, the grant is not available to business owners in the main town of a Business Improvement District (BID) or a Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS) town. Applications cannot therefore be considered from: Campbeltown, Dunoon, Helensburgh, Lochgilphead, Oban or Rothesay.
Applications will be treated on a first come, first served basis. There is therefore no guarantee that all applicants will be successful in securing grant, but it is hoped that the funding will widely support business owners who have not yet benefited from shopfront improvement schemes. The amount of grant that remains in each pot (as above) will be updated on a weekly basis.
Applications cannot be made retrospectively. You are therefore urged to apply as quickly as possible if you have been considering making improvements to your property.
You can apply for up to 75% towards the total costs of the improvements, up to a maximum of £5,000 inclusive of VAT.
Works must be able to be completed by 30th June 2022.
This is a discretionary fund for which there is no right of appeal.
You can apply if :
A full list of what you can apply for is provided below.
You are unable to apply for the following:
Please use the following guidance to assist with completion of the accompanying application form.
A list of Frequently Asked Questions, found on the shopfront improvement grant webpage, has also been produced to support you in applying for grant. Please also refer to this for guidance.
Section 1.
Provide your business/trading name. A business bank account should be available. If the application is successful, payment will be made via BACS transfer.
Section 2.
We will liaise directly with the main contact, as provided.
Section 2.a.
Please tell us the contact’s position in the business.
Section 2.b.
This should be the address of the property which you would like to improve.
Section 2.c.
Only add a correspondence address if this is different from 2.b.)
Section 2.d.
Provide contact details for the business.
Section 3.
Tick to confirm whether you are the owner, or the tenant of the premises. If you are the owner, please provide a copy of your Title to confirm ownership, and if you are the tenant please provide evidence to show you have consent to make alterations to the property.
Section 4.
You can confirm if your shopfront is within a listed building via the following link: https://www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support/listing-scheduling-and-designations/listed-buildings/search-for-a-listed-building/
Section 5.a.
We want to understand what your shopfront will look like when the works have finished. Specify details of the proposed improvements and the finishes, e.g. staining/colours (with the British Standard Colour Chart number referenced), drawings (showing the dimensions), signage proof etc. and explain how the appearance of your business premises will be improved for potential customers. Without the detail and finishes specified, your application cannot be determined.
Where statutory consents are required, it will be sufficient to provide the reference number for these, instead of enclosing the drawings with your application.
Remember to make use of the Frequently Asked Questions.
Photographs describing the current condition of the property must also be provided. Please note that we may then use these, alongside ‘after’ images on our website, and to generally help publicise and promote the scheme.
You can apply for the following:
General Repairs
Small-scale repairs can include the following:
Repair/Restoration of Traditional Architectural Elements
Painting
Painting is grant eligible, provided a heritage colour is used:
Please note that the painting of stonework, where paint has never before been applied will not be an eligible cost. Where stonework has traditionally been painted however, a breathable paint from a heritage colour palette would be eligible.
Please note we strongly recommend you buy and test a paint colour sample, prior to purchasing the paint.
Signage
Signage can include the following:
Replacement
Replacement of modern shopfronts with a traditional shopfront of classical proportions. (Please note that all timber should be sustainably sourced from managed forests and surviving traditional fabric should be restored wherever possible).
New Additions
Professional Fees
Contingency and VAT
For further information regarding shopfronts please refer to Historic Environment Scotland’s, Scottish Traditional Shopfronts Short Guide.
Section 5.b.
Use this space to indicate when your project would start and finish. This can be an estimate at this stage.
Please note that works must be completed by 30th June 2022.
Section 6.
It is the responsibility of the applicant to check whether any statutory consents are required, and to secure these prior to works.
Where required, please confirm that the relevant planning/advert/listed building consents and building warrants will required to be/ have been secured.
It is not necessary to have secured consent before making an application for grant, but you will have to show in writing that you have discussed your proposal with the relevant department.
Should you require any statutory consents, proof of consent will be required for the release of any grant payment.
For shopfront design principles, please refer to Argyll and Bute Council’s, Local Development Plan, Supplementary Planning Guidance 2016 (from page 95).
E-mail addresses for contacts in the Planning Department are as follows:
Telephone number: 01546 605 518
Information on Building Standards can be found as follows:
/planning-and-environment/building-standards-advice
Section 7.
You are asked to be specific in your funding request, and to list all items for which you require grant.
You are required to identify the cost against each item, which must be based on quotations received.
Quotes for works, labour and professional fees should be based on a clear and single specification distributed to all contractors asked to quote. Both the specification, and written quotes received, are required in support of your application, as follows:
Copies of original tenders should be on contractor’s headed notepaper.
If you are not using the lowest quote please explain why.
If you have the relevant skills to undertake works of repair to your own property, you can apply for grant towards the cost of the goods required. A receipted invoice would be required to evidence any such purchase(s). You will be expected to show how you have chosen where to purchase the item(s), and for larger purchases of £1,000 and over you will be expected to provide 3 quotes/note of phone calls/links to websites to show best value.
Section 8.
Grant is offered at 75% of eligible items up to a maximum award of £5,000. An example is provided in the following table:
Cost of eligible works |
Grant offered at 75% |
£500 |
£375 |
£1,000 |
£750 |
£2,000 |
£1,500 |
£3,000 |
£2,250 |
£4,000 |
£4,000 |
£5,000 |
£3,750 |
£6,000 |
£4,500 |
£6,666 |
£4,999.50 |
Please clearly state how much grant you require towards your project.
The only exception to this cap on the grant available would be if you were considering the full reinstatement of a traditional shopfront with one of classical proportions. In this case, and assuming that the project is sufficiently advanced to ensure that it would be possible to deliver within the required timescales, consideration would be given to increasing the maximum value to better reflect the scale of the project.
If you are successful in your application, on conclusion of the works you will be required to recognise your grant via a small vinyl sticker to be placed in your window or door. A sticker would be provided to you at the relevant time.
Section 9.
Please tell us if you are VAT registered. Grant is only paid on VAT in cases where the business is not VAT registered and therefore unable to recover VAT.
Section 10.
Please tick to declare that you have read and understood the criteria of the grant for which you are applying.
Section 11.
Please sign and date the application.
Only when all boxes of the check list can be ticked, please submit to: shopfrontsupport@argyll-bute.gov.uk
Section 12.
The following documents must be enclosed with your application for your application to progress to assessment stage.
Please submit your application, and all supporting information, to: