Government Small Business Grants
Through the Small Business Service, the Government offers a number of schemes which can provide assistance in terms of either grants or awards. The three main schemes are:
Regional Selective Assistance
RSA is a discretionary scheme aimed at attracting investment and creating or safeguarding jobs in selected areas of the UK . Grants are available for qualifying projects with total project expenditure in excess of £500,000 and can range from 5% to 15% of the fixed project costs. Each application is individually assessed and the actual amount of the grant will depend on the area, the project, and the number of jobs involved.
Regional Enterprise Grant
REG is also available only in selected areas of the UK and there are variations in the eligibility criteria depending on location. The grant is available up to a maximum of £75,000 on projects which involve up to £500,000 of capital investment. In general, high growth businesses seeking to maximise value added projects with quality output are given a preference.
Research and Development Grant
Previously known as the SMART scheme this initiative provides grants to help individuals and small and medium-sized businesses to research and develop technologically innovative products and processes. Please note that this grant is only available in England . Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland have entirely separate initiatives.
There are four project areas:
- Micro Projects - simple low cost development projects lasting no more than 12 months. The output should be a simple prototype of the product or process. A grant of up to £20,000 is available to businesses with fewer than 10 employees.
- Research Projects - typically involve planned research or critical investigation lasting between 6 and 18 months. The result could be new scientific or technical knowledge that may be useful in developing a new product or process. A grant of up to £75,000 is available to businesses with fewer than 50 employees.
- Development Projects - involve the shaping of industrial research into a pre-production prototype of a technologically innovative product or process. A grant of up to £200,000 is available for businesses with fewer than 250 employees.
- Exceptional Projects - involve technology developments which have higher costs. These projects are likely to generate much wider economic benefits and must be recognised as of strategic importance for a technology or industrial sector. A grant of up to £500,000 is available.
In addition to the four main schemes above a further scheme, Investigating an Innovative Idea Grant is also available to businesses to help develop their ideas by working with external experts.
Developing new products, processes or services can be a complex process and not all businesses will have the skills or knowledge to manage the process effectively. Under this scheme a mentor is appointed to help identify areas where the business requires additional expertise to develop an action plan to implement the idea.
Further details of all the above schemes can be obtained from the Dti Business Support Directory available free of charge on their website.
