Finance is one of the most frequent topics our clients need advice and support on. Our business advisers are able to provide 1-2-1 support on business planning, we offer finance focused workshops and we can signpost you to the most relevant finance opportunities. If you are looking for access finance, let us know today and we can let you know what is currently available.
As you may have seen, funding options for businesses have been announced by Government, some of which will be delivered by the Growth Hub. Processes are currently being set up and details finalised. Please sign up for our newsletter below where we will announce new information when available.
Grants of up to £5,000 available to help SMEs recover from COVID-19
A new government support package has been launched to help small and medium sized businesses recover from the financial impact of COVID-19.
Small grants, up to a maximum of £5,000, will be available as part of the support package, although most grants will typically be in the range of between £1,000 and £3,000.
The Growth Hub will be responsible for allocating these grants in the SEMLEP area, when they become available. Over the coming days and weeks, we’ll be working with government and local partners to put in place the necessary processes to administer the grant funding.
The grants, which do not require any match-funding, are designed to:
help businesses access specialist professional advice in response to the impact of COVID-19 e.g. human resources, accountants, legal, financial, IT / digital.
purchase minor equipment to adapt or adopt new technology in order to continue to deliver business activity or diversify in response to the global pandemic.
These grants are in addition to a £10m package previously announced specifically for businesses in the ‘visitor economy’ sector.
If you would like to learn more about when the grants are available, who is eligible and details of how to apply, sign up to our newsletter below.
We will be providing further updates in the coming weeks as more information becomes available.
The British Business Bank is a government-owned business development bank, committed to making finance markets work better for smaller businesses.
Funding to help tourism businesses to access support of up to £5,000
The Government have announced a £10million Kick-starting Tourism Package.
Part of this package will be the allocation of small grants, up to a maximum of £5,000, to businesses in the tourism and hospitality sectors. Most grants will typically be in the range of between £1,000-£3,000.
The Growth Hub will be responsible for allocating these grants in the SEMLEP area, when they become available. Over the coming days and weeks, we’ll be working with government and local partners to put in place the necessary processes to administer the grant funding.
The grants are to:
• help businesses access specialist professional advice e.g. human resources, accountants, legal, financial, IT / digital
• purchase minor equipment to adapt or adopt new technology in order to continue to deliver business activity or diversify.
If you would like to learn more about when the grants are available and how to apply, sign up to our newsletter below.
The British Business Bank is a government-owned business development bank, committed to making finance markets work better for smaller businesses.
Services offered include
The Finance Hub is an interactive website offering independent information on finance options for scale-up, high growth and potential high growth businesses. The Finance Hub has been built to help businesses understand and discover the finance options that could enable them to grow.
Visit the Finance Hub here.
MEIF is a collaboration between the British Business Bank and 10 Local Enterprise Partnerships including SEMLEP to provide over £250m of investment to boost small and medium business growth in the area.
The current finance programme available – a £120million fund – is composed of two separate lots: £30million of small business loans valued between £25,000 and £150,000, as well as £90million of debt finance of between £100,000 and £1.5million. MEIF is part-funded by European Regional Development Fund.
Services Offered
The Office of the Small Business Commissioner (SBC) is an independent public body appointed by the government under the Enterprise Act 2016 to tackle late payment and poor payment practice in the private sector of the UK.
The Office of the Small Business Commissioner operates a complaints scheme where we investigate complaints from small businesses (a company with 50 employees or less) who are experiencing payment issues with larger businesses (a company with more than 50 employees) and make non-binding recommendations for the resolution of payment disputes.
Where the Commissioner considers appropriate, we may publish a report about the circumstances of the complaint. This may include identification of the parties involved in the complaint.
There are specific rules in relation to the types of complaint the Commissioner can assist with. These include the complaint must relate to late or non-payment by a larger business to a smaller business, the dispute must not be contractual, and the dispute must not be subject to or have been previously determined via the court process. However, where complaints fall outside the legal scope of the Commissioners complaint scheme, we will still do as much as we can to resolve the dispute including signpost to relevant alternative existing support and dispute resolution services.
The Office of the Small Business Commissioner can also assist small businesses by checking contracts and providing advice on getting invoices right.
We are independent but appointed by government, impartial and free to use on a non-risk basis.
For more information, please see the below link to our website;
This scheme designed to help a company raise money when it is starting to trade. It works by offering tax reliefs to individual investors who buy shares in your company.
Start Up Loans is a government-backed scheme helping individuals start or grow a business in the UK. Alongside the low-interest loan, successful applicants can access free mentoring from experienced advisers.
