East Suffolk plan for the future grant.
This offers grants of £5,000 to £25,000 to businesses in East Suffolk which have been adversely affected by the Covid pandemic and are looking at ways to recover and strengthen their business performance.
You can find out more here or read below:
The scheme will provide support to businesses that are located within the boundaries of East Suffolk Council that have been severely impacted by COVID-19 and restrictions and are looking at ways to recover and strengthen their business performance.
There is a limited pot of funding available to support companies, so we are looking for businesses to bring forward investment projects that will have a significant impact on their business, and grant applications will be considered on “first-come, first-served” basis.
Successful applicants must be able to demonstrate:
1) how they have been severely impacted by COVID-19,
2) what they need to invest in and
3) how this will enable them to respond to the impact.
The projects must be completed in full by 31 January 2022 so we are looking for projects that are ready to proceed immediately and are not dependent on planning or any other permissions and delivery and completion dates can be confirmed.
You will also need to tell us how the proposal has taken into consideration clean growth, minimising the environmental impact of your business and how it is adapting your business to work towards net zero?
The Grant cannot fund any projects that have been completed or commenced in any way. You must not make any orders or pay deposits until you have been notified of the outcome of your application.
This discretionary scheme also includes help for businesses which, while not legally forced to close, are nonetheless severely impacted by the restrictions put in place to control the spread of Covid-19. This includes businesses which supply the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors, and businesses in the events sector.
We'll also consider businesses outside the business rates system, which are effectively forced to close or can demonstrate their income and business activity has been impacted by the restrictions, including market traders, self-employed people and home workers.
We've prioritised support for businesses with significant operations in or supplying the following sectors:
o Hospitality, tourism
o Leisure, venues, events and cultural activities
o Supply chains relating to businesses that have been forced to close
o Businesses/sole traders outside of the business rate system
o Businesses that are not required to close but have been severely impacted by the
restrictions on socialising
Local Authorities are also encouraged to focus their support on those sectors that remain closed or are severely impacted by the extended restrictions, even if those businesses have already been in receipt of Restart Grants. This may include but is not limited to the travel and tourism sector, including group travel, travel agents and tour operators, wedding industries, nightclubs, theatres, events industries, wholesalers, English language schools, breweries, freelance and mobile businesses (including caterers, events, hair, beauty and wedding related businesses), and other businesses that may have not received other grant funding. This list is not directive nor exhaustive.
What will the scheme pay for?
Up to 75% grant towards capital and revenue costs involved in resilience and future recovery of businesses. Grants between £5,000 up to a maximum of £25,000 are available. This means that your total project costs must be at least £6,667 to qualify for the minimum grant of £5,000.
In this Grant, if you are approved for support, you will receive an Offer Letter. Once you have received this you can commence your project and make the supported investments. This means that you will need to make the full payments from your business bank account and then claim the grant on completion.
Support Provided
The scheme provides support to assist companies during the challenging business
environment facing many sectors as a result of the restrictions following the Covid-19 pandemic.
You will need to convince us there is a case for using grant funding to support your project, for example by: o Demonstrating that there is a direct link between the impact of the restrictions and the proposed activity. o Identifying how COVID-19 and restrictions have impacted your business, what services and/or goods you are planning to purchase. o Identifying what impact this grant support would have on your business to mitigate/ rectify the damage caused.
To be eligible for grant funding, applicants must meet the following essential criteria: o The company must be registered in the UK. o Applicants must be an SME (employ less than 250 people and your turnover is less than EUR 50m or annual balance sheet less than EUR 43m). o Be a trading enterprise. o Be based within the boundaries of East Suffolk Council. o Must not be a company in liquidation, dissolved, struck off or subject to a striking- off notice. o Medium sized businesses are not eligible for support if they are classed as an undertaking in difficulty. o We will not be able to help you if your business falls into one of the following sectors: primary agriculture (including processing and marketing of agricultural products), horticulture, fisheries, aquaculture, forestry, coal, steel and shipbuilding. Costs could include but are not limited to: o Premises (construction and/or extension) o Premises (purchase) o Plant and machinery, o Commercial vehicles. o Fixtures and fittings. o Social distancing measures, but only if the Covid impact is severe and capital works were not already planned. o 1-2-1 specialist advice to address your immediate needs in response to the impact of COVID-19, e.g., HR, accountants, legal, financial, H&S, IT / digital or sector specialists etc. this could also include supporting you with productivity improvements such as enhanced use of digital tools, such as yield management software, mentoring, networking, or other measures. It could also support to develop innovative delivery in a socially distanced economy. We cannot help with all business costs and here are some examples that cannot be included: What we cannot fund: o Wage subsidies, cashflow, buying stock o Expenditure on continuous or periodic activity, routine tax consultancy, regular legal services or advertising, or costs to comply to statutory regulations o Non-business expenditure o The routine replacement of items and consumables including laptops and software. o Land purchase. o VAT, unless this cannot be recovered. o Repeat applications, including from linked companies.