Hertfordshire businesses have access to a number of funding streams to support:
- Start-up activities
- business growth
- manufacturing
- improving competitiveness and productivity
- trade activities overseas
- invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects
- upgrade equipment to support energy efficiency savings
- access free legal support
Get Growing 2
Get Growing 2 provides grants of up to £10,000 to support established Herts SMEs to Respond, Adapt and Strengthen their business following the Covid19 Pandemic. To be eligible for this support you must:
• be an established SME (including third sector organisations, social enterprises, and trading charities) in Hertfordshire
• have five or more full time equivalent employees
• be able to demonstrate potential for growth
• or be able to demonstrate potential for growth following support to stabilise the business and help minimise the impact of COVID-19
Hertfordshire Start-Up Programme
The Hertfordshire Start-Up Programme provides revenue grants of up to £3,000 to support new start-ups. To qualify for funding, businesses must be signed up and receiving 12 hours of support under the programme before they can apply for the grant element.
Manufacturing Growth Programme
The Manufacturing Growth Programme provides Revenue Grants of up to £5,000 to support SME Manufacturers improve competitiveness and productivity. Improvement projects include:
• Leadership and Management
• Innovation and R&D
• Quality Systems
• Supply Chain Development
• Change
• Lean
• Business Overview and Strategy
• Customer Relationships
• Competitiveness
• People and Resource
• Environmental
• Continuous improvement
• Finance Manufacturing
For more information, email amanda.freeland@egs.live
Department for International Trade Internationalisation Fund
The Department for International Trade (DIT) has launched its new Internationalisation Fund for eligible businesses in England.
Match-funded grants of between £1,000 and £9,000 will be available for future activity (subject to eligibility and availability).
To secure a grant, you’ll need to fund a proportion of your costs yourself. This varies according to where your business is based and will be either 40 or 50% of the total cost.
The fund can be used to support areas including (but not exclusively limited to):
- Market research
- IP (intellectual property) advice
- Translation services
- International social media/SEO
- Trade fairs (where no TAP funding is available)
- Independent market visits
- Consultancy and other international commercial services
- The company must be based in England
- The company must be a small or medium sized enterprise (SME) with up to 250 employees
- No more than 25% of the business is owned by an enterprise which is not a SME
- Annual turnover does not exceed €50 million or annual balance sheet does not exceed €43 million
- The fund is supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Eastern New Energy Programme
If you are a SME business, you could benefit from the Eastern New Energy (ENE) Programme’s grant scheme that is helping businesses to invest in both energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. As part of the University of East London led programme, the environmental charity PECT is overseeing the grant scheme helping businesses to secure financial support to invest in low carbon and energy-efficient measures such as LED lighting and solar PV.
Other technologies include:
• Lighting Replacement (LED)
• Zonal Controls; heating controls
• Radiant Heating (electric only)
• Motor Replacement
• Upgrading existing motors with variable speed drives
• Installation of CHP systems
• Upgrading of CHP systems
• Upgrading of process equipment
• Power quality improvement (power factor correction, harmonic suppression, upgrading to low transformers)
This list is not exhaustive.
Funding can cover up to 25% of capital costs, subject to sufficient energy savings being secured. For more information, email ene@pect.org.uk
Low Carbon Workspaces - Grants of up to £5k available to improve energy efficiency of SMEs in Stevenage
Low Carbon Workspaces are offering grants of up to £5,000 to help SMEs in Hertfordshire to subsidise the cost of upgrading equipment to improve energy efficiency, lower energy bills, and improve the overall quality of their premises. Grants are available to help fund up to a third of the cost of energy saving projects such as LED lighting, heating upgrades, insulation/glazing, and solar panels.
The programme has already awarded grants to more than 200 SMEs in Hertfordshire. If you are looking to reduce energy costs or improve the green credentials of your business, LCW can help you to achieve this.
The Low Carbon Workspaces team can be contacted on 01494 927131 and at info@lowcarbonworkspaces.co.uk
Funded Legal Support Package
Herts Growth Hub have partnered with Better Business for All (BBfA) to offer Hertfordshire businesses with fewer than 50 employees, free legal advice through membership to the Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce.
Eligible businesses that make successful applications will receive a years’ free access to membership support which covers:
- 24/7 access to a legal advice line including HR advice, health and safety, commercial contracts and tax advice
- Legal documents, templates and policies available online
- And many more membership benefits
Funding to help improve ventilation
Businesses within the leisure, hospitality, tourism and close contact service setting can receive free advice and support from ventilation specialists to audit their spaces and make recommendations for improving ventilation in order to comply with health and safety obligations, employment and equality.
This also includes support with grants of up to £20K to install mechanical ventilation.
Eligibility criteria for businesses:
- Business located within Hertfordshire
- Under 50 employees
- Insufficient (natural and mechanical) ventilation in the workplace
- A business that has a current ventilation system which is not fit for purpose or needs an expert to determine its effectiveness
For further information please email enquiries@hertsgrowthhub.com