Business grants, grant funding & business support

Let’s start with some horrible truths:

Truth 1: A business that depends longterm on grants is not a strong business!  It becomes inherently weak and inefficient because it is constantly chasing handouts instead of forming a strong profitable foundation!

Truth 2: Almost all grants that are currently available are connected to job creation or job preservation.  There are no grants (that we know of) simply handed out because you want to set up your own business.  Grant providers also seek businesses that sell to other businesses (B2B) rather than selling to consumers (B2C).

Top tip: If you are setting up in business then stop looking for grants and start ‘raising finance‘!  If you are looking at raising finance then start with a killer business plan (with clear and accurate financial projections) and then talk to your bank.  After that, take a look at the Business Enterprise Fund, The Startup Loans Service and the British Business Bank. If you exhaust all these options then consider also talking directly to corporate finance brokers but your business plan really must be exceptional for them to pay attention!

Truth 3: Frequently, the time it will take to form fill and ‘jump through the grant hoops’ is worth more than the grant itself so stop messing about and focus on building a strong business!  Blunt, but true!

Accepting these truths, let’s talk about Grants

Since the Yorkshire Powerhouse project is focused squarely on the Yorkshire SME sector, our advice relates to that sector only. What do we mean by an SME? Simply a business with less than 250 staff and sales of less than Euros 50m.

The first thing to say about the business support landscape is that it’s important to recognise the complexity of this area and understand that it is verging on the impossible to understand and track every single business support or grant programme. Some are Government-funded, some are EU-funded.  Some are national, some regional, others local. Some relate to specific themes or sectors. Some are delivered by Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), some by universities and colleges, and others by the private sectors. It’s a nightmare!

Business support can take a variety of forms and in addition to business grants it can involve free or subsidised advice, mentoring, consultancy, training, courses, business incubators, loans, finance, apprentices, research, business rates subsidies, tax breaks, and lots more. Some support will be 100% funded i.e. free to the user, whereas most will require a contribution from the business.

The best way to think of this area is that it’s like ‘shifting sands’ since what you see today is maybe ‘gone tomorrow’ due to changes in Government policy or funding running out, with other programmes maybe commencing with very little publicity. However, it is definitely worthwhile persevering because the benefits to a business can be very significant, and in some cases the difference between profit and loss, or success and failure.

Have you ever asked yourself why your business has never benefited from a grant whereas your competitor has? To state the bleeding obvious and to quote an old saying, ‘you have to be in to win it’, or in other words you need to be taking action to apply for grants since the grants will not come to you on a plate.

Where to start when looking for Business Grants and Support

The obvious place to start will usually be your local LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) or ‘Combined Authority’. In Yorkshire, we have several LEPs and Authorities and in some places, they overlap but take a look at the following websites:

• • West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Business and Skills Support – https://www.wybusiness-skills.com/business-support/
  • York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority – https://yorknorthyorks-ca.gov.uk/business/
  • Hull and East Yorkshire LEP – https://heylep.com/business/growth-hub/
  • South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority – https://business.southyorkshire-ca.gov.uk/

• Regional LEP Coverage Map – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-enterprise-partnerships-map

Additionally, a regional summary of all available grant schemes is managed at:

• https://www.fcsassociates.co.uk/grants-map/grants-in-yorkshire/

Keeping yourself informed about changes to grant funding and support is important so make sure that you subscribe to LEP newsletters and follow relevant organisations on LinkedIn etc. Some of the grant providers can be quite poor at communicating their offer so look into attending LEP events and trying to build a relationship with your local advisor. Consider arranging a meeting with the advisor to understand their programmes and how they might apply to you, and letting them see your business in action always helps their understanding of your needs and potential.

Time spent looking into business grants and support can be a great investment or a complete waste of your life.  If you are going to contact a LEP then the best approach is to ask what support your business / organisation might be entitled to (rather than simply asking what ‘grant’ you can claim).  Support comes in many forms – free money is always harder to find!

Blunt advice from Yorkshire Powerhouse on business grants

Have you any questions?

Here at Yorkshire Powerhouse, we’re happy to help as much as possible – is there anything else we can do to help you, do you have any further questions or can we help introduce you to an expert – please let us know: