Welcome to the latest edition of Newswire – we hope you find it interesting and informative. All content is correct at the time of writing, but we do suggest you speak with us for professional advice, before acting upon anything that you read here.
Many businesses benefited from grants during the pandemic, but how many realise there are other grants they may be able to access at any time to help their business grow and thrive?
Many grants are available across the UK to help businesses with everything from reducing carbon emissions right the way through to developing space-based services.
Finding a grant
Finding a grant for your business could be easier than you think, especially as many of them are listed on the gov.uk website. You can go to this site and choose ‘grants’ as the option, and it will provide you with a list of funds that could be available for your business.
Some will be area specific and only available to businesses in certain places, such as Derbyshire, the South West or Leeds. But there are also grants open for businesses that will increase their workforce and create new jobs in the local area.
What does it mean if I get a grant?
The difference between a grant and a loan or an investor taking an equity stake is that the grant will not need to be paid back. A loan would need to be paid back with interest. At the same time, an equity stake would mean an investor is owning part of your business in return for their investment and expecting a return on their money along with the original capital back at a future date.
So, if you can benefit from a grant, it is well worth considering it, as the money will be yours to use to improve your business and expand your reach and potentially your workforce.
What’s the catch?
However, depending on the reason for the grant, there may be conditions attached to how you can use that money. For example, if the grant is specifically to help you buy some plant or machinery, you would not be able to use it to fund wages. You may think no one will check, and you may be right. But it is not worth taking the chance.
You should always check the fine print of any grant your business is applying for to make sure you can fulfil any conditions or rules that apply; otherwise, you could find yourself failing to secure the grant or, worse, possibly having to return the money after you have spent it.
Check locally and elsewhere too.
While there are many national grant schemes, it is worth checking locally with your council, any business support organisations – chambers of commerce or business hubs – and associations relevant to your business. It may be that you run a company dealing with the arts or are looking to increase the benefits to the local economy. All these aspects could open up a range of funding you had not previously considered.
Contact us
If you have a business that would benefit from grant funding, contact us, and we will give you all the help, support and information you need.