East Sussex County Council Grants and Loans for Business - May 2015 Companies in East Sussex are being offered help to grow and create new jobs through a new funding scheme delivered by Locate East Sussex that is backed by East Sussex County Council. This is the latest phase of a programme of business support that has already paid out around 4.5 million in grants and loans over the past three years. The scheme is funded by East Sussex County Council and by loan repayments from previous funding rounds, which were backed by the Government s Regional Growth Fund, and administered by business support service Locate East Sussex. The grants and loans for business are as follows: 1. Business Growth Fund page 2-5 The Business Growth Fund provides grant and loan funding for capital investment to support job creation. The Business Growth Fund is available to micro, small and medium (SME) businesses (under 250 employees) and start-ups. 2. Upgrading Empty Commercial Property Fund page 6-7 The Upgrading Empty Commercial Property Fund is aimed at companies that are planning to refurbish, upgrade or convert empty or underused commercial premises. 3. Business Incubator Fund page 8 The Business Incubator Fund supports the creation (new build or conversion) of a minimum of three Business Incubation Centres.
1. Business Growth Fund The Business Growth Fund provides annual funding of 1.3m to support job creation. The fund provides grants and loans for growing companies and is for capital investment only 1. The Business Growth Fund is available to micro, small and medium (SME) businesses (under 250 employees) and start-ups. Grants Companies can apply for 3,000-25,000 in grant funding. Up to 8,000 of grant funding can be applied for, for each job created. This sum can be higher for businesses in specific Priority Sectors 2. There is a match funding requirement - usually a minimum of 60% for grants (for grants under 10,000, 50% of the match funding can be working capital). Loans Companies can apply for 10,000-200,000 in loan funding. Up to 16,000 of loan funding can be applied for, for each job created. This sum can be higher for businesses in specific Priority Sectors². There is a match funding requirement of a minimum of 50% for loans. Apprenticeship Grant If an apprentice position is created as a result of grant or loan funding from the Business Growth Fund, an Apprenticeship Grant of 1.5k is available. 1 Capital investment examples Examples of capital investment include building works to upgrade or extend premises (owner occupiers only), purchasing equipment and machinery, developing software, one-off marketing campaigns, developing a new website etc. targeted consultancy, specialised training and new product development. Funding of property or land acquisition is not eligible. 2 Priority Sectors 1. Advanced manufacturing - focusing on higher value niches likely to provide a good return on investment 2. Advanced materials and electronic systems 3. Digital and media - in particular digital-related innovation including telehealth and telecare 4. Low carbon and environmental goods and services particularly building on the major investment in the University Technical College and offshore windfarm at Newhaven 5. Land management developing specialist, high added-value food and drink production, including brewing and wine making. State aid restrictions apply on some elements. 2
Funding conditions Jobs created must be Full Time Equivalent positions comprising a minimum of 30 hours per week. Apprenticeship positions do not count as jobs created. State aid sector restrictions apply. Funding will be prioritised and directed to Priority Sectors (footnote 2, page 2) identified in the East Sussex Innovation Strategy. Education and residential care services are excluded. For applicants in retail and local service sector, the maximum funding available is a 10k grant or a 20k loan. 50% of the grant and loan payment will be made on evidence of spend. The remaining 50% payment will be made on evidence of jobs created and filled for 3 months. The maximum loan period is 5 years. The interest rate of up to 5% will be decided on a case by case basis as recommended by the Grants and Loans Panel. Any equipment purchased with the funds cannot be sold within three years or the term of the loan, whichever is the greater, without the permission of East Sussex County Council or the funds will have to be repaid in full. In exceptional circumstances, a repayment holiday of up to 6 months can be offered. Interest will still accrue during this period. Retrospective funding is NOT allowed for either funding or match under any circumstances. Funding process Information on the Business Growth Fund is available at www.locateeastsussex.org.uk and application forms for grants and loans are available from Locate East Sussex on request by email or phone. An initial visit or meeting will be carried out by Locate East Sussex to ascertain eligibility for a grant or loan. All applications for funding are to be submitted on the Application Form to Locate East Sussex with supporting documentation. Supporting documentation includes a business plan, financial projections and the last three years financial accounts where appropriate. Locate East Sussex will carry out financial checks on all applicants prior to appraisal. All applications for grants up to 10,000 will be appraised by Locate East Sussex and considered by the Small Grants Panel for recommendation. 3
Applications for grants over 10,000 will be appraised by Locate East Sussex and reviewed by the Economic Development Team at East Sussex County Council and considered by the Grants and Loans Panel for recommendation. Applications for loans will be sent to the Economic Development Team at East Sussex County Council for appraisal and referral to the Grants and Loans Panel. Applicants for funding over 20,000 may be required to present at the meeting of the Grants and Loans Panel. Panel recommendations require approval from the Director of Communities Economy and Transport. Once approved, successful applicants will be notified by email by the Economic Development Team. The date of this email will count as the formal Offer Date from which the project is deemed to have started and from which all spend is eligible. This is also the date at which the exchange rate with the Euro is taken in cases where State-aid is relevant. Unsuccessful applicants will be notified of the decision and a rationale for rejection given. There is no appeals process but applicants can re-apply if they clearly address the reasons given for rejection. Following approval, the Economic Development Team at East Sussex County Council will draw up the grant and loan contract for signing by the beneficiary. A separate loan agreement will be drawn up between Let s Do Business Group and the beneficiary reflecting the terms in the contract. All repayments will be made to Let s Do Business Group. The terms and conditions include a claw back element on a sliding scale to cover instances of contract deviation or instances where a beneficiary moves the relevant business out of East Sussex or sells up. Claims must be made on Claim Forms accompanied by supporting evidence and an invoice. Grant claims are sent to Locate East Sussex for verification who inform the Economic Development Team at East Sussex County Council to make payment. Loan claims are sent to the Economic Development Team at East Sussex County Council who will inform Locate East Sussex when the conditions have been met and the loan payment is to be made. Payment will be made in a minimum of two tranches. The first tranche will be made on evidence of spend up to 50% of the funding and second and/or third claim with evidence of jobs filled for three months and spend of remaining funding and match funding. Details may vary as long as this is agreed in the contract or with East Sussex County Council Economic Development team. 4
Apprenticeship Grant The Apprenticeship Grant is available to all businesses that receive a grant or loan from the Business Growth Fund. Only one Apprenticeship Grant per business can be claimed. The Apprenticeship Grant can be claimed only after the apprentice has been in post for six months (with evidence that the appointment was made after the funding Offer Date). The grant will not require match funding and will be a one off payment without restrictions and will be paid on evidence of six months of employment of the apprentice. The Business Growth Fund is delivered by Locate East Sussex on behalf of East Sussex County Council. Full details of the terms and conditions and an application form are available on request. Locate East Sussex can be contacted by email at enquiries@locateeastsussex.org.uk or by calling 01424 205085 during office hours. 5
East Sussex County Council Grants and Loans - May 2015 2. Upgrading Empty Commercial Property Fund The Upgrading Empty Commercial Property Fund is aimed at companies that are planning to refurbish, upgrade or convert empty or underused commercial premises. The fund is 500,000 and the maximum funding that can be applied for per application is 120,000. Typical funding per application is expected to be 50,000. Funding can be in the form of a loan, equity share, percentage of rental income or viability gap grant which is decided on a case by case basis. This fund is delivered by Locate East Sussex, which is the first point of contact for applicants. All applications are appraised by the Grants and Loans Panel. Funding criteria The Upgrading Empty Commercial Property Fund is for commercial buildings and is aimed primarily at light industrial or office buildings. Retail properties will not generally be considered. The property must have been unoccupied or only partly occupied and demonstrably inappropriate for commercial use for a minimum of six months prior to application. The property must be over 10 years old. Refurbishment costs should normally be less than 19,214 per job created. Costs will however be negotiated on exceptionals depending on the negative impact the building has on the near environment and proven demand in the area. The estimated end value of the refurbished property must be equal to, or more than the prerefurbishment value plus the value of the funding. The minimum floor space considered for this fund is 1,000 sq ft. / 92.90 sq m. The final scheme must have a use with a job density of over one job per 36 sq m (Gross Internal Area). Funding type A maximum grant or loan is available of 120k per property. The match funding level (excluding value of the building) will be at a minimum of 30%. A charge may be put on the property so that in the case of a sale, the investment by East Sussex County Council can be reclaimed. Depending on the individual situation and ownership of each building, the funding contract could be: a deferred loan to the property owner to be paid back on or around 75%+ occupancy at favourable terms when the scheme is viable in the medium term. 6
an equity share, where the building conversion could be viable in the medium term but the owner cannot support a loan. In this case East Sussex County Council will take a share of the ownership of the property and receive an equivalent and negotiated share of net rental profit. a deferred percentage of rentals as a proportion of the investment by East Sussex County Council providing a return over an agreed period. a direct viability gap grant to property owners to refurbish, sub-divide, upgrade part of and let the property on easy terms where the works are not financially viable without public sector financial intervention. This is suggested for smaller scale refurbishment requirements in the order of 20,000-50,000 total cost. This may include an overage agreement whereby some of the grant may be claimed back if the property yields a higher level of income than predicted. Fund process An initial site visit and assessment of the premises will be carried out by Locate East Sussex. Assessments are likely to cover the estimated cost to refurbish or sub-divide, financial viability of planned development, evidence of demand for completed units, projected number of jobs refurbished premises would accommodate. Projects which pass the initial assessment will be notified to the Economic Development Team for Stage 1 Approval. Stage 1 Approval will be dependent on demand and allocation across the county. It is at this stage that the terms of the possible funding will be negotiated. Successful Stage 1 applications will be presented to the Grants and Loans Panel which will make a recommendation to the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport. Applicants for funding of more than 50,000 will be required to attend the panel. If the project is recommended and approved by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport, a contract will be drawn up to include the following points: Tender evaluation process. All building projects must go out to tender to include using the Build East Sussex Network www.buildeastsussex.co.uk. At least three costed tenders must be provided for each building project. The contractor does not have to be a member of Build East Sussex. The rationale for selection will be required. Up to three stage payments can be made on receipt of surveyor s signing off. Agreement that no funds will be paid in advance of works completed. The Upgrading Empty Commercial Property Fund is delivered by Locate East Sussex on behalf of East Sussex County Council. Locate East Sussex can be contacted by email at enquiries@locateeastsussex.org.uk or by calling 01424 205085 during office hours. 7
East Sussex County Council Grants and Loans - May 2015 3. Business Incubator Fund The Business Incubator Fund is a 1.5m fund to support the creation (new build or conversion) of a minimum of three Business Incubation Centres. Funding is via loan, equity share, percentage of rental income, viability gap grant and is decided on each case individually. Value for money will be appraised on a cost per job and overall cost of each scheme by area of workspace created. There are no detailed criteria published as applications to this fund are assessed on a case by case basis. Priority treatment will be given to towns that currently do not have incubator space, including Eastbourne, Polegate, Hailsham and Crowborough. It is unlikely that Newhaven and Hastings will qualify as these towns already have the Enterprise Centre and the Innovation Centre respectively. Applications comprising an outline of the case for a Business Incubation Centre and a fully costed business plan should be sent in the first instance to Locate East Sussex. All applications are appraised the Grants and Loans Panel which will make a recommendation to the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport. The Business Incubator Fund is delivered by Locate East Sussex on behalf of East Sussex County Council. Locate East Sussex can be contacted by email at enquiries@locateeastsussex.org.uk or by calling 01424 205085 during office hours. 8