Hereford City Shop front grant scheme

Worcestershire Business Central Small Business Recovery Grant

Guidance for Grant Applicants

Please read the guidance before preparing your grant application

What is the Small Business Recovery Grant?

The Worcestershire Business Central – Small Business Recovery Grants are designed to support small businesses (see criteria below), to restart and recover in response to the impacts of Covid-19. The Recovery Grants will assist small businesses who employ between 3 and 10 employees (or full-time equivalents) with grant between £1,000 - £3,000 available to cover 100% of the costs for projects up to £3,000. The grants are to help businesses located in Worcestershire to build resilience within their business or to capitalise on new opportunities and ongoing support to innovate, scale and stimulate growth.

Important Application Notes

· There are 2 recovery grants available, one for the visitor economy and one for the small business economy. Businesses can only apply for one of the grants and not both.

· Please note: The number of employees or FTE equivalents stated on the application form should include workers on furlough and still employed by the company.

· Applications that are incomplete will not be considered and no contracts will be issued until signed hard copies of the application and it’s supporting documents have been received.

· Please note that in order to be eligible for this grant, you must be able to complete your expenditure and submit your full grant claim to Worcestershire County Council within 6 weeks of the date the grant agreement is issued.

· This project is associated with the SME Growth Programme known as ‘Elevate’. Therefore, companies who have had support from the SME Growth Programme (Elevate) cannot also have support from this Small Business Recovery Grant. Similarly, those who have support from the Small Business Recovery Grant cannot go on to have support from the SME Growth Programme (Elevate).

· For companies based in Bromsgrove, Redditch or Wyre Forest, if you have also made an application to the equivalent grant offered by the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership, then you will not be eligible to apply for the Small Business fund in Worcestershire. If you have not yet applied to either then please choose the one which best suits your company and project. The details of the grant offered by the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership can be found at:

https://www.gbslepgrowthhub.co.uk/programmes/business-recovery-grants-of-1000-5000

· All project costs must be external to the company.

· All purchases and purchase commitments may only commence after the grant has been agreed; any invoices issued/paid before the grant agreement has been signed will not be eligible.

· 100% of the project costs must be covered upfront by the business, these may then be claimed in accordance with the grant offer letter; with evidence of costs incurred as instructed.

· VAT cannot be included or claimed as part of the grant, all costs must be given NET.

· All costs must be claimed within the timeframe outlined in the grant agreement. This will usually be based on the purchase dates indicated by you in your grant application. Only one claim can be made.

· For administrative purposes all payments for purchases must be paid in full and upfront. We will need to see copies of supplier’s invoices and a copy of the statement from the dedicated bank account for the business, evidencing that payment has been made to the relevant suppliers. The bank statement must correspond with the supplier’s invoice.

Dedicated business account means businesses have a separate business bank account:

· The account will need to have the same name as the business applying for the grant

· The account holds only business-based transactions and is kept separate from any personal payments or receipts.

· We cannot accept payments that have been made by credit cards or any other alternative payment arrangements where payment is staggered and not paid in full.

· Applicants must comply with the eligibility criteria.

· Costs must comply with the eligibility criteria.

· Any changes made to the spend profile or preferred supplier(s) must first be agreed by Worcestershire County Council’s Small Business Recovery Grant Project Manager.

Who can apply for Small Business Recovery grant funding? Applicant eligibility:

Eligibility guidance is given below and is indicative only; exceptions can be made at the discretion of the Project Manager.

Eligible Applicants:

We will accept application from those predominantly trading business to business in the following sectors:

· Manufacturing and Engineering businesses

· Cyber/IT/Digital/Media

· Eligible applicants must be operating within Worcestershire and have a Worcestershire business address;

· A small/medium size enterprise (SME, as described below);

· A partnership; or limited company. A company registration number or a Unique Taxation Registration number (UTR Number) must be provided in Section 3 Business Details.

Small Business Grant SME Definition:

· Your business employs between 3 and 10 employees (or full-time equivalents) - Please note: The number of employees or FTE equivalents stated on the application form should include workers on furlough and still employed by the company.

· Your business is registered with Companies House (you will need to provide your Company Registration Number).

· Your business has been trading for at least 12 months, is still a going concern and has experienced disruption due to Covid 19.

· Your proposed project/expenditure has NOT started/been incurred yet.

· Has either (a) an annual turnover not exceeding €50 million or (b) an annual balance sheet total not exceeding €43 million

· 25% or more of the capital or the voting rights are not owned by one enterprise, or jointly by several enterprises falling outside this definition of an SME

· Does not own more than 25% of the capital or voting rights in an enterprise falling outside of this definition of SME

Ineligible Applicants:

· Retail Businesses

· Provision of local social welfare facilities e.g. hospitals, nursing homes, fire stations, sports facilities, parks, public libraries;

· Establishments providing generalised (school-age) education;

· Child-minding facilities, including day nurseries;

· Mobile infrastructure such as vehicles, trailers, and towable assets;

· Business & Professional Services

· Banking and insurance;

· Stand-alone car parks;

· Primary production, processing, and marketing of agricultural products;

· Agri-food/Agri Tech businesses

· Synthetic fibres sector.

What costs can be included? Project eligibility:

All costs must be related to the applicant's proposed Small Business Recovery Grant project and deemed necessary.

Examples of eligible costs:

The grant is focused on revenue based activities for business development with a focus on 1-2-1 specialist advice which SMEs could call on to address their immediate needs in response to the impact of COVID 19 e.g. HR, marketing, accountants, legal, financial, H&S, IT / digital or sector specialists etc and / or purchase of minor equipment to adapt or adopt new technology in order to continue to deliver business activity or diversify in response to COVID 19.

For a full list of eligible costs, please see Annex B

Examples of ineligible costs:

· Internal costs (e.g. staffing, overheads);

· Recurring costs (e.g. memberships, subscriptions, website hosting, licences, SEO consultancy);

· Travel, accommodation, and hospitality;

· Office/home refurbishment or furniture (desks, chairs etc.)

· Equipment that could be used for home entertainment purposes (TVs, DVD players etc.)

· Repayment of existing debt;

· Goods/services already purchased prior to the date of your grant agreement;

· Items subject to hire/lease agreements;

· Insurance fees;

· Consumables;

· Vehicles;

· Mobile Infrastructure;

· Any activity that may bring Worcestershire County Council and its partners into disrepute.

All project costs must be specified on the application. As these will be paid for, in part, with public funds it is necessary to demonstrate value for money. Therefore, we ask that the following information is supplied for each individual cost:

£1,000 (min) - £3,000 (max): 1 written quote or website screenshots per item. Please note: Where consultancy support is required please visit the Advised in Worcestershire website - https://www.business-central.co.uk/advised-in-worcestershire

Section 5: Application Overview

Please note the following when completing the application form.

5.1 Please ensure that your proposed project only includes eligible costs (as detailed above).

5.4. Grant applications will be considered on a competitive basis. Please ensure that you clearly articulate how has your business been affected by Covid-19.

5.5 Please state if the grant will safeguard the business

5.6 Please state if the grant will safeguard jobs in the business

5.7 Please state the number of jobs safeguarded in full time equivalents as a result of the grant (FTEs)

Section 6: Project Details

Please note the following when completing the application form.

What your business does, what you propose to buy & why, and how it will help you to recover from the Covid 19 disruption?

This grant application is competitive and subject to availability. Please ensure that you clearly describe how the services or technology, that you propose to purchase will assist your business, to re-start and recover from the effects of Covid 19. Please also add whether the business or employees (number) will be safeguarded following the project.

The Grant Application Process

Before completing your application form, please see process below

STAGE ACTIVITY

1

Read the application guidance and complete the grant application form. Submit the application (inc. supporting documents) via email to info@business-central.co.uk The emailed version should include a scanned copy of your wet signature (printed and attached). You must also subsequently send a hard copy via post which includes a wet signature (address below).

Recovery Grants

Worcestershire Business Central

The Guild Hall

High Street

Worcester

WR1 2EY

2

Worcestershire Business Central (WBC) will check initial eligibility, compliance, the quote, accounts and evidence of funding. WBC will not send applications for appraisal to Worcestershire County Council (WCC are the accountable body) without all supporting documentation. WBC will be the point of contact for queries at the application stage E: info@business-central.co.uk All applications will be considered on a first come, first served basis.

3

Your electronic application will then be sent for appraisal.

4

WCC will inform you of the appraisal outcome within 5 working days (after the appraisal has been sent to WCC by WBC).

5

The Recovery Grant team at WCC will generate a grant agreement and offer letter for successful applicants. These documents will be emailed, where you will have the opportunity to read and discuss the terms. If you are happy to proceed you will be asked to sign the documents, which form a contractual agreement between the applicant and WCC. The emailed version should include a copy of your scanned wet signature (printed and attached).

6

Once the grant agreement is signed, you may commence your project and purchase the agreed items/services from the agreed suppliers. If you need to change any of the items/suppliers detailed in your grant agreement you must first contact Worcestershire Business Central to request a spend variation.

7

After you have made a purchase you can retrospectively claim grant funding for 100% of the NET invoice costs. You should use the grant claim guidance to assist you. Completed claim forms and accompanying evidence should be submitted to WCC via email & post, as directed in the grant offer letter to be issued by WCC to successful applicants. The emailed version should include a copy of your scanned wet signature (printed and attached).

8

The Recovery Grant team will process the grant claim and ensure the grant claim form and evidence is compliant. Once approved, the invoice will be sent to WCC's central finance team for payment.

9

When you have completed your project spend and claimed your full grant, the team at Worcestershire Business Central will arrange a suitable time to conduct a grant closure meeting. In the meeting the project manager will ask for evidence of the agreed outputs and assess the impact of the project on the business. This will include jobs safeguarded and businesses safeguarded (i.e. how many of those jobs/businesses which were supported under this additional support are still trading at the end of the ERDF project).

You are encouraged to contact the Recovery Grant team at WCC any stage to discuss your application or any issues that arise during the course of the project spend. Importantly, please contact the WCC project manager (as stated in the grant offer letter), if you need to change any items or suppliers in your spend profile, or if you expect to miss the agreed grant claim deadline. Changes will be made at the project manager's discretion and are not guaranteed.

All paperwork relating to the grant must be kept until 2033.

Financial Assessment

As part of the assessment process, applicants of the Small Business Recovery grant funding will be required:

· To provide accurate and authorised financial statements where applicable.

· To declare any historic, current, or known future irregularities and civil/criminal actions that may have an impact on the successful award of a grant.

· To administer their use of funds in a transparent and responsible manner that will conform to their contractual and moral obligations under the terms of the grant agreement.

De Minimis State Aid Declaration

Under European Commission De Minimis State Aid Rules. In order for applicants to be eligible for the Small Business Recovery Grant fund, they must not have received more than €200,000 of state funding during the preceding 3 year period; including the total amount of the Small Business Recovery grant for which they are applying.

Due Diligence Process

Applicants are subject to additional checks as part of Small Business Recovery Grant due diligence policy. The Recovery Grants team at WCC may independently investigate applicants above and beyond the material contained in the application form. This may include, although not exclusively, the following areas:

· Eligibility- including: company formation (including franchises), ownership, trading history, and State Aid payments

· Directors' backgrounds- including criminal records, disqualifications, and historic relations with other funds

· Trading history, accounts

Eligible Costs - Annex B

Professional Fees

HR professional services

Legal professional services

IT professional services

Quality Certification

Design for Manufacture

Product Development

Strategic Development

Accountant support setting up management information routines

Financial management on loans recently taken out. Require more than an accountant to support.

New markets research and development. Diversification support. Hire a researcher/data lists or a key account manager

IP costs

Re branding / consultancy and implementation

Copywriting and content development for post-Covid push

For purchase of mainstream advertising in press/radio etc

IT/Digital

Please note that for all items of equipment: If the equipment is more than £5,000 in total value it will be seen as a major asset and therefore a capital item under the rules of the European Regional Development Fund and NOT eligible for funding under this revenue project.

IT Hardware - Would consider IT equipment if this was demonstrated that this was required in order to keep the SME operational and productive. Would need to need demonstrate that any additional IT equipment purchased is directly related to the impact of COVID 19.

Specific business IT Software

Optimisation programmes

Website development Consultancy

Online Marketing Implementation/Spend

Social media as a sales platform

Website build for E commerce

E-learning platform procurement

CRM systems

Cloud based storage

Audio equipment

Specialist camera, drones

IT backup systems

Virtual reality services

IT gadgets e-pens etc

E comms App development

Cyber security

Video content development

Digitisation Retrofit

Software - Manufacturing / Design

CRM investment with consultancy on sales processes

Equipment

Please note that for all items of equipment: If the equipment is more than £5,000 in total value it will be seen as a major asset and therefore a capital item under the rules of the European Regional Development Fund and NOT eligible for funding under this revenue project.

Forklift truck leasing - Potentially could be supported but need to demonstrate the impact of COVID 19 to the SME e.g. if shift patterns have changed which increases the requirement of forklift operations to be extended to maintain operations / productivity. It would be recognised that this would only be a short-term measure

Battery storage

Materials handling equipment

Process Controls

Line cameras

Storage racking

Tooling - e.g. fixtures, jigs, gauges, moulds, dies, cutting equipment and pattern etc

Lean Implementation Equipment

Purchase of promotional merchandise (gifts, banners, flyers etc) to support and consolidate Brand

Page 2 of 2 Grant Application Guidance V10.1 Last Updated 09.11.2020