Published: Thursday, 7th July 2016
A programme aimed at helping hundreds of existing businesses to expand and grow has launched, and is available to businesses in the Cannock Chase District.
Councillor Gordon Alcott, Portfolio Leader for Economic Development and Planning said “There is a lot of money out there for local businesses. It is imperative that businesses know that they may be eligible for some funding, should they wish to expand their current business.
I would advise anyone considering expanding to give the Economic Development Team at the Council a call and they can talk through availability and criteria for any funding that may be available.”
The Business Growth Programme (BGP) – managed by Birmingham City Council’s Business Development & Innovation Team and part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, will offer a comprehensive package of business support to B2B Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) based in the Greater Birmingham & Solihull, Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire, and The Marches LEP areas.
The BGP will create over 1,300 new jobs, increase the competitiveness of almost 600 SMEs and offer grant funding of between £10k - £200k to eligible SMEs who have plans to expand and create jobs. It will consist of the following four key elements –
The HS2 Supply Chain Programme – offering grants of £20k - £200k towards projects for supply chain companies which have, or are in the process of securing, or have the ability to secure a contract for HS2.
The Green Bridge Supply Chain Programme – grants of £20k - £150k towards project costs for supply chain companies operating in, or expanding into the green economy.
The Business Innovation Programme – grants of £10k - £30k towards project costs for SMEs investing in innovative close-to-market processes, products and services.
The Business Development Programme – grants of £10k - £20k towards project costs for businesses looking to expand, relocate and improve access to markets.
Funding is subject to availability and eligibility criteria, details of which can be found by contacting the Economic Development team on 01543 464272.
Applications must be submitted within the Funding Rounds specified on the webpage (http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/bgp).