Total LoCASE support is set to pass the £3million mark!
At the July Grants Panel alone, 50 businesses were supported with over £370,000 across the South and East, taking support so far to over £2.9million. SMEs from a diverse array of industries were supported, including construction, food and drink, events, and numerous businesses already in the low carbon and environmental supply chain. This month’s projects included LED lighting, solar PV systems, new equipment, R&D analysis, growth consultancy, and marketing support. We’re all set for a bumper August panel which should take us past 500 businesses supported in this phase of the programme, never has it been a more critical time to help battle the cost of trading crisis looming with supply chain and energy costs continuing to bite. Those firms in the ‘green’ sectors who we can help with business development funding examples above have again been many and varied. This isn’t just solar panel installers, it covers landscaping firms, architects, construction firms with an eye on retrofit. Examples include product certification for electrical switches, research and development for new paper products and website development for multiple businesses improving their marketing for their goods and services.
Although most of our LoCASE grants are typically capped at £10,000, there is an opportunity to secure up to £20,000 if your project is seen to meet certain criteria. To achieve this, the project must have extremely high environmental and/or social value merit, display significant innovation in terms of Net Zero transition and/or display the capability to create and/or safeguard jobs. Project costs can only be covered up to 40% so to be seeking an EU grant up to this value would require significant match funding to cover project costs of £50K or more. 8 businesses at July’s panel were awarded grants above £10,000 but only 1 was approved to this maximum amount given the huge co-investment required and wide-ranging effects it should deliver to this manufacturing business.
If you are an SME who is interested in funding, please register by following this link: https://locase.co.uk/register/
