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In the March 2021 Budget, a £5 billion Restart Grant fund was unveiled to offer up to £6,000 per premises for non-essential retail businesses and up to £18,000 per premises for hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gym businesses. The scheme aims to give businesses the financial certainty required to plan ahead and relaunch trading in coming months. Support is likely to be provided until 21 June 2021, when it’s hoped that all coronavirus restrictions will be lifted.
No, you won’t need to repay the amount awarded through a business grant, nor will you need to pay interest on it. However, most grants will require a level of matched funding for the project.
Yes you can. Although many grants are geared towards businesses that have been trading for one to two years or those that are more established, there are a number of grants specifically tailored towards businesses yet to start trading.
Yes – because you won’t be expected to repay grant money (as you would with a loan), bad credit shouldn’t be a problem.
However, it’s important to thoroughly check the general terms and criteria – such as business size, grant purpose, location and industry type – before you apply to make sure you qualify.
To make your application worthy of receiving funding, it’s important to do all the necessary preparation. As part of this, you’ll need a solid and realistic business plan with sales projections, cash flow and loss forecasts. Your business plan should be tailored for the grant you’re applying for and, if you are already trading, you’ll need to provide bank statements as evidence of your finances.
Always prepare your application as early as you can to ensure you don’t miss the deadline. It’s worth getting a second opinion from a mentor, senior colleague or expert and be sure to proofread and spell check your application before submitting it.
Innovation funds are grant funding programs that offer financial backing to organisations and groups that are looking to research and develop a process, product or service, test innovative ideas and/or collaborate with other organisations. If your business has a focus on innovation or you are trying to bring a new product to the market, innovation grants could be a good option to explore.
Yes, you can claim both. In fact, if you receive a grant, it’s likely that at least some of your development work will qualify for R&D tax credits. However, being awarded a grant will have an impact on your R&D tax credit claim, so it’s important to plan carefully and seek expert advice before proceeding.
Cash grants are usually taxable because they are classed as a form of income. This means that once you have subtracted the relevant allowances and expenses, the sum left over will be liable to tax.
Yes. Innovate UK funding is open for UK-based businesses only.
The timing for funding applications can vary. But usually, you will have between 4 and 12 weeks to submit your application (written application, presentation slides, and any other documentation specified for that particular competition). We’d encourage you to submit your application in plenty of time before the deadline to allow time for any uploading issues. It will then take an average of 6-10 weeks to review your application, conduct interviews and make a final decision.
Firstly, the lead applicant must be a UK-registered business of any size or a research and technology organisation. They can work alone or in collaboration with other businesses, academic institutions, research organisations or the third sector. However, all projects must include at least one SME. In addition, all project activity should take place in the UK (including subcontracted work).
If your project’s duration is 6 to 18 months, it:
If your project’s duration is 19 to 36 months, it must:
For feasibility studies and industrial research projects, you could get funding for your eligible project costs of up to:
For experimental development projects which are nearer to market, you could get funding for your eligible project costs of up to:
Innovate UK supports projects at various stages of development, with funding available for the following research categories: feasibility studies, industrial research, and experimental development. It’s important that you correctly identify your research category, as a higher level of grant support is available for projects at earlier stages of development.
To apply, you must complete an application via the Innovation Funding Service. The application form has three sections: project details, application questions, and finances. You will be scored for your answers to questions 2 to 11, which can each be up to 400 words long.
Your application should also include appendices for the following questions:
Applications that meet the eligibility criteria will be independently assessed by between three and five assessors. They will provide scores and written feedback for each section of your application. Then, applications will be ranked based on the average of all assessor scores. The highest-ranking applications will be recommended to Innovate UK for funding.
Innovate UK Smart Grants are extremely competitive. The latest available data is from the November 2020 competition; in this round, 5% of Stream 1 applications and 8% of Stream 2 applications were successful (Source: whatdotheyknow.com).
The simple answer is yes, you can resubmit if your first attempt is unsuccessful. However, you are limited to a maximum of two applications to Innovate UK with any given proposa
Harrington Taylor can help you prepare a competitive application. Not only will this save you time, with grant applications taking an average of 6-10 weeks to complete in-house, but it will also increase your chances of success!
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