Grants for County Durham Businesses

SME’s based in County Durham could access up to 40% funding for business improvement projects costing between £2,500 and £8,000 (maximum grant of £3,200) – you can use the grant for almost any type of business support that will help your business to grow or become more resilient.

Please note: We will be proactively targeting Business-to-Business organisations (those that make the majority of their income from sales to other businesses) in the remaining months of the programme. Due to a limit on the number of Business-to-Consumer organisations (those that make the majority of their income from sales to individuals) that we can support, and the high level of recent demand, we can now only support the strongest Business-to-Consumer applications.

What types of project can we fund?

As long as the work involves using external expertise to improve your business, you could be eligible for a grant towards the cost.

Making more sales:

– Marketing strategy

– Web design/development

– Video and animation

– Social media

Reducing costs:

– Management systems

– Product development

– Process improvement

– Quality management

Planning for the future:

– Succession planning

– Business growth planning

– Financial restructuring

– Change management

Ineligible projects

The North East Business Support Fund is only able to provide grants towards the cost of bringing external expertise into your business. Examples of the types of project we are not able to fund include: Capital costs (equipment or material costs); premises/refurbishment costs; day to day running costs (accountancy fees for yearly accounts, for example); staff costs (wages); direct staff training or qualifications.

Please note – The North East Business Support Fund is a retrospective grant i.e. businesses must be able to pay for the costs of their project and claim the Grant once everything is completed (all work complete and all payments to providers have been made). The funding cannot support projects that have already started (or have been completed) – you must not start your project or make any payments until you have received and signed your contract pack.

Is your business eligible to apply?

If you run a business based in County Durham you may be able to access funding from the North East Business Support Fund. Your business must be trading and classed as an SME – that means it must employ fewer than 250 people and have a turnover of less than €50M.

Specific exclusions

These business types are not eligible for funding

Businesses in the following sectors; Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Processing and marketing of agricultural products, Shipbuilding, Primary production, Coal or Steel, Synthetic Fibres.

Any business that mainly generates income from commission to providers or by offering a brokering service including energy, utility, insurance, mortgage, financial advice, etc.

Organisations that generate less than 51% of their sales from commercial activity. Any income derived from the donations, grants or contracts that have not been won via a competitive process are not classed as commercial income. This means that many Charities, CICs, Voluntary organisations and Social Enterprises may not be eligible for support via ERDF.

Businesses that deliver Statutory Services such as schools, doctors surgeries and care homes.

Businesses who have had previous funding may not be eligible

As this is an extension to the North East Business Support Fund we cannot provide funding to businesses who have already accessed support from the programme – this includes businesses who have received a full Grant from the North East Business Support Fund since February 2018.

Want to know more – read the most Frequently Asked Questions

Applications to this programme have now closed

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