Small and micro businesses in rural areas of Westmorland and Furness are being urged to access specially-targeted support.
Delivered by Cumbria Business Growth Hub, the Cumbria Chamber of commerce’s business support arm, the Rural Business Support programme is funded by the government's UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) programme, allocated by Westmorland and Furness Council.
Advice and grants are available for small and micro businesses in the South Lakeland and Eden localities of Westmorland and Furness to support:
• Businesses to overcome challenges facing them and respond positively to opportunities;
• Farming businesses to respond to phasing out of Basic Payment Scheme and wider challenges and opportunities including diversification.
For farming and other land-based businesses this includes:
• Capital grants for purchase of equipment and small scale capital improvements to help grow, diversify, innovate and improve productivity;;
• Advice vouchers of up to £500, which can be used with an adviser of your choice – no match funding is needed but you can choose to add more;
• Workshops to support growth and resilience and help you navigate the new subsidy regimes, delivered through The Farmer Network.
For other businesses it includes:
• Capital grants for purchase of equipment and small scale capital improvements to help grow, diversify, innovate and improve productivity;
• Adviser support through the Growth Hub’s team, including access to finance and hospitality specialists and more.
The minimum grant is £1,000, with an anticipated average of £15,000.
There is a two-stage process to apply for the capital grants:
• Expressions of interest (EOI) to be submitted by 12 noon on Wednesday 24 January 2024
• Full applications to be submitted by 12 noon on Wednesday 13 March 2024
More details and an application form can be found at: https://cumbriagrowthhub.co.uk/rural-business-grants-support.
Councillor Jonathan Brook, Leader of Westmorland and Furness Council, said: "Westmorland and Furness has a strong, vibrant and diverse economy and we are committed to helping create the conditions where businesses of all types and sizes can start up, grow, adapt and flourish and make this a great place to work.
"Facilitating schemes like this and ensuring that quality, practical advice is freely available will go a long way towards maintaining the strength of the local authority, with all the wide-ranging benefits that brings."
Lesley Robinson, Head of Business Support at Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, said: “We’re really pleased to be offering this much needed support and funding to eligible businesses in the Eden and South Lakeland localities. This is particularly important given the current challenges and especially so in the farming sector, given their specific changes and challenges. We’re working with a range of partners to offer business adviser support, workshops, a voucher scheme as well as a competitive grant fund. Our grant scheme is now open to expressions of interest with a short window to apply so please don’t miss out and get in touch if you need any advice or support.”
Twenty two projects in Westmorland and Furness are sharing up to £8.1 million from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF).
Ten funding calls for schemes aimed at improving community and place, supporting local business, and people and skills were launched in May and the council's Investment Board agreed on the successful projects. Just over £6 million was available for Westmorland and Furness as a whole from the UKSPF for the next two years, with £2.1 million from the REPF targeted at the former South Lakeland and Eden Localities
The Rural Business Support scheme was one of the successful applications, with up to £1,016,378 allocated to Cumbria Chamber of Commerce towards providing support to rural micro and small businesses through advice and grants.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025.
The fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.
Click here for more information about the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.