David Ralph, Chief Executive of D2N2 LEP
The D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership will wholeheartedly support businesses to help the private sector in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire win successful grants from Round Five of the Government’s Regional Growth Fund.
Businesses have been urged to get ready to apply for funding from the next round of the Regional Growth Fund when it opens in October.
It will be focused entirely on private enterprise proposals, with high-quality projects that can generate significant private sector investment and create sustainable jobs.
D2N2 Chief Executive David Ralph said: “We are currently overseeing a £5m Unlocking Investment for Growth programme (UI4G), through the Government’s Regional Growth Fund, and in the next few weeks we will see the first successful applications come to fruition, helping to create a sizeable amount of jobs across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
“We are still working through dozens more applications and this £5m pot has also been topped up by the recent announcement of extra funds through the European Regional Development Fund, to be shared between the three East Midlands LEPs, which was very welcome news.
“Also, this week, BiS confirmed that an extra £100m has been made available to the Single Growth Fund for 2015-17 to support the various LEPs’ RGF programmes and it is important that we at D2N2 submit a strong case within our Growth Deal to extract as much cash as possible to further top up our UI4G programme to help even more businesses create further jobs across our patch to stimulate economic growth. We are confident we can secure at the very least our fair share of that money.
“In October, round five of RGF will open up for bids and it will be focused on private enterprise proposals, with high-quality projects that can generate significant private sector investment and create sustainable jobs with a minimum grant bid of £1m. D2N2 companies have a good track record in securing funding from previous rounds and we would encourage businesses in our area that can benefit from RGF round five to express an interest and apply and we will wholeheartedly support them in any way we can to help bring those applications to a successful conclusion.
“For the smaller and medium-sized companies in the D2N2 area, our UI4G programme will provide grants in support of capital investment projects with a minimum overall project value of £200,000. In exceptional circumstances up to £500,000 of grant funding is available for projects that can demonstrate real potential to create new jobs.”
Application forms for Round Five will be available in early October and businesses will have until the closing date of 9 December 2013 to submit their bids.
Companies who will not be ready to apply for Round Five will be able to apply for Round Six, which will be launched in the summer of 2014.
While Round 5 requires minimum bids of £1 million, small and medium-sized businesses should be aware that there are still funds available from existing Regional Growth Fund programmes which are still open for business, which in the D2N2 area is our Unlocking Investment for Growth programme.
To help businesses with their applications, there will be a number of events and expression of interest days around the country from October 11 to help answer questions on Round Five and advice on how to submit a strong bid. Further details of these events will be published on GOV.UK shortly.
To express an interest in our UI4G programme or for more information, visit www.d2n2lep.org/UI4G
