Some 39 businesses from across the local enterprise partnership's region, including Brighton and Hove, Croydon, Gatwick Diamond, Lewes and West Sussex were last year awarded a slice of £2.2m for projects to help them expand.
The Business Growth Grants programme, managed by Coast to Capital, Brighton and Hove City Council and commercial partners, helps local small and medium-sized enterprises expand their businesses by supporting projects such as skills improvement, research and development and investment in equipment or premises.
To be successful, applicants needed to demonstrate how their proposals would increase local employment, and they must already have been rejected by other funding sources. For grants of up to £100,000, applicants also needed to be in a position to provide at least 75% of project funding, with that figure rising to 80% for grants of over £100,000.
In the last round of grants awarded from the scheme at the end of 2014, 21 companies received a total of £1.3m for projects worth a combined £7.6m. Grants ranged in size from £6,000 for Croydon-based Kingfisher APS to £200,000 for Medical Imagining Partnership. Other beneficiaries include Shoreham Port, Brighton-based Big Bit and GTR Limited, based in West Sussex.
Coast to Capital chairman Tim Wates said the variety of companies and projects benefiting from this scheme and the number of grants awarded shows the future looks bright for businesses and the economy in the region.
"We've been pleased to support 39 businesses across our region in 2014 through the Coast to Capital Business Growth Grants scheme," he said. "As a local enterprise partnership, we want to encourage local businesses to expand and we believe the projects these businesses are undertaking will make a significant step change to the companies and to the local economy.
"The first year of awarding business growth grants has emphasized the important role that small and medium sized businesses play in our local economy. I've been really pleased to see the impact the grants are already having and I look forward to seeing other projects becoming a reality in the near future. I would encourage any businesses in our region that have a sound expansion plan to contact the team at Coast to Capital to see if we can help."
The following companies are the latest to have been awarded a Business Growth Grant:
- Oyster World (Croydon)
- Kingfisher APS (Croydon)
- Respirex (Redhill, Surrey)
- Medical Imaging Partnership (Pease Pottage, Mid Sussex)
- PVL (Burgess Hill, Mid Sussex)
- Veterinary Insights (Haywards Heath, Mid Sussex)
- Whirligig (Chichester, West Sussex)
- Clothkits (Chichester, West Sussex)
- GTR Limited (West Sussex)
- Fine Cut (Lancing, West Sussex)
- Edgcumbe (Arundel, West Sussex)
- Rinkit Ltd (Littlehampton, West Sussex)
- Tronix (Littlehampton, West Sussex)
- Cheesmur (Lewes, East Sussex)
- Shoreham Port (Brighton)
- Delinquent Interactive (Brighton)
- Big Bit Ltd (Brighton)
- Jing (Brighton)
- Vampires Wife (Brighton)
- Easy EPC (Brighton)
- Deteq Solutions (Brighton)
Coast to Capital will be launching a new grant scheme in April and hopes to start receiving applications from companies in March. Further information on the types of grants and the criteria will be made available soon.
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