Access to Funding

• Yorkshire Forward

  Grant, loan and equity funding may be available to anyone from a sole trader to a large organisation, whether you want to start up or expand your business, invest in R&D or build overseas trade, or if you’re in a rural area.

  Yorkshire Forward, the region’s economic development agency, administers several awards schemes on behalf of funders such as HM Government and the European Commission.

  For further information on all funding for business opportunities please go to http://www.yorkshire-forward.com/helping-businesses/funding-for-businesses

  • Grant Funding

    • Grant for Research and Development

      R&D grants funded by the UK government and the European Commission are available to individuals, SMEs and large companies.

      An SME can apply at any time for a GRD worth up to 60% of the cost of an R&D project, providing it can fund the balance itself. Four types of grant are available:

      • Micro projects (simple, low-cost development projects of no longer than 12 months, with up to £20,000 available)

      • Research projects (for investigating the technical and commercial feasibility of innovative technology, lasting 6 to 18 months, with up to £100,000 available)

      • Development projects (for developing a pre-production prototype of a new product or process over 6 to 36 months, with up to £250,000 available)

      • Exceptional development projects (involving a significant technological advance which is strategically important to a particular technology or industrial sector, lasting 6 to 36 months with a negotiable grant of up to £500,000 available)

      • The new Proof of Market Grant helps you test the commercial potential of an innovative idea for a new technology – the result will be a thorough and professional analysis of the scale of the market opportunity.

      For further information about these grant and criteria and to apply directly to Yorkshire Forward please visit https://www.yfgrd.org/GRD_AllUsers/Home.aspx

      Large companies can apply for an Industrial R&D award. Applications are made directly to Yorkshire Forward via https://www.yfird.org/AllUsers/Home.aspx

    • Grant for Business Investment

      Companies of all sizes, partnerships and sole traders may be eligible for a Grant for Business Investment (GBI), available for projects in qualifying areas. Most manufacturing businesses are eligible to apply for a grant, as are businesses in service industries which supply a national, rather than local, market.

      These are discretionary grants designed for businesses which would like to invest in an Assisted Area (Tier 1, Tier 2 or Tier 3), but need some financial help to go ahead. Assistance may be provided to:

      • Expand, modernise or reorganise an existing business

      • Upgrade a business by introducing technological or other innovative improvements into the business process

      • Enable a business to take the step from development to production.

      For information on eligibility criteria and to check whether you company falls in an Assisted Area pleas visit http://www.yorkshire-forward.com/helping-businesses/funding-for-businesses/gbi-funding

    • Innovation Vouchers

      Funded by Yorkshire Forward, and delivered by Business Link Yorkshire, the Innovation Voucher Scheme provides small to medium size businesses (SMEs) in the region, with the support to engage with Yorkshire's universities and other academic institutions to help their business grow and develop. Vouchers up to the value of £3000 can be redeemed to fund the cost of this practical knowledge and expertise.

      If you own or manage a small or medium sized business (up to 250 employees) and you have a business innovation idea that you want to develop, you can apply for an Innovation Voucher worth £3000. The vouchers will not only help companies develop specific pieces of innovation, they will potentially create lasting relationships between businesses and knowledge based institutions that will have a much more longer lasting innovation benefits for the region.

      For further information on the innovation vouchers please visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/yorkshire/innovation.

  • Loan Funding

    • Transition loan fund

      The Transition Loan Fund is a £5m loan fund available to viable businesses that are facing a shortfall of working capital. The Fund is accessed through Business Link Yorkshire. For more information visit www.businesslinkyorkshire.co.uk or call 0845 604 8048. The Fund will be split into 3 key areas as detailed below:

      • CDFIs

        £1.2m of the Loan Fund for SMEs from deprived communities. Typically loans of £15k-£25k up to a maximum of £50k.

      • The Viking Loan Fund

        £1m of the Loan Fund is to assist the Business Angel market for SMEs. Typically loans of £25k-£100k with a view that the majority of loans will be above £50k.

      • SME Loan Fund

        £2.8m of the Loan Fund for loans to SMEs. Typically these will be for loans of £70k-£100k up to a maximum of £250k in exceptional circumstances.

    • Finance Yorkshire

      Finance Yorkshire provides seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15k to £2m, specifically to help small and medium businesses meet the gaps in funding they need for development or acquisitions.  For more information visit http://www.finance-yorkshire.com/ or call 0845 649 0000. 

    • Proof of Commercial Concept Fund (PCCF)

      The Yorkshire Concept: Proof of Commercial Concept Fund (PCCF) is a joint venture between Yorkshire Forward and Yorkshire Universities, capturing the potential in the huge pool of talent and knowledge which exists within the region’s higher education institutions. PCCF offers early-stage funding to assess the feasibility of business ideas, and can provide the financial support they need to develop their research to the point where it can attract seed-corn funding, investment, licensees, or income.
      
      Further information on additional programmes can be found in the Finance & Grants section of the Business Link Yorkshire website.

• Other Organisations

  • Carbon Trust http://www.carbontrust.co.uk/default.ct

    The Carbon trust offer interest-free energy efficiency loans: SMEs which have been trading for at least 12 months can apply for anything from £5,000 to £100,000—all unsecured, interest-free, repayable over 4 years, and with no arrangement fee. They also offer 100% capital allowances on qualifying investments on equipment in the first tax year, and free site energy surveys.

    Also the Applied Research Programme supports the development and commercialisation of technology with the potential to reduce UK CO2 emissions, with grants of up to £250,000.

  • Enhanced Capital Allowances http://www.eca.gov.uk/

    The ECA let you claim 100% first-year capital allowances on eligible plant and machinery. There are three schemes:

    • Energy-saving plant and machinery

    • Low-carbon-dioxide emission cars, and natural gas and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure

    • Water conservation plant and machinery.

    Businesses can write off the whole of the capital cost of their investment in these technologies against their taxable profits in the period during which they make the investment.

• European Funding

  • FP7: European funding for innovation

    With a budget of over €50bn, Framework Programme 7 (FP7) is the European Commission’s main method of funding collaborative research and development. The programme began on January 1 2007 and will run for 7 years. To help our region’s businesses and universities maximise their chances of success in accessing a share of FP7 funding, Yorkshire Forward has launched a comprehensive range of free services. If you would like more information, or would like one of our experts to visit you, please contact the team on 0845 630 8003.

    Types of FP7 funding available:

    • Ideas: frontier research designed to generate new knowledge €7.5bn

    • People: training & mobility of researchers throughout Europe €4.7bn

    • Capacities: development of research infrastructures, support for SMEs & clusters €4.3bn

    • Co-operation: trans-national collaborative R&D projects €32.3bn

    ‘Cooperation’ is in turn organised into 9 priority areas:

    • Information & communication technologies €9.1bn

    • Health €6.0bn

    • Transport (including aeronautics) €4.2bn

    • Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, materials & new production technologies €3.5bn

    • Space & security €2.8bn

    • Energy €2.3bn

    • Food, agriculture and biotechnology €1.9bn

    • Environment (including climate change) €1.9bn

    • Socio-economic sciences & the humanities €0.6bn

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