Plymouth University and the Western Morning News Growth Fund 2 (PWGF2)
PWGF2 will enable small and medium-sized businesses who can credibly demonstrate how investment will lead to rapid job creation, to obtain the investment they need. The funding will be made available to around 75 businesses in Cornwall, Somerset and Devon (including Plymouth and Torbay), in the form of grants of between £25,000 and £150,000.
Plymouth University and the Western Morning News have secured £3.9M of funding for regional businesses from the Government's Regional Growth Fund. The £3.9M will create the investment pot of the Plymouth University & Western Morning News Growth Fund 2 (PWGF2). The money is designed to enable business growth and the creation of new employment, through the delivery of a specific project. The business' project is expected to take no longer than 12 months from start to finish. All of the Fund's money must be spent by 31st March 2015.
Almost all industry sectors can apply, although, as with many schemes of this nature, primary agricultural production businesses are not eligible. The Fund is only available to businesses who are technically defined as a Small or Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) and who are / will be based in Cornwall, Somerset and Devon (including Plymouth and Torbay).
The funding will be available to pay for a range of things from purchasing capital equipment and specialist software, and improving business premises, to recruiting skilled employees who have the potential to transform a business - such as software developers or engineers. It cannot be used to fund working capital or speculative property development.
Whilst, technically, the Fund will provide 100% of a project's estimated costs, this would be very rare indeed. More typically, businesses will be expected to provide match funding covering as much of the project's costs as they are reasonably able to, from their own resources and / or those of third parties such as banks or investors. Part of our calculation of value for money, will reflect the level of match funding provided by a business where it is in the position to do this. And, at both EOI and full application stage, businesses will be required to state what other sources of funding have been investigated - and the outcome of this investigation.
Applications will be appraised by a panel of experienced people from the investment and wider business communities, and funding will be allocated to pay for professional business advisors to work with applicants, helping to hone their bids.
Applicant businesses will need to go through the following process:
Submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) (ensuring that, as you complete the online form, you read the accompanying guidance notes);
This EOI will then be reviewed by the Programme Team, who will assess both your technical eligibility and, based on substantial experience assessing over 250 EOIs for PWGF1, your realistic chances of success in what will be a competitive process. Based on this review, you will either be invited to proceed to full application or advised that your EOI has been rejected (although note that this would not prevent you from trying again, if you are able to address concerns raised by the Programme Team);
If invited to full application, you will then be put in touch with a Proposal Development Advisor - a professional business advisor who will provide up to two days of dedicated support, to help you hone your full application, but who will also challenge you where they see evident weaknesses in your investment proposal;
Once your full application is complete, you will then submit this form to the Programme team, along with your current business plan, three year cashflow forecasts, financial statements (independently prepared) and any mandatory consents, permissions or licences related to your application (eg, planning permission);
This full application will then be appraised by the private sector Investment Appraisal Panel, who will make recommendations to the Programme's Steering Group on whether to award a grant or not; and, the final step
Recommendations and your application form will be passed to the Steering Group, who will be the final decision makers.
End-to-end, the process could take as little as 10 weeks, although a reasonable planning assumption would be three to four months from the point that you submit your EOI to the point that you receive, if successful, the offer of grant.
The scheme is now open to receive EOIs from businesses. The first grants are likely to be made in April 2013, and bids will be appraised on a rolling basis until April 2014, when the final awards will be made.
For more information: http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/pages/view.asp?page=36701
