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Next round of the Regional Growth Fund will open on October 11
Round 5 of the Regional Growth Fund will open on 11 October and close on 9 December 2013, the Government has announced.
This round will make funds available to private sector bidders seeking £1 million or more for high quality projects that generate private sector investment and create sustainable jobs.
Deputy PM Nick Clegg said: "The Regional Growth Fund has been a success, helping to create thousands of jobs. Britain is returning to long term growth, but we want to see business booming. I'd encourage all companies to look carefully at how the Fund can help you grow, and get ready to apply in October".
Local enterprise partnership bids will be excluded from this round. The Government says LEPs should bid for Growth Deals and the Local Growth Fund to secure funding to pursue business support priorities.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) will be making available an additional £100 million for the Local Growth Fund in the period 2015 to 2017. This will top up the Local Growth Fund with some additional flexible funding to support the priorities identified in each local enterprise partnership's strategic economic plan.
However, BIS says LEPs may still wish to get involved in the next Regional Growth Fund rounds by supporting or endorsing private sector bids that will help to achieve their priorities for economic growth.
Since the Fund started, 2,900 grants have been made available to SMEs by banks and local enterprise partnerships (LEPs).
"The Regional Growth Fund is playing a pivotal role in supporting business and enterprise. The next round, which opens in October, will help keep the momentum going and complement the long-term approach of our industrial strategy - helping us invest and support key sectors", said Business Minister Michael Fallon.
More details about Round 5 will be available on the Regional Growth Fund web pages in the autumn and the application form will be available on the RGF web page from October 11 2013.
Small and medium-sized businesses who do not want to bid for this much should be aware there are millions of pounds of Regional Growth Fund cash currently available from programmes for eligible projects.
Details can be obtained here: https://www.gov.uk/regional-growth-fund-a-guide-for-small-and-medium-enterprises-smes
Potential applicants can find out more information at regional events in the autumn. There will also be 'expression of interest' days offering guidance to businesses about their applications.
The Regional Growth Fund (RGF), a competitive £3.2 billion fund operating across England from 2011 to 2017, supports projects that are using private sector investment to create economic growth and employment.
The Plymouth University Western Morning News Growth Fund (PWGF2) has made two successful applications to the RGF.
Recent awards totalling £1.37m will unlock an additional £1.8m of private investment that otherwise would not have been made and create 149 jobs in the next 2 years, with the majority occurring in the next 12 months.
These latest 16 awards, on top of the 10 made in April bring the Fund's total investment to date to £2.3m.
And, taken together with the predecessor PWGF1 scheme, the partnership of the University and Western Morning News will have directly supported 46 of the region's small and medium-sized businesses - providing £3.3m of growth capital that will create over 340 jobs in those businesses between January 2012 and March 2015 (with 84 already created).
Around 150 jobs will also be created in other businesses as the companies often have highly localised supply chains - so that growth in one company spurs growth in those that supply it.
Companies unable to apply for Round 5 will be able to apply for Round 6, which will be launched next summer.
Deputy PM Nick Clegg said: "The Regional Growth Fund has been a success, helping to create thousands of jobs. Britain is returning to long term growth, but we want to see business booming. I'd encourage all companies to look carefully at how the Fund can help you grow, and get ready to apply in October".
Local enterprise partnership bids will be excluded from this round. The Government says LEPs should bid for Growth Deals and the Local Growth Fund to secure funding to pursue business support priorities.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) will be making available an additional £100 million for the Local Growth Fund in the period 2015 to 2017. This will top up the Local Growth Fund with some additional flexible funding to support the priorities identified in each local enterprise partnership's strategic economic plan.
However, BIS says LEPs may still wish to get involved in the next Regional Growth Fund rounds by supporting or endorsing private sector bids that will help to achieve their priorities for economic growth.
Since the Fund started, 2,900 grants have been made available to SMEs by banks and local enterprise partnerships (LEPs).
"The Regional Growth Fund is playing a pivotal role in supporting business and enterprise. The next round, which opens in October, will help keep the momentum going and complement the long-term approach of our industrial strategy - helping us invest and support key sectors", said Business Minister Michael Fallon.
More details about Round 5 will be available on the Regional Growth Fund web pages in the autumn and the application form will be available on the RGF web page from October 11 2013.
Small and medium-sized businesses who do not want to bid for this much should be aware there are millions of pounds of Regional Growth Fund cash currently available from programmes for eligible projects.
Details can be obtained here: https://www.gov.uk/regional-growth-fund-a-guide-for-small-and-medium-enterprises-smes
Potential applicants can find out more information at regional events in the autumn. There will also be 'expression of interest' days offering guidance to businesses about their applications.
The Regional Growth Fund (RGF), a competitive £3.2 billion fund operating across England from 2011 to 2017, supports projects that are using private sector investment to create economic growth and employment.
The Plymouth University Western Morning News Growth Fund (PWGF2) has made two successful applications to the RGF.
Recent awards totalling £1.37m will unlock an additional £1.8m of private investment that otherwise would not have been made and create 149 jobs in the next 2 years, with the majority occurring in the next 12 months.
These latest 16 awards, on top of the 10 made in April bring the Fund's total investment to date to £2.3m.
And, taken together with the predecessor PWGF1 scheme, the partnership of the University and Western Morning News will have directly supported 46 of the region's small and medium-sized businesses - providing £3.3m of growth capital that will create over 340 jobs in those businesses between January 2012 and March 2015 (with 84 already created).
Around 150 jobs will also be created in other businesses as the companies often have highly localised supply chains - so that growth in one company spurs growth in those that supply it.
Companies unable to apply for Round 5 will be able to apply for Round 6, which will be launched next summer.
