Erewash Manufacturing R&D Grant Scheme Applicants Guide
How to apply for the R & D Grant
The Scheme is being operated by Erewash Borough Council and is funded from the Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The aim of the Manufacturing Research & Development Grant Scheme is to support Erewash’s manufacturing businesses to research, develop and pilot new products, processes, or services.
This Manufacturing R&D Grant Scheme is designed to encourage SME businesses to invest in Research and Development in order to enable cutting-edge research and the development of highly skilled people needed to support UK manufacturing innovation and underpin continued and sustainable growth in Erewash. Therefore, this grant is conditional on match-funding being sourced by the applicant.
1. Introduction
1.1 This document is designed to assist applicants to apply for the R&D Grant Scheme. Further Copies of the guidance and application form are available on Erewash Borough Council’s website: https://www.erewash.gov.uk/economic-development-section/manufacturing-business-support.html
Aim
1.2 The aim of the Grant is to support current manufacturing businesses within Erewash to research, develop and pilot new products, processes or services, utilising the Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
The scheme will provide grants of between £5,000 and £20,000 to eligible applicants to:
i. Enable cutting-edge research and development of a new product, service, or process with a view to bringing it closer to the market.
ii. Demonstrate, test/pilot, and validate new products, services, or processes.
Financing
1.3 The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is providing the funding for the Grant scheme through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The Grant is managed and administered by Erewash Borough Council.
Who can apply for a Grant?
1.4 The Grant is open to applicants who are current and operational manufacturing SME businesses based in the borough of Erewash.
1.5 Eligible applicants can apply for a grant of between £5,000 and £20,000 to research, develop and pilot new products, processes, or services.
1.6 Grant money is conditional on the applicant sourcing a minimum of 33% match-funding of the value of the project. See below examples of match-funding calculations:
| Examples: | Example Project 1 | Example Project 2 | Example Project 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Cost of Project | £14,700 | £26,200 | £41,000 |
| Grant Amount Requested | £9,849 | £17,554 | £20,000 |
| Match-funding Required (33% of total project cost) | £4,851 | £8,646 | £21,000 |
2. How you apply for a Grant
For the purposes of this section “you” means “The Applicant” and “us or we” means Erewash Borough Council.
2.1 You can request an application form from the Economic Development team. You complete the form and return it, along with a project proposal, to the team by email or post.
2.2 You will need to provide details of a business bank account into which we can pay the grant by bank transfer, following confirmation of satisfactory grant claim.
2.3 You will submit completed application forms and supporting documents to the Economic Development team by no later than the advertised date.
2.4 A panel will assess the grant applications. If you are confirmed as a Grant recipient, you will receive an official offer of a grant as soon as practicable thereafter.
3. How we will assess your application
3.1 A grant panel will assess your application to check eligibility and the extent to which it meets the aims of the scheme. If your application doesn’t meet the requirements, we will tell you why. We may request further information from you and/or request that an incomplete or incorrect application be resubmitted with changes. If your application meets the scheme’s requirements, it will be considered by a panel appointed by Erewash Borough Council.
3.2 Your application will be judged on its own merits, as to how well it meets the scheme’s aims and eligibility criteria, and its ability to be implemented within the set timescale. We will reserve the right to vary the level of grant or reject an application and will not be obligated to enter discussion on individual applications.
3.3 All grants will be made at the sole discretion of Erewash Borough Council. All grants will be subject to availability of sufficient funding. Erewash Borough Council will not be committed until the formal acceptance of the offer of the grant by the applicant. The Council will consider applications on a first come, first served basis. There will be 5 rounds of awards between March 2023 and March 2025, subject to sufficient funds.
3.4 You need to give details of any grant funding your business has received over the past 3 years. This is required due to subsidy control rules that govern how much public money a business can receive over a given time.
3.5 The council will undertake anti-fraud checks and officers will need to visit the business premises as part of the assessment process.
4. How you will be informed of the grant decision
4.1 We will notify you of our decision in writing. If your application is approved, we will make an offer of grant by sending you an Offer of Grant Letter, which will specify: the project title; what the grant is to be spent on; the date by which the expenditure must be completed and the terms and conditions under which the grant is being offered.
4.2 You will need to accept the offer of a Grant within 10 working days of receiving the Offer of Grant Letter. You will do this by returning to the Economic Development team a copy of the Offer of Grant Letter signed by yourself. If the signed Offer letter is returned after this date, we will consider the offer as withdrawn without right of appeal.
5. What you will be agreeing to if you accept a grant offer
5.1 The Grant can be used to:
- Develop new products, services, or processes. This can include activities aimed at the conceptual definition, planning and documentation of these new products, processes, or services.
- Carry out work comprising prototyping, demonstrating, piloting, testing, and validation of new or improved products, processes, or services in environments representative of real-life operating conditions.
- Develop a commercially usable prototype or pilot which is not necessarily the final commercial product, and which is too expensive to produce for it to be used only for demonstration and validation purposes.
5.2 The Grant cannot be used for:
- Routine changes made to existing products, production lines, manufacturing processes, services, and other operations in progress
- General business or salary costs not related to the approved project (see 5.13 for further details).
- For more information please see Terms and Conditions
5.3 Erewash Borough Council will require you to provide:
- A detailed costings and expenditure breakdown for the amount requested.
- Proof of match-funding.
- A monitoring and evaluation plan.
- A copy of the business’ latest audited accounts.
5.4 Erewash Borough Council must be notified immediately of any variations needed to the agreed offer and before any variation to the application takes place.
5.5 Variations to the agreement must be approved in writing prior to such work commencing. Erewash Borough Council reserves the right to refuse the Grant for changes to the specification which it deems not appropriate for the scheme.
5.6 Approved schemes must be completed by the date specified in the offer letter unless agreed otherwise by Erewash Borough Council. You must inform Erewash Borough Council immediately if the deadline cannot be met. Erewash Borough Council will then consider the most appropriate action but is under no obligation to alter the conditions in the original offer letter and therefore no obligation to pay for works undertaken after the deadline date.
5.7 Grants are discretionary, and Erewash Borough Council reserves the right to withhold payment of the grant in whole or part if any condition of the offer letter has been breached.
5.8 Applicants must hold Employers’ Liability Insurance and Public Liability Insurance
5.9 Payment will be subject to you having satisfactorily complied with all terms and conditions of the scheme.
5.10 Payment of the grant will be made into a business bank account via BACS.
5.11 You will agree for Erewash Borough Council to involve you in publicity, e.g., press releases, case studies and photographs and reports related to the Grant.
5.12 You will agree to take part in any monitoring and produce relevant information as requested.
5.13 You will agree not to use the Grant for: Recurring costs of running a business (including salaries, stock, rent, utility charges, subscriptions, licences, etc); repaying existing loans or debts; the reimbursement of goods/services purchased prior to the date of an offer letter; items subject to hire/lease agreements (other than those items hired for the purposes of fulfilling the grant); and any activities that may bring Erewash Borough Council into disrepute.
5.14 If you are VAT registered your grant will be assessed on the net cost of eligible projects; if you are non-registered it will be on the gross cost. If you do not know whether you are VAT registered you must seek advice from HM Revenue & Customs.
5.15 Erewash Borough Council, its officers and agents shall not at any time be held liable to any person in relation to any loss or damage arising, either directly or indirectly, as a result of compliance by you with these terms and conditions of grant. Award of the grant does not imply that Erewash Borough Council is expressing a view regarding your business or its products/services nor that it accepts responsibility for any debts, or liabilities incurred by you or your business.
5.16 Erewash Borough Council reserves the right to recover all or part of the grant it has provided if:
- You are found to have improperly tried to influence the decision of any officer or Elected Member of Erewash Borough Council in the award of a grant.
- Your business is sold or ceases to trade for whatever reason within a 6-month period from receipt of the grant.
- Your business relocates outside the boundaries of Erewash before 1 April 2025.
- Any information provided in the application form or other correspondence is found to be substantially incorrect, misleading, or incomplete.
- You fail to comply with any of the terms and conditions of this scheme.
5.17 We will check whether you have any outstanding debts owed to Erewash Borough Council. If it is found that such debts exist, Erewash Borough Council reserves the right to withhold grant payment until such debts are cleared.
5.18 We will share data with the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) of the UK Government who have provided the funding for the scheme. Data supplied in this application form will be held on the shared database in accordance with Data Protection legislation.
5.19 We sometimes need to share your information within the Council or with other organisations. We will only share your information when necessary and when the law allows us to. For processing and administering your grant application and payment we may need to share your information with:
- Project partners including the Erewash Partnership,
- In certain cases we may also share your information with other individuals and organisations for the purpose of the prevention and detection of fraud.
Our full privacy notice is available at www.erewash.gov.uk/privacy