Eligibility
Mitchell Charlesworth is able to establish your eligibility through our grant search service.
Whether or not you qualify for any particular scheme is normally dependant on a number of criteria, which generally speaking includes:
- Location
- Size
- Industry
- Organisation type
- Your proposed purpose (E.g. expenditure/future activity?)
a) Location
The UK is comprised of eight separate regional development agencies with responsibilities for economic development. Each has its own institutions or awarding bodies offering their own schemes (in addition to those offered by the UK national government and the European Commission). The first element in the location criterion is, therefore, the particular region in which the organisation is based.
The second element is whether the business is based in one of the many "special areas" into which the UK is divided. Since these areas are designated by the awarding bodies themselves and are different from each other - indeed, may be drawn up for one particular scheme - it is not easy to ascertain whether or not your business is located within the required boundary. It is necessary to consult the particular awarding body or the requisite map.
b) Size
Certain schemes are restricted to small or medium sized organisations (SMEs). This typically includes companies with less than 250 employees.
Other schemes go further in their defined target definitions and may restrict application to those employing 50, or 20, or 10 employees.
c) Industry or Sector
The industry may affect eligibility on an inclusive or exclusive basis. Exclusive schemes are those which apply generally across industry sectors but specifically exclude a certain industry or sector. Such schemes are not common.
More likely to occur are industry specific (or inclusive) schemes. These are schemes which are established to tackle particular problems or issues affecting an industry sector.
d) Organisation type
Generally, grant schemes are for the following:
- Business (including sole traders, partnerships, limited companies and plc’s)
- Public sector
- Voluntary and community
If you would like further details, please contact your local office or contact Greg Harris direct on T: 0151 423 7500 or email: grants@mitchellcharlesworth.co.uk.
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