Kickstart Grant Scheme Update

Published on 18th September 2020

Further to our previous update regarding the Kickstarter Grant Scheme, the grants for both Cornwall and Isles of Scilly (COIS) and Heart of the South West (HOSW – covering Devon and West and South Somerset) were paused to applications after receiving a significant amount of applications. It is expected that both regions will still have around half of the grants remaining to allocate once the first tranche of applications have been processed.

HOSW are expected to announce their plans to reopen for new applicants this week. If you could benefit from the grant to assist with your recovery from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and meet the eligibility criteria, we would highly recommend that you prepare your application now so that it is ready for when the schemes reopen. The grant applications will be considered on a first come first served basis.

West of England Growth Hub that covers Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset are yet to open to applicants. If you believe you have a project that could qualify for the grant, we would again recommend that the project and draft application is ready for when scheme opens as we expect demand will be high.

Swindon and Wiltshire Growth Hub applications opened Monday 14 September.

Please note that applications from businesses operating in primary production will not accepted, which will exclude many agricultural businesses.

We would suggest reviewing the criteria for each region, links to which are below.

You must provide a quotation for the goods or services you intend to purchase should your application be successful. (This can include a screenshot of an online catalogue if applicable). Some projects that we could assist with and could qualify for the grant funding are:

Management Information Systems

We would provide a full review of your current management information systems and provide recommendations on how these could be improved to assist your business to recover from coronavirus. This could include training and/or implementing cloud software, interpreting the data and generating bespoke management reports.

Financial Projections

The impact of coronavirus will require many organisations to revaluate their business models. Producing new or flexing current financial projections are key for businesses to identify key changes to the business and any potential cashflow issues. This would for example identify potential funding requirements or reductions in sales that need to be addressed for the sustainability of the business.

Research and Development (R&D) Tax Relief Review

R&D tax relief is frequently overlooked by businesses. If you believe your business advances knowledge or capability in a field of science or technology or completes projects and activities that help to resolve scientific or technological uncertainties, you may qualify for R&D relief. We would be able to review your activity, produce a report and make a claim for R&D tax relief. If you qualify for R&D tax relief, every £1 spent on qualifying expenditure is uplifted to £2.30 when calculating corporation tax so can provide a lucrative source of funding.

Kickstart Grant Scheme

To recap, the grants range from £1,000 to £5,000 and are to provide businesses with support in recovering from Covid-19.

The funding is offered for:

• Specialist professional advice such as accountants, HR experts and solicitors.
• The purchase of minor items required to support businesses to adopt new technology, or adapt existing technology, in order to deliver business activity.

The grants are administered through the Local Economic Partnerships (LEP) and each LEP will have its own specific scheme (some LEPs have a maximum grant of £3,000). The grants cover 100% of qualifying expenditure.

Businesses will be expected to demonstrate how they have been adversely impacted by Covid-19.

The LEPs based in the South West are:

Cornwall and Isles of Scilly (COIS):

Further information on how to apply is available via the COIS website.

FAQs are available here.

Heart of the South West (HOSW):

HOSW covers Devon and West and South Somerset. Grants in this LEP are currently capped at £3,000. Further information on how to apply can be found at their website.

FAQs are available here.

West of England (WOE):

WOE Growth Hub covers Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset. WOE is yet to provide detail of the grant, but the grants are expected to be aimed at increasing business resilience and supporting visitor economy businesses affected by the pandemic. Grants will be a maximum of £3,000 and applications will be open until 28 February 2021. Further information will be provided here.

Dorset:

Further information should appear here when available.

Swindon & Wiltshire (SW):

Applications open Monday 14 September. Businesses in the SW LEP area should register their interest by emailing [email protected] or by calling 01793 698005. Further details can be found here.

If you have any queries or would like to discuss a potential application, please do not hesitate to contact your local Simpkins Edwards office.