News: Additional Grant Funding from MSDC

Message to all Mid Sussex Business Associations received 22/10/2020

***

Good afternoon everyone,

Hope all is well.

Firstly, a quick introduction as I have recently joined the Economic Development team in the last few weeks working alongside Ali Chafekar, Will Hawkins and Nicola Amofa and we look forward to saying a proper ‘hello’ at some point.

In the meantime, we wanted to let you know about upcoming additional grant funding we are providing as a District Council.

The first of these are the Covid-19 Recovery Grants for local businesses, community groups and voluntary organisations – here’s a link to the press release issued this week:

L I N K to the Press Release.

Mid Sussex District Council grants of £1,000 to £5,000 will be available to help local businesses and organisations through the Covid-19 crisis.

Applications will be considered for costs and/or projects which relate to:

• Emergency Response – Additional costs, above and beyond normal running costs, whilst operating under legal restrictions because of Covid-19 which prevents normal service delivery; or example maintaining contact with clients and customers and delivering Covid-19 support e.g. to vulnerable and shielded groups.
• Return to Pre-Covid Provision – Additional costs associated with reopening and return to Business as Usual in a Covid-19 safe way; for example new equipment, staff training, physical works to create a Covid-19 secure working environment.
• New Service or Business Innovation – Adapting the business or organisation to new delivery or service provision; for example a shift to new digital provision or other innovative ways of working.

Key dates:

• Applications Open – 30th October 2020
• Applications Close – 30th November 2020
• Confirmation of successful applications will be made after 14th December 2020.

In addition, we will soon be opening applications for our Micro Business Grants, criteria remain similar to last year with a slight change giving priority to new applicants in the first instance. The scheme supports growth of micro businesses across the District by offering two types of grant to businesses.

• ‘Project Grant’ which offers a maximum of £2,000 which can be used to support a new project or initiative which will result in business growth
• ‘Apprenticeship Grant’ £1,500 to support the recruitment of an apprentice.

The total grant fund available this year for the scheme is £71,000.  To be eligible businesses must be based in Mid Sussex and have fewer than 10 employees (this includes both part-time and full-time staff).  For the Project Grants, the business must also be able to commit a minimum contribution of 50% towards the cost of the project (this is not required for the Apprenticeship Grants).  We will advise confirmation of the launch date shortly.

Finally in early 2021, we will be administering support to independent retail businesses via funding obtained through the Strategic Investment Fund.  Funding will support a combination of retail workshops, bespoke training and retail grants for shop front and store improvements.  As promotion of the scheme gets underway in the next few months we will be back in touch to provide further details about this.

We wanted to notify you in advance of the different funding becoming available.  In particular, in regard to the recently approved Covid-19 Recovery Grants, as quick access to these funds is important the turnaround time is short.  While applications are not yet open if you receive enquiries in the meantime feel free to direct them to contact us via email at economicdevelopment@midsussex.gov.uk where we can register their interest.

Thank you once again for your ongoing support and we look forward to being able to continue to support our businesses together in these challenging times.

Warmest regards,

Caroline Duffy, Business Development Officer, Planning Policy and Economic Development

Caroline.Duffy@midsussex.gov.uk

www.midsussex.gov.uk

Working together for a better Mid Sussex