The UKSPF Herefordshire Research and Development Innovation Fund is a revenue grant scheme that has been funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
The aim is to help Herefordshire businesses to:
- Increase productivity
- Access new markets
- Develop new products / processes and services leading to new employment opportunities and a more resilient and competitive business community
Grants of between £5000 and £24,999 are available to Herefordshire businesses to:
- Enable the procurement of external support and revenue items or activity to undertake research and development and innovation projects and
- Develop and adopt innovative new processes, products and services
The grant can contribute up to 80% of the eligible costs.
Outputs and outcomes
Projects must be able to demonstrate and evidence at least one of the outputs listed below by 31 March 2025:
- New or improved products or services provided
- New to the business technologies or processes adopted
- New jobs (employed directly by the business) created
- Jobs safeguarded
- Improved productivity
Who can apply
- Businesses physically trading and located in Herefordshire
- Businesses that have been actively trading for more than 6 months
- All sectors, excluding businesses involved in primary production (farmers)
Who is not eligible to apply
- Businesses involved in primary production (farmers). Funding for this type of business is available from Defra Funding for farmers
- Start-up businesses (trading actively for less than six months)
- Public authorities
- Town and parish councils
- Voluntary groups
- Social enterprises that are not involved in economic activities
- Businesses where the majority of income comes from public sources due to subsidy control constraints
- Franchise businesses / national chains
- Non-economic activities
- Gambling/betting establishments
- Any business activity that is illegal or deemed unsuitable for public support by Herefordshire Council
- Businesses whose registered address is in Herefordshire but no trading activity is in Herefordshire
What the grant or funding is for
Revenue grant funding is available to pay for external costs such as consultants/expert technical advice and other revenue costs. This can include but is not limited to:
- Specialist support for developing and testing new products or services including prototyping
- Support for acquiring and protecting intellectual property/trademarks
- External market research/market analysis
- Product launch
- Feasibility studies
- Designing of new software systems, App development
- Access to testbed facilities
- Clinical trials costs
- Attending trade events (Department of Business and Trade approved events)
- Costs associated with the commercialisation of ideas
- Process improvements – designing and implementing new operation processes
- Data analysis projects
What the grant or funding cannot be used for
This list is not exhaustive.
- Capital items including the purchase of land, buildings, vehicles
- Day-to-day running costs, for example, consumables, stationery, employee salaries
- Stock items
- Training
- Corporate responsibility items – health and safety
- Items purchased through hire purchase agreements
How much you can apply for
Revenue grants are available for businesses, for up to 80% of the total eligible project costs.
- Minimum grant £5,000 – project costs must be at least £6250
- Maximum grant £24,999 – project costs must be at least £31,249 (a higher grant may be considered in exceptional circumstances)
Deadline
Full applications to be submitted by:
- Round 1 full applications close: midnight 31 August 2024
- Round 2 (subject to budget availability) full applications close: midnight 30 September 2024
- Round 3 (subject to budget availability) full applications close: midnight 31 October 2024
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