An innovative partnership between District and Borough Councils in West Sussex has secured a second round of a £500,000 grant funding pot, to help finance business growth and apprenticeship training across the County.
Adur & Worthing each previously benefited from approximately £71,000 to support micro businesses and small businesses across the area. The scheme, which is administered by the Councils and operated with the Adur & Worthing Business Partnership is expected to have a similar amount of funding available for the second round of the scheme – due to launch in early March.
The first round of the scheme provided up to £2,500 for micro businesses seeking to grow and was used to fund capital purchases, such as new equipment, support with marketing, training or making improvements to their premises. A grant of £1500 was available to small businesses with up to 50 employees taking on an apprentice. Both grants had to be match-funded by the business.
Whilst exact details of the eligibility criteria are yet to be confirmed for the new round of funding, the grant will once again enable small businesses across the area to tap into an easy to access pot of grant funding.
Local consultancy firm, Chapter Three Consulting, was one of the first to be awarded money from the first round of the highly successful scheme. Realising the new GDPR data protection legislation would have a significant impact on organisations across the UK they applied to help fund ISO 27001 accreditation.
Eddie Finch, Director said “ The Small Business Grant has enabled us to complete the ISO27001 process and deliver a comprehensive and cost effective GDPR Review to our clients. We were able to grow our team by one member of staff in 2017 and are looking forward to another member of the team joining us in Q1 of 2018.”
To date the scheme has also supported apprenticeship uptake in the area. Mark Cropley, owner of Whitebox UK Van Accessories and Custom Interiors, was delighted to be able to offer a Level 3 Digital Apprenticeship opportunity to Jerry Hopkins, studying through local training provider, Greater Brighton Metropolitan College.
On Jerry’s input so far, Mark said “Jerry has made a huge difference to our workforce. Whilst he is responsible for the upkeep of our website, in all honesty he mucks in as and where necessary. It’s been great to offer a young person a great start to the world of work”.
Damian Pulford, Managing Director at Sussex Transport and a member of the grant compliance board said “Well done Adur & Worthing Council – Its fantastic news and a great start to the year to have secured another significant amount of grant funding. This additional money will continue to benefit and help in the development of many small local businesses within the Worthing and Adur region”.
Further information on the launch and eligibility criteria for the next round of funding will be announced during February. Information will be made available via the Chamber and other partnership networks, as well as on the Council and AWBP websites.
