Central Bedfordshire Recovery and Innovation Grant Scheme

Page last updated 21 February 2022, 12:30pm

The Recovery and Innovation Grant Scheme is now closed for applications. If you have any questions, please email [email protected].

The Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) funded Recovery and Innovation Grant Scheme aims to provide support to enterprises across Central Bedfordshire that have been negatively affected by Covid-19 and are looking at ways to recover and innovate following the pandemic.

Examples of severe negative impact could include:

• Significant drop in turnover (either in comparison to pre-Covid years or compared to forecasts).
• Considerable drop in number and/or value of sales/orders/bookings.
• Major issues with the cost/availability of materials.
• Considerable difficulty retaining and/or recruiting staff.

INNOVATION

There are grants of up to £20,000 available to support SMEs severely impacted by Covid-19 restrictions. The grant funding must be used to help the enterprise to become more innovative. This could include product, service or process innovation within the business, such as:

• Introducing a new product to the business or the market
• Introducing a new service to the business or the market
• Introducing a new process to the business

WHO IS IT FOR?

To be eligible for grant funding, applicants must meet the aims of the Grant Scheme (above), and the following essential criteria:

• Be an SME (your company (or group) must employ less than 250 people and your turnover is less than €50m or annual balance sheet less than €43m).
• Be a trading enterprise, or engaged in business activity (e.g. actively preparing to open/reopen), (and provide financial history, ideally the most recent filed accounts). Fully constituted businesses in liquidation, dissolved, struck off or subject to a striking-off notice are not eligible.
• Be registered in the UK and have a base in the Central Bedfordshire Local Authority area (use this online tool to check if you are unsure https://www.gov.uk/find-local-council).
• Be ready to invest or expand in the Central Bedfordshire area.
• Must not be an undertaking in difficulty.
• Repeat/multiple applications, including from linked companies will not be considered.

The Recovery and Innovation Grant Scheme is now closed for applications. If you have any questions, please email [email protected].

For more information , please click on the buttons below to download the Guidance Notes and Assessment Criteria.

Please note that the number of grants available is strictly limited, and we are anticipating being able to award approximately 20 grants in total. Applications will be dealt with on a first-come, first-serve basis, based on the order in which they arrive in our inbox.

Guidance Notes

Assessment Criteria