A new funding scheme has £200,000 on offer to help small and medium businesses in Stafford Borough grow.
More than £320,000 has been handed out to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the borough over the last few months after the first round of funding from the Business Innovation Grant (BIG) was announced earlier this year.
Stafford Borough Council has now launched BIG2, with SMEs invited to apply for grants between £10,000 and £25,000 to help develop new products and services.
The fund is earmarked for businesses across the borough who receive most of their income from sales to other businesses.
It covers a large variety of sectors including manufacturing, construction, agriculture, and professional services.
Examples of eligible expenditure include website design, digital projects, a one-off £2,000 apprenticeship grant and advertising, PR and publicity to launch a new product or service.
Councillor Ant Reid, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Planning, said: “We have some tremendous small and medium businesses in the borough and we want to help them grow and thrive.
“I’d encourage any business looking for extra funds to grow their enterprise, bring forward new ideas, improve the service they are already delivering, or promote themselves to a wider audience, to start the ball rolling by applying for a grant.”
He added: “Whether you pursue this grant bid or not, if you are a local enterprise please do get in touch with the team and learn more about the support and advice available to you.”
The Business Innovation Grant is funded as part of the £4.5 million the local authority secured from government after successfully putting forward schemes to help regeneration, climate change and culture.
Business advice is available from the council as part of the application process. A series of Going for Growth workshops are being delivered by experts ETC at Aston Marina where advice on applying for grants is one of the topics covered.
The fund will close on 31 December.
For more information, and to apply, click here, contact a member of the council’s Business Growth Team via [email protected] or call 01785 619584.
