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Criteria & Eligibility
Geographical Location
All projects must be within an eligible geographical area. It is the project address which determines your area:
- SMEs are eligible to apply in Tier 3 which covers the entire South East region. Definition of an SME.
- Large enterprises are eligible to apply in Tier 2, Assisted Areas, which consist of all 23 wards in Thanet and 3 wards in Dover (Eastry, Sandwich and Whitfield). To check which ward your business is located in please use the postcode checker on the National Statistics Website.
Project costs
Grants are awarded as a percentage of eligible project costs. The costs covered are at the discretion of SEEDA, but could include:
- Equipment and machinery (for equipment and machinery acquired under a lease, the financial lease should include an obligation to purchase the asset when the lease expires)
- Building refurbishment, fit-out and new build costs (please note that proposals that relate purely to premises moves are unlikely to be suitable)
- New lease or mortgage interest costs for the project period + 3 years for SMEs or 5 years for large enterprises
- Some intangible assets may also be eligible
Or:
- 2 years wage costs of some key, skilled jobs created directly as a result of the project
There may also be additional aid available for:
- Start up businesses owned and actively managed by female entrepreneurs
- Training and research and development activities in Tier 2 areas
Other Criteria
All grants are discretionary. There is no automatic entitlement but the following criteria should be met:
- PRODUCTIVITY: all proposals will be required to meet industry productivity levels. Gross Value Added will be calculated from the business figures submitted to measure productivity. Productivity targets are to be reached before the total grant is paid.
- NATIONAL & REGIONAL BENEFIT: applicants should serve more than a local market. Local consumer type activities such as local retailers, hotels, care homes etc are not eligible. Projects should contribute positive benefits to the regional and national economy.
- FINANCIAL NEED: applicants must demonstrate that a grant is necessary to enable their proposal to go ahead as planned. If work has started or money has been committed before a formal offer of grant is made, the project is not eligible for support.
- QUALITY: the scheme focuses on sustainable, high quality business proposals furthering the use of modern machinery and equipment, in order to increase productivity to benefit the South East region and to fit with SEEDA's Regional Economic Strategy.
- JOBS & SKILLS LEVELS: securing sustainable jobs or creating new skilled jobs is an important criteria. The number and skill level of existing or new jobs will be taken into account. All jobs must be at least NVQ level 2 or equivalent on average.
- VIABILITY: business proposals must be viable and plan to increase productivity. The grant should enable the business to become sufficiently profitable to sustain itself and secure skilled employment without further subsidies.
- OTHER FUNDING: the majority of funding for the project should come from private sources, e.g. the applicant, bank borrowings, lease finance, equity and loan finance. Previously received public sector support to the company or to any of its directors (when in other companies) should be declared in all cases.
What is not eligible?
Most sectors of industry are eligible for support, however there are some exceptions:
- the European Commission restricts aid to certain sectors such as the steel industry, coal, synthetic fibres, primary agriculture, fisheries and shipbuilding
- Charitable organisations (unless of a commercial nature)
- Education sector (Schools/Colleges) and Hospital projects
- Areas of the UK economy which are already fully served as they would lead to overcapacity and displacement of jobs
- Projects which offer purely a local consumer-type service, for example retail or restaurants, would be considered ineligible
Proposals to move premises, with little expenditure on capital equipment (other than fit-out costs) are very unlikely to obtain a grant in Tier 3. There may be exceptions to this in Tier 2, dependent entirely upon SEEDA’s view of the proposal.
