Business Start-up Grant

As part of their ongoing commitment to economic development and supporting businesses Powys County council are delivering the Powys Business Start Up Grant which is funded by the UK Governments Shared Prosperity Fund.

The aim of the grant intervention is to strengthen local entrepreneurial ecosystems and support businesses at all stages of their development to start, sustain, grow, and innovate, including through local networks

The aim of the Start Up Fund is to support the creation of new businesses in the county, resulting directly in the creation of jobs, therefore improving the local economy.

The Fund will be a business grant scheme, which will include support towards capital expenditure projects and specialist revenue expenditure (not including ongoing running costs), where new jobs are a created and/or safeguarded because of the financial support.

Grants available between £1,000.00 and £10,000.00

Each grant award will be based on 50% of eligible costs OR a maximum of £5,000 per job created whichever is the lesser. (At least one new job must be created to access the fund) The business owner can be included as a new job.

The minimum grant award is £1,000.00 (based on at least one new job created) and the maximum grant award per business is £10,000.

Two part time jobs are considered as one full time equivalent-FTE should be based on the standard full-time hours of the employer. If you are only creating a part time job the grant will only be paid on a pro rata basis i.e., max of £2500.00 for a part time job.

All jobs created as part of the grant must be claimed within 6 months of the date of final grant payment or 30^th November 2024 whichever is the earliest date.

We encourage that all jobs created with the support of the grant to be paid the Real Living Wage. https://www.livingwage.org.uk/what-real-living-wage

The fund will support new entrepreneurs with their business start-up aspirations by providing financial contribution towards capital expenditure projects and/or specialist revenue expenditure, which will either enable further capital investment projects or a specific business start-up proposal which may involve high revenue costs.

Each business can only apply for the Start Up Fund once but may apply for the Powys Business Growth Fund for separate projects if they grow the business and create further jobs. The outcomes from the start up fund, i.e., commencement of trading and jobs created must be delivered before the application for the growth fund can be considered.

If the business is applying for any other public funds such as the Town Centre grant, the expenditure and outputs cannot be duplicated.

It is important to note that grants are paid retrospectively, applicants must have the financial means to purchase the item(s) in full up front, and then claim the grant value from Powys County Council following the claims process.

Claims must be submitted within 4 months of the offer letter. To support cashflow, the grant team will consider the submission of two claims, but prior agreement must be sought from the Council.

The Powys Business Start Up Grant is funded by UK Government via the Shared Prosperity Fund and delivered by Powys County Council and as such is only available for application to groups or individuals with viable new businesses proposals to be located within Powys and will be operating within or servicing one of the eligible sectors. The grant is only available for prestart businesses (not yet trading)

The grant will be open until the fund is fully allocated.

Support is aimed primarily at new businesses to be operating in or servicing the following growth and foundation sectors:

• Advanced Materials and Manufacturing
• Construction
• Creative Industries
• Energy and Environment
• Finance and Professional Services
• Information Technology and Telecoms
• Life Sciences
• Food & Drink
• Tourism
• Retail
• Care

Applications will however be considered on a case-by-case basis subject to their potential contribution and value to the local economy, e.g. creation of jobs in the county's primary and secondary town centres, rural areas.

The following sectors are ineligible for support: - primary agriculture production, forestry, aquaculture, fishing and statutory services, e.g., Primary health and education.

All expenditure associated to the grant must be purchased and claimed within 4 months of the date of approval letter or no later than 30th September 2024, whichever is earliest. No extensions will be given for claims to be submitted.

The proposed business and associated jobs must be created within 6 months of the final payment of grant or 30th November 2024 whichever is the earliest. Monitoring of the business and jobs created will take place and evidence will be required. Failure to achieve the committed outputs could result in the claw back of grant funds.

Upon giving reasonable notice, Powys County Council reserves the right to monitor and maintain evidence at 1, 3 and 5 years from the date of award of the grant.

The grant will apply to capital and/or revenue expenditure within an approved project and can include:

Capital expenditure:

• Purchase of new or second hand equipment, e.g. plant, machinery, specialist equipment, etc. Please note plant could include items such as forklift trucks, telehandlers, excavators, etc. General vehicles such as vans and cars are not eligible. **see note below re: purchase of second hand items.
• Specialist commercial vehicles, e.g. refrigerated vans, vans for specialised purposes, sign written or fitted out for a specific commercial use may be considered on a case by case basis.
• Purchase and installation of equipment to create or enhance outdoor trading space, e.g., shelters, gazebos, etc. Please note you will need to provide evidence of the relevant permissions if appropriate, i.e., planning permission, licences, etc.
• IT and Telecom hardware if linked directly to the delivery of the project.
• Fixtures and fittings, furniture, and general office equipment etc. as part of a new office or office move.

Specialist revenue expenditure:

• Specialist / technical training (not necessarily accredited)
• Commissioning / Installation of Machinery
• Specialist software
• Production of websites, e-commerce/ online shops, apps, etc.

** websites and ecommerce development associated to the grant must be produced bilingually

• Promotion and Marketing materials (assessed on a case-by-case basis)

** all marketing and promotional material must be produced bilingually.

• Specialist Consultants (assessed on a case-by-case basis)
• Quality Assurance Certification (assessed on a case-by-case basis)
• Charges associated to the delivery of any capital equipment

Ineligible expenditure includes: -

• General revenue expenditure such as, staff costs or any other taxes, hire purchase/lease purchases,
• General Vehicles such as cars and vans
• Premises improvement / minor building works.
• Repair, maintenance, and decoration costs,
• Replacement of existing fixtures and fittings.
• Contingency fees and costs which were committed or spent before the offer and acceptance of the grant.
• Working capital costs such as stock, rent, rates, administration.
• Membership & affiliation to governing bodies, etc.
• Costs of work being carried out as a legal statutory requirement, inc. planning permission.
• Feasibility studies
• If the business is VAT registered, then VAT will be ineligible. VAT will be payable in cases of non-VAT registered companies.
• No expenditure should be incurred before grant approval as the grants cannot be awarded retrospectively. We cannot consider items that have been committed for purchase eg a security deposit without prior consent from the grants team. This will be given case by case consideration.
• Cash purchases will not be considered for grant payment.
• Items purchased through lease purchase, hire purchase, extended credit agreements/finance leases will not be considered for grant funding.
• Items bought via credit cards are eligible but the applicant will need to show that the amount on the card has been paid in full before claiming the grant?.
• Professional fees associated with general business consultants including business plans/ BID writing and any fees associated in completing an application for grants purposes

The purchase costs of second-hand equipment are eligible for grant under the following conditions: -

• The seller of the equipment shall provide a declaration stating its origin and confirm that at no point during the previous seven years has it been purchased with the aid of national or European grants.
• The price of the equipment shall not exceed its market value and shall be less than the cost of similar new equipment, and
• The equipment shall have the technical characteristics necessary for the operation and comply with applicable norms and standards, e.g. Health and Safety

All completed applications will be considered on first come, first served basis until the fund in fully allocated.

Each application will be assessed against the outputs and outcomes of the grant project, i.e.  

• value for money / grant per job created ratio and private sector investment leveraged by the grant as well as the viability of the business plan to support the start-up and sustainable growth plans
• Number of jobs created
• Number of businesses adopting new services or products
• Number of businesses engaging in new markets
• Number of businesses adopting new technologies or processes
• New products to market

The Local Authority has committed to become net zero carbon by 2030 and is keen to promote sustainable business practices through its funding programmes. As part of the application, you will be asked how your business demonstrates a commitment to sustainable development and sign up to the Welsh Government Green Growth Pledge. https://businesswales.gov.wales/green-growth-pledge-0

Initially an applicant is required to submit an expression of interest. 

The expression of interest will then be assessed for eligibility purposes and if approved you will be invited to submit a full application.

Each applicant must complete and return the following:

• Fully completed Application Form,
• Business plan (the business plan should include a section on how the business is implementing sustainable business practices)
• 2 years projected forecasts (cash flow projection)
• Formal written quotes for the items included in the application
• Welsh Language Standards - please see further information below
• Environmental / Sustainability Policy - Applicants will need to outline the ways in which the business is committed to reducing its impact on the environment.

It should be noted that the Shared prosperity Fund Powys Business Start Up Grant is a discretionary grant and is subject to approval by Powys County Council. Each application will be assessed by a panel which meets monthly to consider applications which meet the standard by the given deadline.

Please Note - Applications will need to be proceedable before they are presented to panel so essential requirements such as match funding, planning permission (where applicable), etc. must be confirmed before the grant team will prepare the application for consideration at panel.

Exceptions to these conditions will be given consideration on a case by case basis.

Purchasing goods, services or works

When procuring works, goods and services, applicants are expected to conduct the process in a manner which ensures openness, value for money and fairness and must follow the procurement procedures as they are outlined in this section.

Think Powys First

For purchases below £5,000 please consider 'Think Powys First' when seeking quotations for Goods/Services. Therefore, we encourage you to explore the marketplace to establish if there are any businesses within Powys that can provide the goods / service that you are seeking to purchase and include them in your invites to quote.  Powys County Council and businesses operating within the County have a big role to play in the economic recovery of Powys and local supply development is fundamental.

Procurement Thresholds

The precise procedures to be followed will depend upon the size of the order or contract to be let. Powys County Council operates a graduated set of procedures which recognises the need to lighten administrative requirements for contracts involving smaller amounts.

The Welsh Language Standards Compliance Notice places a statutory requirement on Powys County Council to ensure that all grants it awards has a positive effect on opportunities for persons to use Welsh, and the Welsh language is not treated less favourably than English.

Applicants will be expected to set out their commitments to the Welsh language in their answer to the questions on the application form.

This scheme is covered by the current UK Government Subsidy Control Act (2022).

The total amount of Minimum Financial Assistance (MFA) received over a rolling period of three fiscal years should not exceed £315,000 per business*. If you have received any other financial assistance in the past 3 financial years please describe the support in the box below. It is the responsibility of the applicant to monitor the level of MFA received; you will be asked to declare that this has not been exceeded in the event of an offer being made. [* The MFA financial threshold applies at company group level.]

All bids must also consider how they will deliver in line with subsidy control as per UK Government

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/subsidy-control-regime

Where applicants do not adequately demonstrate that the proposed project is compliant under the UK Subsidy Control Regime it may be considered ineligible, and your application could be rejected.

It should be noted that the Shared prosperity Fund Powys Business Start Up Grant is a discretionary grant and is subject to approval by Powys County Council.

The grant will be recovered should the business cease to trade, relocate or the property sold on within 5 years of award or if the creation of business or jobs are not achieved within the specified period.

Limited Companies must use the business bank account to purchase all the items associated to the grant. It is encouraged for Sole Traders and partnerships that all goods purchased in relation to the grant are purchased using the business bank account.

It is important to note that grants are paid retrospectively, so applicants must have the financial means to purchase the item(s) in full up front, and then claim the grant value from Powys County Council.

As grants are paid retrospectively, should the application be successful, the grant money is paid direct into the bank account of the applicant business. This is based on receipt or evidence of purchase and defrayment i.e. original or on-line printed bank statements and original invoices to confirm expenditure. Screen shots of individual transactions are not acceptable.

Any deviations to the application in terms of suppliers and expenditure must be requested to the grant team prior to purchase. Failure to seek approval may result in the grant not being paid for those items.

Photographic evidence of all items associated to the grant will be required to support the claim. In some instances, a site visit will be required.

The applicant must accept the terms and conditions of the grant by signing and returning the Shared prosperity Fund Powys Business Start Up Grant Offer agreement within 30 days from receipt. All expenditure associated to the grant must be completed within 4 months of the date of Grant Offer agreement.

The job(s) associated to the projects must be achieved within 6 months of the final payment of grant or March 2025 whichever is the earliest date. Monitoring of the business and jobs created will take place and evidence will be required. Failure to achieve the committed outputs could result in the claw back of grant funds.

For all grant purposes, monitoring of the claim and evidence will take place with prior notice at 1, 3 and 5 years from the date of award of the grant.

Should the project not proceed within the period stipulated in the grant offer agreement , the offer of grant will automatically lapse. An extension of the grant offer period can be made, provided that a request is made in writing. Any variation to the Terms & Conditions as set out in the Grant Offer agreement must be requested and agreed by the applicant to the grant team and authorised by the council.

Cash purchases will not be considered for grant payment. 

Items purchased through lease purchase, hire purchase, extended credit agreements/finance leases will not be considered for grant funding.

Items purchased with credit cards are eligible, but applicant will need to evidence the transaction on their credit card bill.

** Limited companies must use the business credit cards to purchase items associated to the grant instead of personal cards of the director(s).

Grants will not be offered or paid if the business or applicant is in arrears with any payment to any of the participating local authorities operating the scheme.

Funding shall be withheld and/or, insofar as payment has been made, the grant recipient shall repay funding either in whole or in part, including if:

1. there has been an overpayment of funding;
2. during its economic life, the project undergoes substantial change defined as being used for purposes other than those specified in the application, or, having a change of owner without notifying Powys County Council.

The economic life is the period up to 5 years from date of the final payment of grant and repayment of funding will be required as follows:

• Within 1 year - Funding to be repaid in full
• Within 2 years - 80% of funding to be repaid
• Within 3 years - 60% of funding to be repaid
• Within 4 years - 40% of funding to be repaid
• Within 5 years - 20% of funding to be repaid
• After 5 years - No funding to be repaid

The above are minimum repayment requirements.

If the jobs are not created and/or safeguarded, then the County Council has the right to reclaim the grant in part or in full.

The grant must be repaid in full on demand if: -

• the applicant is found to have made any misrepresentation in connection with the application.
• the applicant has breached the provision of condition above.
• the assets and property (if applicable) are not fully re-instated within 12 months of any occurrence giving rise to loss of or damage to the property.

Before we ask you to make a full application, you will need to submit an expression of interest which outlines your business proposal and costs. You will need the following information:

• Your details
• Business details and description of its main activity
• Indicative project costs
• Details of any additional funding / finance

Expressions of Interest Form