Business Growth Grant – Worcester City

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The aim of the scheme is to help Worcester based businesses which have been established for more than one year and need assistance to help them develop. Only businesses which show specific promise and clearly demonstrate how the award will enable them to grow their business, i.e. develop new products, access new markets or create new jobs will be considered for a grant.

Businesses, that have been trading longer than 12 months, which are located within Worcester City Council area can apply for a grant of up to £2,500 (home based) or up to £5,000 (commercial premises). Minimum grant application value is £1,000

Please ensure that you have read our Guidance Notes and Eligibility Criteria before completing the application form.

Please confirm you have read the Guidance Notes and Eligibility Criteria*

I confirm

Please confirm the business/organisation operates from a commercial premises within Worcester City Council district. Select your postcode area:*

WR1

WR2

WR3

WR4

WR5

Other

Please note, postcodes starting with these prefixes may not necessarily be in Worcester City Council district. You can check on Worcester My Local Area or email the Economic Development team

You are not eligible for this grant because the business premises is not within the Worcester City Council boundary. Please contact your local council. You will be unable to submit this form.

Please complete the questions on the following pages – those marked with a * (Asterix) are mandatory. Documents can be uploaded at the end of the application form – details of what documents are required can be found under Application Process on p4 of Guidance Notes and Eligibility Criteria.

Business/Organisation Name*

MAIN CONTACT

Full name*

Position in business*

Business Address

You will be required to submit evidence of business address at the end of your application.

Business address 1*

Business Address 2

Business Town/City*

Business County*

Business Postcode*

Business telephone number.*

Mobile number*

Email*

Website (if applicable)

Home Address

Home Address 1*

Home Address 2

Home City/Town*

Home County*

Home Postcode*

How did you hear about the Worcester City Council business Growth Grant grant?*

Worcester City Council

Worcestershire Growth Hub

BIPC/Libraries

Word of mouth

Web search

Social media

Other

Other (Please specify)*

BUSINESS DETAILS

Legal Structure*

Limited company

Sole trader

Partnership

Community Interest Company

Other

Other (please specify)*

For limited company, Limited Liability Partnership or Community Interest Company

Registered address*

Company registration number*

Name of Owners/Directors*

If your business is a branch of, or is affiliated to, any other parent company, please provide details (including Business name and Headquarters address)*

If not, please put ‘not applicable’ in the text box

Sole traders or partnerships information

Unique Tax Reference (UTR)*

You will be required to submit correspondence from HMRC to verify the Unique Tax Reference at the end of your application.

Name of Owners/Partners*

Is your business VAT registered?*

Yes

Please give your VAT registration number*

Do you have a business/’trading as’ bank account?*

Yes

Please give bank account name*

You will be required to set up a business/’trading as’ bank account before the grant can be paid, if your application is successful.

BUSINESS DETAILS

Please complete this section if you are currently in or moving into business premises that are liable for business rates *

Business Property Address Details

Property Address 1

Property Address 2

Property City/Town

Property County

Property Poscode

Business Rates Account Number (if known)

Are you the owner or lessee of the property?*

Owner

Lessee

Not applicable

How long has the lease left to run?*

Additional business details

Nature of business*

Brief history of the business (including start date and turnover)*

You will be required to submit a business plan, cashflow forecast and latest accounts at the end of your application.

Do you work 30 hours/week minimum in the business?*

Yes

Please provide further reasons why*

Is this your only source of employment and business that you are involved in?*

Yes

Provide further information what other employment/business that you are involved in.*

Number of employees (including owner/applicant).

Number of full time employees*

Should include existing and planned

Number of part time employees*

Should include existing and planned

Number of casual employees*

Should include existing and planned

Have you, your existing business or a business which you have owned of been a Partner/Director of, received a grant from a public body within the last 5 years?*

Yes

Please provide details*

Has your business been trading less than 3 years?*

Yes

Have you received business advice through the Enterprising Worcestershire scheme?*

Yes

We may refer you to this scheme before assessing your application.

Project/Investment Details

Please provide details of your proposed project/investment including a list of items you would use the grant towards.*

You will be required to submit comparable quotes (written quotes or screenshots) for each item that you intend to purchase with the grant money at the end of your application. Please use the spreadsheet to summarise the quotes. Please save the spreadsheet to your device and upload at the end of the application form.

Please advise how your proposed project/investment would help you achieve your growth plans and the measurable differences to your business.*

Proposed start date of project*

Proposed end date of project*

Total cost of project/investment*

How do you propose to match fund?*

Grant funding applied for*

£2,500 for home-based businesses or £5,000 for businesses in a commercial property – minimum grant application value is £1,000.

Please explain why you need the grant money for your project/investment*

Please advise if your project/investment meets any of the following criteria*

Job creation (in addition to the applicant)

Safeguarding jobs (in addition to the applicant)

Occupancy of vacant commercial premises

Expansion and/or investment in current commercial premises

Spend with local businesses – grant expenditure and/or ongoing business expenditure

Increase opportunities to supply local businesses and consumers

Supporting the business’s environmental sustainability e.g. energy efficiency improvements

Please provide further information for the criteria selected*

Do you have the necessary permissions, licences or certification to set up/operate your business?*

Yes

e.g. public liability insurance, planning permission, listed building consent, building regulations, advertising consent, licencing

Please advise what you have and submit the documents at the end of your application.*

Please advise what you still need to do.*

As part of the appraisal process, we will advise of any other permissions required. If the business does not hold public liability insurance or other required permissions at the time of the application, then these will be a condition of the grant offer, if your application is successful.

Fair Employer

Do you consider your business to be a “Fair Employer”?*

Yes

Not applicable as I do not employ staff

Please provide further information to demonstrate this (see examples under Fair Employer section of the criteria)*

Are you planning to implement any measures in the next 12 months?*

DECLARATION

Please read the Declaration document

Please confirm that you have read the contents of the declaration document and agree to it’s contents*

I confirm

This must be completed by the person named in the ‘Contact details’ section of the application form

Your name*

Position in business/organisation*

Date*

You can use the date picker, or type the date in. The date format should be dd/mm/yyyy

Business Subsidy Allowance declaration

Please read the Business Subsidy Allowance guidance before completing the fields below.

You are applying for assistance under the Minimum Financial Assistance Allowance - this allowance is the equivalent of £315,000 Special Drawing Rights, to a single economic actor over any period of three fiscal years and includes any subsidy previously received as de minimis aid or as Small Amounts of Financial Assistance under Article 3.2(4) of the TCA from any subsidy awarding body.

If you have received any business subsidies from the public sector over the last three years, please provide details below for each subsidy received. *

I confirm that I have previously received the following subsidies granted as de minimis aid or as Small Amounts of Financial Assistance under Article 3.2(4) of the TCA during the current and two previous fiscal years from any subsidy awarding body:

Business Subsidy Allowance

Body providing the subsidy

Value of Assistance (in £)

Date Subsidy awarded

You can use the date picker, or type the date in. The date format should be dd/mm/yyyy

Allowance threshold used

Minimum Financial Assistance Allowance £315,000

COVID 19 Business Grants Allowance £1,900,000 (this applies for any COVID-19 grants received)

Nature of subsidy/aid

Please use the + (plus) button above to give us details of additional subsidies you may have received.

Declaration (Select all that apply)*

I declare that the amount of business subsidy received by the applicant company/organisation over the last three years is as stated above and does not exceed the Minimum Financial Assistance Allowance threshold of £315,000.

I declare that the applicant company/organisation has not received a business subsidy over the last 3 years

Date*

You can use the date picker, or type the date in. The date format should be dd/mm/yyyy

Name*

Position*

Company or organisation*

Application submission

Please upload the following documents with your application *

Evidence of business address*

Upload

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e.g. bank statement for the bank account used for the business, rental agreement, recent rent invoice, utility statement, business rates statement, council tax statement (if business operates from home address)

Sole traders/partnerships – correspondence from HMRC to verify the Unique Tax Reference*

Upload

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Business plan and cashflow forecast*

Upload

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Previous year’s financial accounts*

Upload

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Quotes (written or screenshots) for each item that intend to purchase with the grant money.*

Upload

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The number of quotes required are as follows: Item value less than £1,000: 1 quoteItem value £1,000 - £5,000: 2 quotesItem value more than £5,000: 3 quotes

Copy of public liability insurance certificate/insurance schedule*

Upload

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Other documents relevant to permissions to set up/operate your business e.g. planning permission, advertising consent for signage, licences

Upload

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If you have any difficulties in uploading documents, then please send by email to economy@worcester.gov.uk

Please can you send an email to economy@worcester.gov.uk after you have submitted your application so that we can look out for it and confirm receipt.