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Investment Grants

Investment Grants

Grant for Business Investment (GBI)

What is GBI?

GBI is designed for businesses that are looking to make a capital investment but need financial help to go ahead. This support helps fund new investment projects that lead to long-term improvements in competitiveness, employment, productivity and skills. To qualify, investment projects must meet certain criteria. The scheme criteria relate to location, need, the size and type of your business, the nature and size of your investment, viability, and the quality of your project (particularly in terms of productivity and skills).

 

Who qualifies for GBI?

Most manufacturing businesses are eligible to apply, as are businesses in service sectors that supply a national rather than local market. Applicants can be companies, partnerships or sole traders.

Financial help can be used to:

  • Launch a new business.
  • Expand, modernise or reorganise your existing business.
  • Take a new product, service and process from the development stage to production.
  • Upgrade your existing business by introducing technological or other innovatory improvement into your production or service process.

It is important that your project involves maximising potential opportunities in niche, fast growing or export markets. The EU restricts aid to certain industry sectors, in addition restrictions apply to sectors which are already fully served and there is an over capacity.

 

How much GBI can I apply for?

The amount of support you will be awarded will depend on the specific needs of your project, the quality of the project and its impact on productivity and skills. Grants range from £10,000 up to several million depending on the size of your capital spend. GBI is aimed at supporting SMEs, however large businesses may be able to secure funding if they are based in an assisted area.

Grant intervention rates typically range from 10%-35%. This rate is dependent on two main factors:

  • Location - The UK is divided geographically into ‘Tiers’ or ‘Assisted Areas’ based upon EU guidelines. The Tier in which your business is based will have an impact on the size of grant that can be achieved.
  • Size of your business – this condition is in line with the EU SME qualification.

If your company is based in either Wales or Scotland then a similar scheme is run by both the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Government.  In Wales the scheme is called the Single Investment Fund (SFI) and Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) in Scotland. Both of these schemes follow the same approach with similar criteria as GBI in England.