NEW Grants, Skills & Business Support Schemes for Warwickshire Businesses

The following are new business support schemes for Warwickshire based businesses, which might be of interest....

• Warwickshire County Council Small Capital Grant : offers match funded grants to micro and small businesses with growth plans for capital projects. The scheme will provide support for eligible projects requesting between £5,000 and up to £35,000 of grant (support up to a maximum of 30% of the total eligible costs). Match funding must be cash (rather than ‘in kind’) and from private sector sources.
• Warwickshire Business Energy Advice Service: offers grants, free energy audit, workshops and other resources to eligible Warwickshire businesses. You can access grants between £1,000 and £100,000, with up to 50% intervention rate (meaning businesses will incur 50% of the cost), depending on the amount of carbon saving the project will generate. 
• Future Apprenticeships – Salary Support Programme – If you take on a NEW apprentice in new and emerging technologies such as Vehicle Electrification, Battery Technology, Digital Skills or a standard that supports the Net Zero and Sustainability agenda, you can apply to this fund for £2,000 salary support.
• Apprenticeship Progression payment – If you have any employees that have already completed an apprenticeship with you in the last 3 years and want to complete a further apprenticeship in any field, you can apply to the apprenticeship progression payment programme for a £1000 incentive payment.
• New Direction 50+ (Age category) Skills Investment Fund – This programme is designed to support over 50’s in gaining new knowledge and skills to help them progress within the workplace. It’s available to Warwickshire businesses who are wishing to invest in the progression of a 50+ employee to undertake further training which contributes to the future needs of the business. The programme offers up to £1000 grant funding towards training or a qualification to be delivered by a college or independent training provider. This can be for 3 members of staff, but this has been increased to up to 5 members of staff until 31st March 2024. The Skills Investment Fund can be used for any accredited and non-accredited courses for employees that are 50+.
• Warwickshire Business Resilience and Growth Programme – Supports Warwickshire based businesses over 24 months in all sectors that are looking to recover, build resilience or grow. Delivered by a team of skilled and experienced business advisors, the programme offers 1:1 tailored advice and guidance on business planning/diversifying, financial management, sales & marketing, bespoke grant searches, increasing productivity, and other key areas of the business. If you’re looking to respond to new opportunities, to trade internationally, enter new markets/pivot your business, increase productivity, and more, this programme is for you!

The  Coventry & Warwickshire Growth Hub offers free, impartial advice on business support programmes that could support your business growth. They are publicly funded, so there’s no cost to you to access their support. They will work with you to identify barriers to growth and facilitate introductions to relevant organisations that could help you resolve those issues.