Is
my business eligible for "free" government grants?
Typically if you have less than 250 employees, are not majority
owned by a firm with over 250 employees and have not received
funding recently you will be eligible for grants.
Many funds are limited to <50 employees and <7M Euro
annual turnover.
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Are
these grants really “free”?
There are literally hundreds of grants available with various
rules. Very few grants are 100% free and most require some
form of matching contribution from the company typically in
the form of labour, overheads as well as some cash. You must
be prepared to offer some matching contribution to be successful.
The
percentage of matching contribution generally raises as the
grant get higher. For instance a £50k government grant
may require an additional 40% contribution by the company
in labour or materials. A 150k grant may require a 65% contribution
level.
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What
constitutes matching contributions for grant programmes?
It is not generally cash but labour or materials. If capital
equipment is needed for the project the government generally
only pays a percentage of the costs.
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Why
use a consultant to apply for grants?
On
smaller grants applications for training, subsidised consultancy,
export advisory services are straight forward and are relatively
easy to do “in house”. However on more substantial
grants for research and development the situation is very
different. The
application procedure and forms can be complicated and the
eligibility for types of grants can be difficult to understand
and will take several weeks to write up properly.
An
experienced grant consultant will also have a good understanding
of what each grant programme is targeting and its selection
criteria improving your chances.
Grants
over £20k are almost always awarded on a competitive
basis with only the best applications receiving awards. Having
an experienced grant consultant will help your chances.
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Can
you help me get funding for my business?
This is Exon’s speciality we have obtained over £500k
in non repayable grants for businesses and have assisted with
obtaining soft loans and private equity.
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How
long will it take to get a government grant?
Is typically dependent on the size of the grant. Normally
will take 4-6 months from initial consultation to identification
of relevant grant programme, collecting necessary business
and project information from you, writing the proposal and
filling application forms, answering queries and having meetings
with government officials, accepting award and getting the
money into your account.
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How
much time will I need to invest to get a government grant
with Exon’s help?
We
generally need 3 or 4 meetings with you during the grant application
process and you will need to supply us with as much information
as you have available. We treat all information strictly confidential
but you must supply accounts and financial information. We
have confidentiality forms that we jointly sign to protect
your commercial information and detailed patentable ideas.
We
have a tick sheet to help you collect the required information
and for us to gauge how much time it will take.
It
is our experience that a well written grant proposal will
take Exon 3-8 weeks to write. Because most of our fees are
on success we only take on projects we feel have a good chance
of going through and we need your commitment of time and availability
to give it the best shot of success.
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SMART
grants have changed for the better!!
In
July 2003 the DTI substantially increased the SMART grant
programme and renamed it the Grant for Research & Development.
There are 4 types of grant now available:
- Micro
Projects - simple low cost development projects lasting
no longer than 12 months. Up to £20,000 is available
to businesses with fewer than 10 employees
-
Research Projects - planned research or critical investigation
lasting between 6 and 18 months. Up to £75,000 is
available to businesses with fewer than 50 employees
- Development
Projects - shaping of industrial resea rch into a pre-production
prototype of a technologically innovative product or industrial
process. Up to £200,000 is available for businesses
with fewer than 250 employees
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What
are Exon’s fees?
On
grant proposals
After our free initial consultation we will review your ideas
and find the most relevant grant for this. We normally charge
a small up front retainer to cover expenses and establish
a trading relationship with the vast majority of our fees
earned as a percentage of the funding obtained. The percentage
varies depending on the size of the grant, the amount of information
we have to work with and our judgement of what your chances
of success are. After our initial consultation we will provide
a written quotation detailing the specifics.
There
are no guarantees of funding, but to date we have an excellent
track record. As we work on a success basis we are very selective
of what projects we take on and consequently have over a 90%
success rate.
For
business advise and other other services
We operate on a sliding scale day rate depending on the number
of days per year we work with you. We only take on clients
when we are clear that we can save you more money that we
cost in fees so ensuring there is always a win-win situation.
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How
many Grant Programmes are there?
There
are over 1,500 government grant, loan and award programmes
currently active!!!
Awards
range from £500 to £500,000. Most programmes are
in the £5k to £50k range and are certainly obtainable
with some effort. But, the sands are always shifting and successful
applications take weeks to prepare. Although you may have
a great idea, dedicating the time to follow it up is always
hard to do.
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What
can I get a grant for?
Grants
are typically available in the following areas:
-
Joint research projects
-
Innovation
-
Training and skills development
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Location in deprived areas
-
Energy efficiency of environmental improvements
-
Export and international trade
-
IT and E-commerce
-
Logistics and supply chain improvements
-
Business Start up
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What
is Exon’s main area of focus for grant applications?
Our
main areas of success have been in innovation, R&D, foreign
market penetration and new product development grants.
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