What is Selective Finance for Investment in England?

We at Ethnic Business Directory take great pleasure in assisting our clients in developing their businesses in any conceivable way. In keeping with the principles of providing support to all ethnic businesses, we would like to announce a special funding scheme called Selective Finance for Investment in England that could be of special interest to you which could benefit your business. We provide assistance to our clients in accessing this funding from the Department of Trade and Industries or from any of the nine Regional Development Agency (RDAs) such as the Advantage West Midlands (AWM) for the West Midlands or the East Midlands Development Agency (emda) for East Midlands in England that were established to transform the English regions through sustainable economic development.

One of the core areas where we specialize is raising external finance for both start-up companies and established companies for business growth is Grant Oriented funding. We have been dealing with Grant Oriented funding for over 20 years and have developed core competency in this area. We also assist clients in raising finance from a variety of other sources such as Banks and Private sources.

What is Selective Finance for Investment in England?                  

Selective Finance for Investment (SFIE) is a form of financial assistance available to businesses located in Assisted Areas in the UK for investment in capital expenditure.

SFIE is discretionary and is normally given in the form of a grant payable in installments on the achievement of capital expenditure and job creation or preservation targets appropriate to the project. The amount of assistance which can be provided by a RDA ranges from £10,000 to £1,999,999. There is a minimum threshold for applications of £10,000 grant. Applications above this have to be made directly to the DTI.

Assisted Areas

For more details on assisted areas, and the Postcode Database in the English Regions 2001 and the United Kingdom 2007, please follow the link provided under Useful Links section of our website.

Who Qualifies?

Most manufacturing businesses are eligible to apply, as are businesses in service industries that supply a national rather than local market.  Applicants can be companies, partnerships or sole traders. Grants are not available simply to transfer jobs from one part of the country to another.  Assistance can be provided to:

• establish a new business;
• expand/ modernize/ rationalize an existing business;
• set up research and development facilities;
• enable businesses to take the next step from development to production.

How much?

The amount depends on the needs of the project and its impact on productivity and skills. Successful businesses typically receive around 10-15% of a projects total eligible capital expenditure but support can vary widely either side of these figures depending on the need and quality of the project. Grant is normally calculated as a proportion of eligible capital investment. However, where this expenditure is insufficient, grant may be assessed against new jobs created.

Funds are normally payable in installments on reaching fixed capital expenditure and job targets, which are set out in a formal offer of support.

Limits on SFIE

Subject to meeting the criteria set out above, SFIE grant is negotiated to the minimum required to enable the project to proceed. SFIE grants cannot be less than £10,000. As an example of the limits currently set from West Midlands, see the table below.

SFI - How to Apply

SFI applications are administered by the RDAs. If you consider your project needs financial assistance in order to go ahead in the Assisted Areas, you may contact us with all the details. We will prepare the Business Case for a fee and will get in touch with your nearest Business Link or RDA about eligibility. Once we hear positively from them, you will be informed. If, after this, you want to apply for the grant, you may retain our services. Please note, you will need to submit the following:

• a completed application form;
• financial appendices;
• the companys latest audited or management accounts (and groups, if applicable);
• your business plan

Larger grant applications

Where assistance requested is £2 million or more, further information will be required in addition to that required by the application form in order to undertake a full economic appraisal of the project.

Appraisal time-scale

The target time taken for decisions on applications, from the date of receipt of a fully completed application (including all specified financial information) is 30 days. Larger more complex cases may take longer than this to appraise.

Appraisal Officers may discuss the project with the applicant or their advisers such as us to seek clarification on further details, and may wish to visit the project location.

Grants are normally released in installments upon achievement of capital expenditure and job targets which are set out in the formal offer of grant assistance. The targets will be agreed with applicants during the appraisal negotiation and are generally arranged to coincide with the expected progress of the project. All SFI grants are taxable.

Our role

We will complete the following mandatory documentation for your grant application:

• complete the application form;
• prepare all the financial appendices;
• evaluate the effect of the project on your business operations and profitability to comply with the requirement of SFIE application.
• prepare your business plan and incorporate the proposed project in the business plan
• extract relevant information from the companys latest audited or management accounts (and groups, if applicable);

We will act as your adviser and consultant and will prepare the complete application pack with all the relevant documentation mentioned above and liaise with relevant RDAs until the assessment of your application is complete. Once your application is successfully assesses and grant is sanctioned, we assist you in the grant claim process as well. Please note, we ensure that during the application process and under normal circumstances, RDA will not contact you directly. We attend to all their queries.