£1m countywide capital grant scheme now closed
Massively oversubscribed we have now offered out all of the £1m available grant funding pot, plus we have a waiting list should any funding be freed up.
Our contract required us to offer at least 65 grants – 15 to start-ups and 50 to existing businesses.
The Expression of Interest stage saw us receive 470 submissions totalling a staggering £10,835,069.52 plus 35 late submissions totalling a further £699,857.71.
Of those 170 were invited to submit full applications.
Following this the grant panel reviewed 134 full applications from 26 start-ups and 108 existing businesses totalling just short of £2.3m.
After some very difficult decisions, grant offer letters have now been sent to 18 start-ups and 58 existing businesses.
All decisions were made by our grant panel made up of representatives from Armstrong Watson, Cumberland Building Society, Cumberland Council, Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, Cumbria Tourism, NatWest and Westmorland and Furness Council.
Once all acceptance letter responses have been received we will publish details of the businesses receiving grants on this page.
“Demand was exceptionally strong and whittling down was clearly a challenging process. There were lots of great businesses and projects. But sadly we only had the £1m available. We only wish we could support more of those who applied. We’re looking forward though to seeing great outcomes from those who have been awarded grants and we’ll be sharing case studies in due course.” Lesley Robinson, Head of Business Growth & Support, Cumbria Chamber of Commerce.
Cumbria Chamber of Commerce is delivering the Cumbria Rural Enterprise Grants scheme on behalf of Westmorland and Furness and Cumberland Councils. Funding for this project has been made available by the UK Government from the Cumbria Capital Programme, a £10m package of capital funding for local growth investment to invest in projects that support place-based economic regeneration across the area. This funding has been secured by the Cumbria Combined Authority, with Westmorland and Furness Council and Cumberland Council providing additional funding and support for the scheme.
