Cumbria Business Growth Hub supports businesses with £1,845,928 grant funding

We’ve been delivering a number of grant funding programmes through funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and the Rural England Prosperity Fund on behalf of both Cumberland and Westmorland & Furness Council.

Below you can read more about the funding, how much has been allocated and the type of works being supported.

Westmorland & Furness Council

Westmorland & Furness Green Enterprise Hub
On behalf of Cumbria Action for Sustainability we were contracted to approve 43 grants with a funding pot of £215,000.00 – 43 grants have now been approved.
Funding was to be used for training, accreditations, R&D, consultancy advice/audits/surveys, equipment and capital works.

Projects supported have included:

Solar panel installation
Double glazed windows and UPVC double glazed doors
Development and implementation of systems/processes to obtain ISO140001
Vermiculture consultancy
Process gas optimisation plan/report
LED lighting
Ground source heat pump installation
Electronic proof of delivery service
Low carbon website creation
Building insultation/cladding
Anesthetic circuit ‘Humphrey ADE’ to reduce the amount of oxygen and anesthetic gas used by a veterinary practice
Food recycler and Lomi food composter

Rural England Prosperity Fund
With funds of £766,378 we were contracted to approve 51 capital grants (74 approved) for purchase of equipment and small scale capital improvements to help grow, diversify, innovate and improve productivity.

Projects supported have included:

Vending machine for meat and ready meals
Various equipment including 3D printer, laser engraver/cutter, printing press, pasta extruder, automatic lidding and labelling machine, semi-automatic cream dispenser
Vehicles
Machinery
Building works
Creation of additional guest bedrooms
Horse box sauna
Playground build
Conservations, education resource and visitor centre fit out
Glamping pods
Bespoke eBike stand
Poly tunnel construction and storage facility

We also have £125,000 of funding for 250 £500 vouchers which are to be used for consultancy support – there are only 64 vouchers remaining so contact us now!
Work so far funded has included website design/build, photography, accountancy/legal/planning/agricultural consultancy, SEO, marketing, and consultancy support for funding applications.

Cumberland Council

Capital grant
Capital grants of up to £100,000 (50% match funding) for the purchase of equipment and capital improvements to help grow, diversify, innovate and improve productivity.
£555,491 of funds available to support 25 businesses – grant approvals have been sent to 30 businesses.

Projects supported have included:

Various equipment purchases including chocolate mixing tank, filtration, elevating work platform, static chiropractic treatment bench, timber saw, replacement burners for cremator, high spec drone, beading production machinery, CNC machine, laser machine, labelling equipment, 20kg roaster, pastry mixer/pastry roller, homogenizer, cheese press and moulds, 3D scanner
Solar panel installations
Fencing
Heating and dehumidifiers
Industrial building
Specially modified wide trailer dumper
XM system for inspection room
Development of unused studio space

Tourism grant
Tourism grants of up to £20,000 (50% match funding) were available for the development and promotion (to both trade and consumer) of the visitor economy for activity such as development of local visitor experiences, local attractions and trails or tourism products more generally.
£227,428 of funds available to support 10 businesses – grant approvals have been sent to 16 businesses.

Projects supported have included:

Additional kitchen and bakery facilities
Site to house 5 touring caravans
Toilet block, hand washing facilities, insulation, barrel train, marquee, picnic benches and equipment
Farm diversification enterprise with the initial installation of 1 glamping pod, ground works and electricity connection
Bike shed
Restoration of historic building to open café/shop/bistro
Self catering accommodation
Passenger trailer and portable hand washing station to conduct farm tours
Renovation of coffee cabin and outside space

Revenue grant & voucher scheme
Revenue grants of up to £7,500 (50% match funding) were available to support work with a consultant of your choice in areas such as marketing, websites, accountancy, legal, planning, business continuity, succession planning, business growth, productivity, agricultural or other specialist advice.
Also available were £500 advice vouchers for similar support to the above which require no match from the business.
£171,631 of funds available to support 24 businesses – we have approved 29 grants and 105 vouchers.
Over the coming months we’ll be sharing good news stories.