New grant for County Durham startups

What’s on offer

Business Durham run the County Durham Growth Fund, a European Regional Development Fund initiative to support business growth in the county.

Through the Fund, they are able to offer grants for businesses looking to make a capital investment of £100,000 in their County Durham operations.

They’re particularly interested in hearing from startups that have registered and are less than 12 months old. Note that the grants are paid in arrears and in instalments.

Are you eligible?

To be eligible for this opportunity you will be planning:

• an investment involving eligible expenditure of at least £100,000

• to expand existing or establish new operations in County Durham

Your plans will lead to the creation of additional employment in County Durham, commensurate with the level of grant awarded (1 net additional full-time job per £10,000 of grant).

Businesses must able to cash-flow the entire investment, as grants are paid in arrears.  Grants may be paid in instalments, based on eligible expenditure incurred and defrayed.

Check out the full eligibility criteria online before applying.

What’s the timeframe?

You must be able to:

• complete the investment, including incurring and defraying enough eligible expenditure, by 31 December 2021

• ​achieve the agreed increase in employment by 31 December 2022

• maintain the additional productive capacity created by the investment for a minimum of 5 years following the completion of the investment

How do I find out more?

If you are interested, take a look at the full eligibility criteria online and please complete the Expression of Interest form. A member of the team will contact you to discuss eligibility and arrange a meeting with a Project Adviser.