Swindon & Wiltshire LEP open ERDF Recovery Grant applications

We’ve spoken to many customers over the last few weeks and months.  It goes without saying the ongoing COVID pandemic continues to hit small businesses hard across all sectors.

Today, the application process opened for something called the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).  The ERDF Recovery Grant (which we blogged about last week) is available to small and medium companies, with a value of between £1,000 and £3,000. The idea is to help businesses purchase equipment or services to support “recovery, diversification, or re-purposing” during this period of uncertainty, building resilience into businesses going forward.

Whilst the funding cannot be used for things such as rent, salaries, utilities, or other bills – it can be used to purchase minor equipment or adopt new technology; as well as access specialist professional advice.

To apply for the grant

Firstly, the business registration address must be in the Swindon & Wiltshire boundary region. You have to be a Limited company with three employees and have to have been trading for a minimum of one year, since 01/03/2019.  Click here for the full eligibility criteria from Swindon and Wiltshire Growth Hub.

In addition to covering professional advice from us, e.g. an action plan on how to improve the search engine optimisation (SEO) of your website, Swindon and Wiltshire Growth Hub have confirmed to us that the grant can cover other improvements to websites. We’ve confirmed that these could include adding online booking facilities, eCommerce functionality, or making other improvements to your website to help to support the recovery of your business.

To sum up

An effective and transactional online presence is key to any business – especially now – and the The ERDF Recovery Grant could offer you a way to improve your website with no capital outlay.  We can help provide a technical assessment of your website – incorporating any ideas you have – and formulate a list of improvements that can support your own grant application.

We’re keen to try and help other small businesses in any way we can, so do get in touch with us on 01793 239239 or via email on [email protected] and we’ll be happy to advise you further.

Find out more and apply for the grant on the Swindon and Wiltshire Growth Hub website.