Selective Finance for Investment in England

Grant Scheme

What is SFIE?

SFIE is a discretionary grant scheme created by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) in 2004, formally the DTI. It was an amalgamation of 2 old grant schemes, EG and RSA. SFIE  normally takes the form of a grant. All grant projects must meet the scheme criteria and in each case the amount and terms of assistance will be negotiated as the minimum necessary for the proposed project to go ahead. There is a minimum threshold for applications of £10,000 grant.

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/ modernise/ rationalise an existing business;

      Set up research and development facilities;

   Enable businesses to take the next step from development to   production.

European Commission restrictions apply in some sectors, including synthetic fibre, vehicles, steel, coal and agricultural products. Restrictions may also apply where projects are in sectors of the UK market which are already fully served and where support would simply displace or reduce existing jobs in similar businesses elsewhere.

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 project's total eligible capital expenditure but support can vary widely either side of these figures depending on the need and quality of the project. Some areas have a top up fund which can mean 25% is available. There is a minimum application threshold of £10,000 assistance. 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 instalments on reaching fixed capital expenditure and job targets, which are set out in a formal offer of support.

Who administers the scheme?

The scheme is a DBERR (DTI) product which is administered across England by each of the 9 Regional Development Agencies.

The 9 English RDA’s are;

North West Development Agency

One North East

Yorkshire Forward

Advantage West Midlands

East Midlands Development Agency

East of England Development Agency

London Development Agency

South East of England Development Agency

South West of England Development Agency

How do I Apply

Applications to the scheme must be made directly to the Business Grant Team at the RDA which covers your business practice where the project will take place. Applications can be submitted directly from the company or they can be compiled together with a grant market specialist. Please see the list and links above for each RDA.

Can I get advice on the scheme before I apply?

Each RDA can be contacted directly; however the regional economic policy for each RDA is to ensure there are enough business support services in the marketplace to ensure they do not have to deal with initial enquiries on a day to day basis but can concentrate on assessing full applications. Most RDA's are happy to accept a pre-application to assess eligibility and viability. These pre-applications can often be found on their websites or through a grant intermediary who can help you compile a pre-application.

If you wish to contact each RDA Grant Team direct, please follow the links on their websites.

Or if you wish to discuss the scheme with us before considering applying then you can do this also;

E-mail: info@sfie.co.uk

How much grant aid is given out each year

	2007		2006
	Amount	Nos of Grants	Amount	Nos of Grants
East of England	£4.1m	5	£4.3m	13
East Midlands	£4.7m	16	£3m	23
London	£0.66m	5	£1.9m	5
North East	£15.7m	76	£12.7m	97
North West	£10.3m	46	£18.5m	39
South East	£0.3m	4	£2m	3
South West	£2.7m	11	£4.2m	3
West Mids	£15m	40	£10.9m	32
Y&H	£6m	42	£8m	45
Total	£59.8m	245	£65.9m	294
The data above is reflective of published BERR grant data on the SFIE scheme and relates to ALL offers made to successful applicants in England in Tier 1 & Tier 2 regions. On average over the past 3 years 90% of all offers have been over £75K with the largest being £6.8m to a large multinational manufacturer. The scheme is aimed at English SME's who operate in the manufacturing and/or added value sectors.

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This site is sponsored by

www.uk-grants.co.uk

NEWS: This Grant has just been rebranded as :

'Grant for Business Investment' (GBI)

However the guidelines for SFIE still stand with this new grant. So contact us today!____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

www.grantlink.co.uk www.capitalgrants.co.uk www.sfiegrantconsultants.co.uk www.gbie.co.uk www.gbigrant.co.uk www.gbi-grant.co.uk