Leicestershire SME’s on deadline to access £400k business growth grant

Business owners in Leicestershire are being urged to check if they are eligible for a growth grant from the Business Gateway Growth Hub before funds run out.

Currently, around £400k remains in the pot aimed at Leicester and Leicestershire’s SMEs. Businesses must have been running for 12 months, trade business-to-business, have fewer than 250 employees and be looking to grow, innovate and create jobs.

Grants from £2k to £25k are available, providing a third of the project cost and come with the support of a dedicated business adviser throughout the application process. The Business Gateway service has helped 78 businesses with grants totalling around £1.5m so far.

Reactive Components Ltd received £20k to set up a laboratory after the pandemic which had put a halt to the owner travelling to customer sites abroad. The grant was spent on technical equipment for the business.

Dr Yves Didier, owner, Reactive Components Ltd, commented: “I wanted to create some resilience in my business model. With the UK premises, I can now offer new services by taking on smaller one-off studies but also investigate technological areas which I couldn’t do before on a customer’s premises.

“They say one of the big strengths of being a relatively new business is the ability to react, but I don’t think I would have been able to react as well without the support of the grant. My recovery would have been a lot slower and this extra money has allowed me to be braver.”

With a £25k grant from the Business Gateway, knitted fabric supplier and manufacturer Shahtex Leicester Ltd invested in new computerised machinery which enables the family business to develop seamless garments.

Tejas Shah, director, Shahtex Leicester Ltd, said: “I was naturally wary about the grant and the support because I was thinking ‘what’s their ulterior motive?’ It took me two or three meetings to realise that the Business Gateway had no ulterior motive, they were there to help.”

Rachel York, Business Gateway Manager added: “We’re in very tough trading conditions at the moment but standing still isn’t really an option for our local businesses if they want to survive. If you’re an SME and think you have a growth project in mind, start a conversation with us now.”

The free business support service is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund. The growth grant is managed by Leicester City Council which runs the service with partners Leicestershire County Council, East Midlands Chamber and the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP).