The latest window for submitting Expressions of Interest (EoI) for the new grants for Wolverhampton businesses funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund closed on the the 11th April. There will be a further window open in June or July.
For those companies that had registered for an Energy Assessment by 11th April but hadn’t had it completed, and were looking to submit an EoI for a Net Zero grant please email the team at business.development@wolverhampton.gov.uk
Details of these new grant programmes are shown below – however it is important to note that alongside these new grant programmes there are also numerous other support packages.
West Midlands Grant Programme (WMGP)
The West Midlands SME Grant Programme seeks to increase productivity by improving business confidence, stimulating business activity, attracting investment, safeguarding existing and creating new jobs within local communities. In Wolverhampton grant funding between £1,000 to £100,000 may be offered for SMEs trading for more than 2 years (This funding will be a capped figure which will be no more than 50% of the projects eligible costs). The remaining balance has to be matched by the business, and any grant secured will be paid by the Council in arrears and upon receipt of evidence from the business that costs were properly incurred.
Whilst the maximum and minimum amounts have been identified, please note that we would expect the average grant to be £15,000 and we would anticipate supporting at least 48 businesses. A total grant budget of £793,577 doubled devolved from Government through the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has been allocated to CWC for the 2024/25 financial year. This is split between SME grants (£544,056) and NET ZERO grants (£249,521) with a requirement to support at least 48 businesses
The grant funding will be used for the following activities:
- Capital investment, eg, new plant, machinery and equipment
- Improving systems and processes
- Innovation – Including the development of new products including prototyping, testing and commercialisation
- Develop new markets opportunities
- Promotional activities
- Low carbon/energy efficiency/waste management – Green grants (link to decarbonisation)
The first thing you will need to do is read the Guidance notes below, then submit a Expression of Interest (EoL) Form, which can also be found in the Guidance notes section below. Once both of these have been done, a member of the Council's Business Development Team will contact you within 10 working days to complete a Business Diagnostic (BD) with you.
All these stages must be completed ahead of any grant application.
All grant applicants will be subject to, and must satisfactorily pass, a Financial Review; will be required to comply with the Councils Procurement rules; must be able to fund the full cost of the investment; and must satisfy the SME definition and public subsidy requirements.
Applications for both grants are on a competitive basis, subject to availability of funds, and distributed at the discretion of the Council.
The West Midlands Net Zero Grant Programme (NZGP) seeks to support businesses in the region to reduce their environmental impact and to reduce the rising energy costs these companies are experiencing.
It is open to small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) from all sectors which are based within the Wolverhampton City Council local authority area.
In Wolverhampton grant funding between £ 1,000 to £100,000 may be offered for SMEs trading for more than 12 months. This funding will be a capped figure which will be no more than 50% of the project's eligible costs. The remaining balance has to be matched by the business, and any grant secured will be paid by the Council in arrears and upon receipt of evidence from the business that costs were properly incurred. (Please see all the guidance documents in the Downloads section).
All applicants must undertake a free energy assessment prior to submission of an expression of interest. If your business has had an energy assessment from an assessor with appropriate knowledge and qualifications within the last 2 years, please contact business.development@wolverhampton.gov.uk and you will be able to apply for a grant subject to eligibility requirements. If your business has yet to have an energy assessment one can be delivered free of charge through the region's decarbonisation programme, and will be undertaken by Pro Enviro.
Please note an Energy Assessment must be completed first – this can then be used in the expression of interest to identify the investment you are looking to make. Any grant application subsequently made can only relate to items identified in the Energy Assessment.
Once an Expression of Interest (EoI) has been submitted a member of the Council's Business Development Team will contact you within 10 working days to complete a Business Diagnostic with you.
All grant applicants will be subject to, and must satisfactorily pass, a Financial Review; will be required to comply with the Councils Procurement rules; must be able to fund the full cost of the investment, must satisfy the SME definition and public subsidy requirements.
Applications for both grants are on a competitive basis, subject to availability of funds, and distributed at the discretion of the Council.
If you are considering applying to one of these grant programmes please access the detailed information, guidance notes below and the expression of interest:
Submit your evidence
Those businesses that that have completed the grant application process and had their grant application approved can submit the appropriate evidence via the links below.