UK Shared Prosperity Business Grant Fund

This guidance sets out the criteria that will apply to achieve a successful application for the award a business grant. The funding available is £87,750 in capital expenditure and £77,000 in revenue expenditure.

Applications can be made by an existing business with an annual turnover of less than £1 million. To apply, the business must be located in the East Cambridgeshire district.

Applicant businesses should have in place a strong business plan. The following is a list of things the business plan should include.

• demonstrates plans to grow the business
• describe how funding will be used to support this growth
• describe if the funding will support job creation including apprenticeships
• describe how the funding will support the business to respond to market changes
• have a delivery plan for the project that funding is for
• describe how the funding will be of benefit to the wider local economy such as supply chains

Businesses who are not eligible 

The following are a list of businesses are ineligible to apply for the grant:

• businesses not based in East Cambridgeshire
• businesses that have an annual turnover of more than £1million
• business that has received grant payments that equal the maximum permitted levels of UK Subsidy Control (See below for more details)
• businesses that are in administration or insolvent or a striking off notice has been made
• intermediaries or agents acting on behalf of other businesses.
• businesses that only exist to operate investment funding and other types of finance
• charities unless they are applying through a trading arm that meets the other requirements listed

Eligible activities 

To be considered eligible, all successful applications will be required to deliver at least one or more of the following outcomes listed.

• create new jobs or safeguard existing jobs that maybe at risk
• use new technologies or processes within the business
• bring new products to market
• demonstrate improvement in business productivity

The items listed apply to what the grant can be used for providing they are part of an eligible activity.

Eligible capital spends

• purchase of machines and required equipment for their operation
• purchase of equipment that increases productivity including technology and IT equipment and any required software
• the renovation or repurpose of buildings and building of new premises 

Eligible revenue spends 

• redevelopment of a website 
• staff training 
• marketing and promotional campaigns
• research 

The following is a list of items that the grant cant be used to fund;

• to purchase something before the grant has been approved 
• paying off a debt or refinancing debt
• direct staff costs such as salaries
• general business overheads and costs such as utilities or business rates
• the cost of anything the business needs to do by law
• software that is used for the general running of a business

Grant Funding Levels and Intervention Rates

The total funding available is £164,750 split between £87,750 for capital items and £77,000 for revenue items. 

The minimum grant award available to any successful applicant is £2,000 and the maximum award is £7,500. Access to grant funding for those businesses who are approved will be up to a maximum of 60% of the total project cost (e.g. a maximum grant of £3,000 would be available for a project costing £5,000). The remainder of the project cost is called match funding and is provided by the applicant business. As part of the full application process applicants will need to demonstrate that all the project match funding is in place.

Application process

All applicants must complete an Expression of Interest (EOI) form. This will be available when the fund opens on the 7th of July 2025 and must be submitted by the 1st of August 2025.

EOIs will be assessed for completeness and eligibility by the Economic Development team. The EOI will include a supporting statement no more than maximum 250 words long. The supporting statement should explain why the applicant should receive the grant. The EOI will be scored against a standard scoring framework. If an EOI meets the minimum threshold the applicant will be invited to submit a full Application form. 

Should an applicant be deemed ineligible for funding, they will be notified by email. The decision will be final.

Advice and guidance will be provided by the Economic Development team to applicants in completing their full application. Enquiries regarding guidance should be directed to the following email address rory.thompson@eastcambs.gov.uk.

Full applications and supporting information will be reviewed for completeness by the Economic Development team. Points for clarification will be made by email to the applicant and responses noted and included as part of the application.

Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application within four weeks of submission. If successful, a grant funding agreement will be issued, which must be signed and returned before any project-related spending can be committed or incurred.

Please note: Funding is limited and will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis to eligible applicants who meet the necessary criteria. Although the official deadline for submitting full applications is 22 August, the application process may close earlier if all funding is allocated before that date.

Expression of interest form