Applications for the fund close at 5pm on Friday 10 November.
Important
You must carefully read the list of supporting information we need to see. We will then ask a set of quick questions to confirm that your business meets all criteria.
We ask for a lot of detailed information. We strongly recommend you create an account and complete the form while signed in. As you complete each page, your input will be saved and you can return to it later.
Each page of the form will time out after 10 minutes, so have all the documents and information ready beforehand. If you are signed in to your account, it saves everything up to the last page you pressed the 'Next' button.
This is a competitive fund, and it's essential that you take your time completing your application and supply all the required evidence.
Supporting information we need to see
- A business bank statement less than 3 months old
- Annual accounts for:
- 2021/2022
- 2022/2023
- Forecasts for 2023/2024
- Evidence of active trading up to application date
- Percentage of your customer base in Scotland, rest of UK, and international
- The number of employees, full time and part time
- Effective Voice documentary evidence (Scottish Government site) at individual and collective level.
Bank statements should be for the account you need the grant paid into (usually a business account). They must clearly show the account name, account number and sort code. (You can download them in PDF format from your online banking website.)
We will ask about your business
Please draft and save some text that you can copy/paste into the form. Below is the information you must provide:
- A description of your business
- What you intend the funding to be used for, showing the need for the funding, and the impact and benefits it will deliver relating to the purpose(s) of this funding. i.e. what the project is; how you will deliver; costs; expected outcomes
- What the impact would be if your application to this fund was unsuccessful
- You must supply 3 quotes for each funded element of the project. If you cannot provide 3 quotes, you must supply other evidence, for example if the works are unique or bespoke.
Evidence of active trading up to time of application
One of these:
- Marketing materials, e.g. web links for business website, active social media
- A supplier or reseller trade account (active)
Photos of documents
If you have to scan or photograph documents, these ideally should be no larger than 2Mb. Very large files may not upload properly and we may not receive your application, even if you get a confirmation email.
Tip: if you photograph a document on your phone or tablet, here's how you can produce a much smaller file:
- Take the photo.
- View it on the device screen.
- Take a screenshot of the image.
- Check that the screenshot is legible.
- Upload this screenshot to the form.
About the fund
- This fund is available via The UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The grants are for both Capital and Revenue expenditure.
- This fund will be open to applications during the financial year 2023/24 until the full amount of funds is awarded.
- Only businesses based and/or headquartered in Midlothian can apply.
Capital expenditure
Typically relates to funding for the purchase, refurbishment or renovation of fixed assets such as buildings or land to include fixtures and fittings. Capital expenditure items includes computers, software systems and other forms of equipment that are required to operate the business.
Revenue expenditure
Short term business expenses, usually used immediately or within a year. Can include expenses to meet operational costs of doing business. This can include consultancy and staffing.
Revenue projects usually have an element of staffing costs. Where this is the case, the costs must be specific to the project described in the application and staffing costs should include gross salary plus employer National Insurance and pension costs.
The funding is allocated to support three programmes
We will ask you to choose which fund you are applying to:
1. Community Wealth Building
This is to support the local social economy, including community businesses, cooperatives and social enterprises, as Midlothian transitions to a wellbeing economy.
Projects should support and strengthen local entrepreneurial ecosystems and plural economy enterprises to start, sustain, grow and innovate, including through local enterprise networks.
2. Export and Innovation Grants
Applications should clearly demonstrate how the grant fund will support new product development.
Projects can include early stage prototyping, modelling or beta testing that will accelerate the journey to commercialisation, with the potential to create higher value jobs.
3. Tourism, Heritage & Culture
These funds are to encourage and support enterprises to get involved in collaborative tourism projects, cognisant of net zero and 20 minute neighbourhoods, to create local employment, training and volunteering opportunities while generating revenues that can be reinvested in communities.
Applications are invited from new and existing tourism businesses and community enterprises for projects that will develop new products, local attractions, trails etc, enhancing community wellbeing and the visitor economy.
What the funding will not support
Funding will not support:
- General running costs and overheads
- Stock
- Routine repairs and maintenance
- Work undertaken to meet statutory requirements
- Vehicles
- VAT element of the cost of goods/services.
If your application succeeds
You will receive an 'award in principle' letter if successful.
However the grant will be paid after the funds have been spent, and evidence of the spend submitted to Midlothian Council. Evidence required:
- Invoice
- Project completion report
- Bank/credit card statement showing the payment of the invoice.
All project funds must be spent by 16 February 2024. Note that you can submit evidence of the spend before this date.