Grants of up to £20,000 are available to support people whose employment has been affected as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the local employment rate remains above average, employment across the country has seen a dip. From prolonged periods of furlough, to job losses and redundancies, 2020 presented an employment landscape never seen before, and as a result, regrettably, we are seeing a rise in unemployment rates.
Supporting employability skills development locally, the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership’s (SEMLEP) Community Grants programme will re-open for the fifth round of applications on 15 February 2021.
The programme offers voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE) grants of between £10,000 to £20,000 to deliver employability skills projects, helping vulnerable members of our community get back into work or training.
Organisations interested in applying for the programme are invited to attend an information webinar on 23 or 25 February 2021 to find out details on the programme, eligibility criteria and information on the application programme.
The programme is keen to receive applications that can be delivered virtually and inline with COVID-secure guidelines, targeting those who have recently been made redundant, particularly people over 50.
Are you eligible to apply for a grant through SEMLEP’s Community Grants project?
Does your organisation have less than £300,000 annual income?
Does your organisation have fewer than 50 full-time equivalent paid employees?
Are you able to demonstrate complete autonomy from any organisation that has in excess of £300,00 annual income or 50 or more full-time equivalent employees?
Do you have a constitution of rules saying how your organisation is managed and what it does?
Do you have a UK bank account?
Do you have professional, employers and public liability insurance and public indemnity insurance?
Is your organisation legally constituted?
Do you have a legal structure that demonstrates that you are a VCSE organisation?
Does your organisation support people in the areas listed below?
Geography: The European Social Fund and Education Skills Funding Agency awarded the Community Grants funding to SEMLEP on the basis of the ESF investment that was allocated in 2014. Therefore, the geographic basis upon which projects can apply reverts too: Milton Keynes, Northampton, Corby, Kettering, Daventry, South Northamptonshire, Cherwell, Aylesbury Vale, Bedford and Luton.
The Community Grants programme is delivered by SEMLEP, supported by Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire and funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Education Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). Unlike other ESF-funded programmes, no match funding is required so grants can cover 100% of the project costs.
Support and training for local business owners to lead businesses forward and plan for growth.
About The Programme
Growth Curve is an intensive programme for business owners to strengthen leadership skills to help set your organisation on track for attainable long-term growth.
Set up to support businesses to scale up and grow by providing university-led masterclasses for business leaders, meetings with business advisers and funding. The programme has been updated to support businesses at this time, taking into consideration the coronavirus business environment. The masterclasses are now online and funding is still available. If your business could benefit from a one-to-one with a Growth Curve business adviser, register your interested here.
University Masterclasses
Masterclasses are run in partnership with the University of Bedfordshire, Cranfield University and University of Northampton.
They each provide a different syllabus that is tailored to the business stage and experience of the client attending to ensure maximum learning to bring back to the business. Your Growth Curve Business Adviser will work with you to identify the course that is right for you.
No matter the masterclasses you attend, your learnings will help you come up with the strategies to stabilize your business, working on the main priorities and finding your way forward.
It will help you place your objectives, new business initiatives and plan into place for recovery and growth.
ELIGIBILITY AND CRITERIA
Have a business based in the South East Midlands.
Be experiencing or projecting high growth in the next 2-3 years.
Have between 3 and 250 employees.
Current annual turnover of £200,000 with projected 20% annual growth minimum.
You can register your interest in the Growth Curve programme by clicking the button below and booking a meeting with an advisor on the Growth Hub website.
The Recovery and Resilience Grant scheme offers match funding to businesses to invest in new technologies, plant equipment, machinery, or premises growth to help businesses create employment opportunities.
The grants of between £5,000 to £50,000 are designed to build business resilience for businesses that have that have been affected by Covid-19 by supporting investment projects that will create a significant, positive impact on the business’ future.
The grants cover a maximum of 50% of the total price of a project and are designed to aid future recovery and as such there is a requirement for businesses to plan for jobs to be created as a result. As a guide, businesses are expected to create one job per £10,000 of grant.
If you would like to apply for a grant through the scheme, please read the Grants Guidance for a details overview of the scheme, check eligibility and fill in the Expression of Interest below. Upon completion and initial eligibility checks, you will be offered a 1-2-1 appointment with a business adviser to work through the application process, helping you to submit a high-quality application.
In order for the applications to be appraised in a timely way, there is a monthly cut off on the 28th (starting 28th Jan) for applications to be assessed. We will continue this monthly process until the funding is all allocated.
To be eligible for grant funding, applicants must meet the following criteria:
Be an SME (employ less than 250 people and your turnover is less than EUR 50m or annual balance sheet less than EUR 43m).
Be a trading enterprise (and have at least 1 years’ worth of accounts).
Be registered in the UK and have a base in the South East Midlands area.
Be ready to invest or expand in the local area.
Must not have been a company ‘in difficulty’ on 31 December 2019.
Please note, grants are awarded on a discretionary basis and are subject to eligibility checks and approval.
The Recovery and Resilience Grant Scheme is delivered by SEMLEP’s Growth Hub and part-funded by the Getting Building Fund and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
There are many businesses in our local region (South East Midlands) that are looking to grow their business in 2021 and seek new opportunities.
However, the current pandemic is doing it’s very best to claw back on the budgets that businesses have set aside to push themselves forward, with this money being spent to ensure survival.
With most businesses suffering from several setbacks and limited resources (both financial and physical) it is therefore important to keep an eye on what the government is doing and support that they are providing for small to medium enterprises (SME’s) that make up some 95% of business.
Digital Future First provides a service, including the Kickstart scheme to help SME’s understand (and access) what’s on offer.
It is a free to access service that is part funded by the European Social Fund which raises the profile of a range of grants, funded (and part funded) programmes, business incentives that can develop talent within a business and awareness of some technology solutions that SME owners may not be aware of.
Since the Digital Future First project started in 2020 it has been clear that there are many business support grants that are going under the radar, with the Kickstart Scheme being one of them.
What is the Kickstart scheme?
The Kickstart Scheme is a fully funded government employment scheme that has been designed to help reduce the number of unemployed young people (aged 16 – 24) who are on Universal Credit. Any sized business can apply for this scheme, which will give them access to the following:
100% of the national minimum salary/living wage (based on the age of the applicant) for a minimum of 25 hours per week for a total of six months.
Associated employer national insurance contributions.
Usually an employer needs to commit to a minimum of 30 roles within the business, however, one of the delivery partners with Digital Future First is a Gateway to the scheme and has reduced this barrier of entry to a minimum of one applicant needed, making the Kickstart Scheme application even simpler.
Read on for our five reasons why you should use the Kickstart scheme to grow your business.
Reason 1 – Six months employment costs – funded*
Yes that is right, additional staff – funded by Government and working in your business, for six months!
* The minimum time an employee can work on the Kickstart Scheme is for 25 hours per week for 6 months. Based on the National minimum salary for a 24 year old, this translates as a total of £4,920 in working hours for the six month period – not including National Insurance and pension fees.
This is a serious helping hand for any small business owner, enabling growth within the business and presenting an opportunity to an individual on universal credit. Further funding is available following the completion of the kickstart scheme to enable the business to achieve sustained employment of the individual for the long term.
Reason 2 – up to £,1,500 Incentive to support placements
Six months employment is great but an additional cash incentive sounds even better…
Kickstart Gateways work with employers to ensure that the people employed through the Scheme are properly supported in their longer term employment needs.
This includes proof that placements are receiving direct help in areas such as job searches, CV’s, in-work learning and personal development.
It also includes paying for things that help young people do their jobs – for example, some businesses who have embarked on this scheme have used the money to purchase clothing, equipment or tools.
Some employers can provide all the support, mentoring/coaching and development needed, some are not able to do this at all and some can provide part of it.
The £1,500 incentive is a means to ensure that either the Gateway or the employer (or both) can support placements on the Scheme and the incentive is apportioned accordingly as agreed with the Gateway and the employer.
That means the Government is willing to hand out up to £6,400 per placement to business to help you grow, a staggering contribution from the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Reason 3 – Create opportunities for unemployed young people – the next generation of local business leaders!
2020 has been a horrific year and there are many people out there who are fighting for a chance to kick start their career (pardon the pun).
Comparing the last quarter (July-September 2020), with the pre-pandemic quarter (December 2019-February 2020), youth unemployment has increased by 17%, a staggering 88,000 more unemployed in the 18-24 age group.
This makes the jobs market incredibly competitive, especially for an age range that is deemed to have “not enough experience” in the workplace.
Employing someone on the Kickstart Scheme could give someone the restart they have been looking for and the motivation to go above and beyond within your business.
Reason 4 – Help with your customer service
All hands on deck during a busy trading period.
Providing product knowledge as part of your new employee’s training would enable them to contribute to your customer service efforts, for example, answering customer enquiry emails, managing a live chat and answering phone calls.
Not only does this add another body to the busy customer service team but it also gives the employee vital office experience, an essential skill at the start of an individual’s career.
Extensive product knowledge and a detailed understanding of your business’s sales process will put the employee in a strong position to secure permanent employment following the completion of the Kickstart Scheme.
Reason 5 – Using technology and social media…!
With further funding available post kickstart scheme, are you looking at your first social media manager?
This is the perfect opportunity to lay the foundations of a social media campaign and create a digital footprint for your business.
If you are a technological dinosaur (or just not sure how to use it !!) then the chances are your 18-24 kickstart employees will have twice the knowledge and time spent on social media platforms, and the six month period would give them the time to plan, create and post targeted content to your customers.
Social media provides a branded voice, affordable advertising and customer engagement, meaning businesses can no longer afford to avoid the networking platforms. Having an individual who can own this space and learn on the job will help increase the digital exposure, leading to further sales and new business opportunities.
Reason 6 – Helping out friends and family
We could all do with a helping hand once in a while.
You may know a friend or family member who has been hit hard financially by COVID-19.
But did you know that if they meet the eligibility criteria, (aged 16-24 and on universal credit) you may be able to obtain Kickstart Scheme funding to offer them a fully funded role in your business for six months.
This means you will be receiving free business support from the Government, reducing young unemployment in your community and helping out a loved one. A win-win situation.
Find out if you are eligible
Funding for the Kickstart Scheme is available to employers only if and when their application is successful. Any type of organisation can apply, however, there is criteria that employers will have to meet in order to be eligible for approval, this includes the following:
The job placements must not be replacing planned/existing vacancies.
These placements must not result in existing employees/contractors reducing their role in the business, or losing employment entirely.
The new job placements must offer a minimum of 25 hours per week throughout a 6 month period.
The placements must offer at the very least the National Minimum Wage relative to the age of the employee.
The placements should not need employees to undergo extensive training before the placement begins.
The placements must be exclusively for people between the ages of 16 – 24 who are on Universal Credit facing the risk of long-term unemployment.
The application (by a Gateway) must be for 30 job placements as a minimum.
For our tips on improving your chances of approval click here
So…… where do I sign up?
Luckily for you, Digital Future First is a business support helpline, offering a direct route to help businesses access Government funding and support programmes.
Our partner the Learning and Skills Academy have a dedicated website where you can start your application.
Simply click on the ‘Apply Now’ button and fill out the application form.
As a reminder, the project is part funded by the European Social Fund and can offer free business support to business owners who are based in:
Bedford
Central Bedfordshire
Milton Keynes
Northamptonshire
Luton
If you are a business owner and are interested in the scheme then say hello on the live chat and an advisor will respond to you shortly.
Or for those who want to set up a meeting with an advisor, you can check their availability here.
Before we get started you are probably wondering what is the Kickstart scheme – read on and we’ll explain. Or you can let Rishi explain it by watching his video.
What’s kickstart?
It’s a £2 billion scheme that has been designed to create thousands of high quality 6 month job placements for 16-24 year olds.
The Kickstart scheme is part of the Government’s plan for jobs, one of the good things about the Kickstart scheme is that it supports young people to develop new skills. These skills will help young individuals move into sustained employment after they have completed their kickstart scheme job.
The Kickstart scheme provides organisations of all different sizes across the private, public and voluntary sectors with the opportunity to access a large pool of young individuals with potential.
Once the placement has been confirmed and started the employer will be paid £1,500 per placement to support overhead costs, such as payroll, induction, leadership etc.
The funding for each placement will cover the relevant National Minimum Wage rate for 25 hours per week, plus the associated employer National Insurance contributions and employer minimum automatic enrolment contributions.
Is the kickstart scheme right for my business?
The Kickstart scheme job placements are funded with a grant agreement. As you would expect there are rules around who grants can be paid to.
They will make checks to ensure that your organisation has been established, reputable and financially solvent.
So you are much more likely to be approved if you:
Have existed for a while
Regularly and recently submitted accounts
Have a credit score with a low risk category
Have a low probability of imminent business failure
Have enough liquid assets to pay your debts
Do not have any County Court Judgements or CCJ’s
Please note that the above factors are taken into consideration when accessing your Kickstart scheme application.
Failing on one or more of the above does not mean that you will not be approved.
They represent employers who will not employ more than 30 people through the Kickstart scheme, so they will support you whether you want just one Kickstarter or many.
Our top tips for making a successful Kickstart scheme application
Tip 1
You need to demonstrate and show that your organisation is able to provide a six-month Kickstart scheme job placement and that your company is established and financially stable.
This can be demonstrated in a number of ways please see section above for more details.
Tip 2
Your Kickstart scheme job placement must give a meaningful experience of work.
➤ What this means is that the work should be meaningful, with clear duties, responsibilities and goals.
An example would be an office administrator role, working as a member of the team with an opportunity to contribute to the wider Office’s work and learning how to use a new piece of software – this would be considered meaningful.
As a guide, a role working alone, conducting manual repetitive tasks for the majority of their working day, without the chance to learn new skills would not be considered meaningful.
Tip 3
All Kickstart scheme placement jobs should be additional jobs.
➤ Kickstart scheme job placements should not replace existing roles, or that you were intending to create without the Kickstart scheme.
This means that you cannot use the Kickstart scheme to replace a person in an existing job, or fill a role that already existed.
Tip 4
Kickstart scheme job placements should increase future chances of work.
➤ You must demonstrate that you are able to and intend to support the young person on their Kickstart scheme job placement, so that they increase their chances of finding work once their six-month placement has been completed.
A Kickstart scheme job placement should give the young person real workplace skills that will make a difference to their prospects of finding future employment.
This can include, training, the opportunity to try new tasks and build new skills, or helping them to improve existing skills.
While selecting Kickstart scheme grant recipients, the government will carry out checks to ensure that all of the above criteria are met.
Following the above tips will give you and your business the best chance of being approved for Kickstart scheme funding.
So where do I sign up?
Our partner the Learning and Skills Academy are a recognised gateway for the Kickstart scheme and they have a dedicated website where you can apply.
Start your application at https://www.kickstart.support/, simply click on the ‘Apply Now’ button and fill out the application form.
As an employer, you’re not aware of everything available to you. So from our end, the first bit is to make you aware or give you the fast-track access you need.
For example….
You think, Right…
‘I don’t know anything about that’
or
‘I’m interested in ‘this’ need for my business…
I want to grow my e-commerce…
I want to train someone in a specific digital technology…
I want to make sure I can future-proof my business…
Okay. Have you got the skill sets?
You say, “No.”
All right. Let us help you. “We’ve got access, and we work with a lot of providers who’ve got support that could probably help you.”
We will then look at introducing one of those providers
It could be something to do with Traineeships…
It could be Kickstart… Gateway… Apprenticeship
There’s lots of services that are available!
We will look at contacting the third-party provider directly to let them know you’re interested.
What are the next steps?
Engage with us.
Identify a need.
We refer you to a third-party provider.
We’ll set up a three-way meeting with yourselves, ourselves, and whoever it is we’re talking to, to ensure the fit’s correct.
And if the fit’s not correct, we find somebody else…
We sit here as an impartial brokerage organisation to support you, to get what you need to develop your business.
So it might be, we put you in touch with a provider and you don’t get on, it’s not working. All right, let’s look at some other providers until we work it through.
Until you get what you need…
They’ll work with you for as long as it takes to deliver whatever services your business actually requires.
“We’ll keep in touch, make sure it’s working for you.”
We don’t charge for our services because it’s provided by the European Social Fund.
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Digital Future First is part funded by the European Social Fund and led by Supplyant Limited, and co-developed in partnership with Database for Business Limited and the Learning and Skills Academy CIC
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