About Us: Regional Growth Fund 

Businesses interested in applying:

• Do you need funding to develop your business but cannot proceed without public sector support?
• Would your proposed development create sustainable new jobs within your business?

If so, you may wish to consider applying for the Government’s Regional Growth Fund Round (RGF) 3. 

RGF is a competitive bidding process and in the next round projects will be judged on numbers of jobs created, the amount of private sector finance levered in and how quickly the jobs can be created.

Applying for this funding is not an easy process and before deciding to apply businesses first needs to consider:

• Do you have the resources needed to complete the application form? (have a look at the RGF website http://www.bis.gov.uk/RGF)
• All grant is taxable.
• If you could get Research and Development tax credits for the project you need to check with your accountant first to see if it is also worth applying for the grant.
• Large companies cannot apply for capital projects unless they are in an ‘Assisted Area’ (in the Leeds City Region only parts of Wakefield and Barnsley are in an Assisted Area).
• If you are successful you will need to pay for a Due Diligence review and each claim you make will need to be audited by an independent accountant.
• If your application is for less than £1 million you cannot apply directly for RGF funding, you will need to talk to the Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) about other opportunities.
• The maximum amount of RGF funding will be a percentage of your total project costs – you cannot apply for the full cost so you will need match funding.

For more information please download the RGF Information Sheet that explains the Partnership's approach to RGF 3 and the issues businesses need to be aware of.

Note: RGF is a Government grant, you do not need to contact the LCR LEP Secretariat in order to apply.  The LEP will aim to provide initial advice on whether you can apply and, if your project is included within a LCR LEP package of projects, we will aim to review and advise on your application.  Some support may also be available through your local authority (LA), the Secretariat will aim to refer you to the relevant officer in your LA area.

Information on the bidding process is available at: www.bis.gov.uk/RGF. Businesses with projects which are seeking less than £1 million or are seeking the endorsement of the LEP for an RGF application should contact Lynn Cooper at the LCR LEP Secretariat on 0113 395 0195.

Financial Assistance is also available for small businesses from the following Programmes which have already obtained Regional Growth Funding:

HSBC Assisted Asset Purchase Scheme http://www.business.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/commercial-banking/loans-and-finance/regional-growth-fund-assisted-asset-purchase-scheme

Royal Bank of Scotland
http://www.rbs.co.uk/business/borrowing/g1/government-lending-support/regional-growth-fund.ashx

RGF funding has also been allocated to Sandander but no details are yet available on the company’s website.