Over the years there have been a number of funding bodies in various guises servicing and supporting businesses across the North of England, and are still doing so into 2014. It’s not always clear how to access this funding or where to start, so here is our guide to the funding options currently available…

There are two main organisations targeting different sized project values; the NBSL for smaller, business improvement focused projects (up to £1,400 towards your project) and Investment for Growth, for larger business development projects (up to £4,000 towards your project).

So do you qualify for funding? Well ultimately this is up to the funders to asses, but here are some key points to ponder over which are relevant to both NBSL and Investment for Growth:

• They will support up to 40% (£1,400) of the first £3,500 of the project (NBSL) and up to £4,000 of the first £10,000 for Investment for Growth. Your project could be of a higher total cost though and you could still get £1,400/£4,000 towards the total investment
• It is for small to medium business (under 250 staff)
• You must already be actively trading
• You must be predominantly trading business to business
• You should be looking to grow your business and create job opportunities
• The project need to completed in 3-4 months ideally, but certainly before the end of 2014

We have recently met with both the NBSL and Investment for Growth and they have assured us that is has never been easier for our clients to apply for funding for new projects. Applying has been made simpler, response times quicker (within 5 working days) and payouts for funding to you within 30 days of project completion. All these improvements help take away some of the hassle that has been associated with funding applications in the past – which led to businesses not taking advantage of what is essentially free money towards your project.

We have direct contact details with both organisations, so should you be looking to apply for funding, speak with us and we can advise on which option might be best once we understand your project scope and what is required. We can then prepare a quotation for you that meets the requirements of the funders from a supplier perspective.

There’s funding out there, so lets work together to take advantage of it for your next website project?

If you would like to register with the funders before we meet to discuss your requirements, then you can do so at www.nbsl.org.uk and www.investment4growth.co.uk