Agenda item

To receive a presentation from Ivan Hewitt, Rural Business Growth Programme Manager on two Business Funding Programmes which are available in the rural community.

I Hewitt, RAMP Programme Manager was in attendance to provide presentations on two new programmes to support businesses within rural areas.  A copy of each of the presentations would be attached to the signed minutes of the meeting, uploaded to the Council’s website and circulated to Members.

The Northumberland Small Business Service

The Programme which was available to small/micro businesses (those with 50 or less employees) had three clear objectives:

1.    To increase business resilience and support rural businesses with growth potential and ambition to develop and implement business growth and resilience plans.

2.    Develop a more diverse business base by creating new businesses and supporting rural businesses to grow, safeguarding and creating new employment opportunities, become more resilient and increasing productivity.

3.    Stimulate investment in the growth of existing private sector rural businesses.

The four distinct strands of support available to individuals and small/ micro businesses across Northumberland were outlined and information provided on each as follows:

·       Growth and Resilience Support – Businesses must have been trading for at least 12 months, be located within Northumberland, and operating within an eligible sector.  They would have access to an evolving workshop programme and technical specialist support.

·       Farming Advisory Service – This was being delivered on the Council’s behalf by Northumberland National Park Authority and could support start up businesses and diversification but could not be used to purchase farm equipment.  The support would be available to all farm enterprises that were located within rural Northumberland and were defined as a small or micro business and was within subsidy control thresholds.

·       Enterprise and Start up Support – This would provide a dedicated service of tailored business support to help stimulate business growth and creation and would be focussed on providing individuals and businesses with the skills and knowledge they required to set up, establish and run successful businesses.  This support was available to all Northumberland residents aged 16+ at pre-start with a business idea and new businesses within 12 months of starting up and located within Northumberland.

·       Grant Investment Fund – This was a £2m Capital Grant Fund to support small and micro businesses in the rural areas of Northumberland only with a clear growth plan to expand productive capacity or diversify into new markets or products.  This could include capital investment in machinery, equipment, and business premises. 

Information was provided on the eligibility for each strand of support and the grant application process.  Details on how to register could be found at the following website: www.northumberlandsmallbusiness.co.uk

In response to points raised by Members of the Committee, the following information was provided:

·       Free advice was available to applicants and assistance could be provided to complete the application process.

·       Work was being undertaken internally between departments to try to work to the same objective in relation to planning, climate change and business resilience.  The team could also point businesses to other sources of funding.

·       Whilst it was recognised that some businesses would not succeed, start up businesses needed the opportunity to get advice and support in order to have the best chance of success.

·       Examples of where grants had made a difference were given as Marlish Waters where funding had assisted with the bottling and canning line, and also Silvermoor Farm haylage business which had developed a business supplying pet food from the farm which had expanded to an additional unit and now employed 16 people.

·       The team could only help those businesses that they were aware of and tried to promote themselves through the website, talking to organisations and groups and therefore asked for the help of Members in promoting the service within their own areas.

Rural Asset Multiplier Pilot Programme (RAMP)

RAMP was £3.5m of investment part funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund Fund, Rural England Prosperity Fund and North of Tyne Combined Authority and delivered by NCC in partnership with Northumberland National Park and Northumberland Coast AONB.  The aim was to enhance the environment, grow the rural economy and improve services, opportunity and prosperity in rural communities by the provision of capital and revenue grants.

The different types of things which would be eligible for funding and those which could not be funded were outlined along with the process for applying and how applications were progressed.   Information could be requested by emailing ruralassetmultiplierpilotprogramme@northumberland.gov.uk

Members were advised that the Rural Growth Team sat within the Economic Growth Team and it would be appreciated if Members could signpost people to the service.

The Chair thanked the officer for the presentations which had been very informative.