Non-transferable

The grant award is non-transferable to another property or person and can only be awarded to the applicant.

Payment of the grant

Grant payments will be made in instalments to maintain the integrity of the grant scheme.

50% of the grant will be awarded on receipt of quotes and signature of the grant offer letter or agreement. The remainder of the grant (50%) will be paid once projects have begun and no sooner than three months from receipt of the grant offer letter/agreement.

Please do not start work prior to the receipt of your offer letter start date, as invoices dated before the date of the offer letter will not be eligible for grant payments.

The remainder payment will be subject to the applicant having satisfactorily commenced the project and complied with all terms and conditions of the scheme.

If the actual costs are less than those outlined in the application and agreed in the offer letter, payment will be restricted to the actual amount in accordance with the receipted invoices.

If the costs of the proposed project exceed the maximum grant awarded as agreed in the offer letter, we will not increase the grant amount.

On-going support

The Economic Development Team will keep in regular touch with applicants to ensure the project is progressing and offer support, where possible. Any delays to project completion can be discussed at this time

Publicity

We will have the right to use the applicant’s improvement project as an example for publicity and promotional purposes.

Repayment

We are entitled to withdraw the offer or require all or part of the grant to be repaid when:

• sold, ceases to trade within six months of receipt of the grant offer letter;
• the business relocates outside of the borough within six months;
• information provided in the application is substantially incorrect or misleading;
• the business commits acts or offences that could bring us into dispute or has committed fraudulent acts;
• there is unsatisfactory progress towards the completion of the project (for larger projects);
• there is a substantial change in the project which has not been approved in writing by us;
• any assistance given under the terms of this contract, taken together with any other assistance which has been or is likely to be received towards the project, is above the limits laid down within the Minimum Financial Assistance (MFA) scheme, previously known as European Community

Other conditions

• provision of the funding is subject to availability - please check before applying
• application for the grant does not guarantee that a grant offer will be made
• projects cannot be supported retrospectively, and grants will not be paid to support projects that have already commenced or costs that have already been incurred
• expenditure on the project must only commence following the written confirmation of grant award from us
• we reserve the right to reject any applications that do not meet the aims and criteria of the grant initiative
• applicants must complete the project expenditure by the date stated in the grant offer letter; otherwise, the grant offer will be withdrawn. This will be within six months of the grant award, unless otherwise agreed.