How to succeed when applying for a Welsh government business grant
If you have a business based in Wales, you may be wondering what Welsh government business grants are available. Not only that, but you may be wondering how to succeed when applying for a Welsh government business grant.
What do the Welsh government take into consideration when supplying business grants?
-
Business size
A grant may only be available to businesses with under 250 employees or fewer (classed as an SME).
-
Industry
A lot of Welsh government business grants are sector-specific. Arts, science or logistics, for instance.
-
Business purpose
Welsh government business grants usually have a clear objective and will only be given to businesses that can meet this. In many cases, it’s provided to businesses or projects that can address a particular issue/have a long-term impact.
-
Location
The Welsh government has a certain amount of their budget designated to supplying regional grants. These grants usually have the aim of supporting economic growth and job creation in the area. For example, a particular focus at the moment is connecting rural communities and the Welsh language.
-
How long you’ve been operating for
Some grants may only support businesses that are more established and have been operating for a few years. However, some grants are strictly dedicated to start-up businesses.
It’s worth noting that you will likely need to provide your business accounts when applying for grants. Likewise, some Welsh government business grants may also require you to match their funding in one way or another.
How to secure a grant
Firstly, you should be looking for a business grant that suits your business and matches it perfectly. You don’t want to be changing your business to fit a grant opportunity. This is a major faux pas. You should look for one whose aims, and eligibility fits you to a tee. Once you’ve found that, you can start making sure you have what you need to apply.
What Welsh government business grants are available?
At the time of publication (June 2021), these are the Welsh grants that are available with no specified application deadline.
Access to Work
Financial assistance is available to businesses with any extra employment costs that result from employing a person with a disability.
What is available?
The amount of funding available depends on the individual’s circumstances and they are reviewed once a year. However, match funding of a minimum of 20% of costs is required under some circumstances. The grant can help pay for items/services including:
- Special equipment or software
- Adaptations to the equipment used
- A support service for those who have a mental health condition – counselling/job coaching
- Disability awareness training for colleagues.
Who can apply?
Disabled employees aged over 16 and their employers in Great Britain are eligible.Â
Apprenticeship Recruitment Support
This programme is aimed at businesses in Wales to encourage hiring apprentices. This is a Welsh government business grant administered through Business Wales.
What is available?
Businesses in Wales can claim up to £4,000 for each new apprentice their hire under the age of 25. However, payments are limited to a maximum of 10 apprentices per employer.
Who can apply?
Businesses employing staff in Wales are eligible. This incentive applies to apprenticeships delivered at Levels 2-5 only.
Caerphilly Enterprise Fund
This Welsh government business grant is administered by Caerphilly County Borough Council. Its objectives are to provide financial support to help new or existing businesses develop and grow in the Caerphilly area.
What is available?
The fund can provide:
- Revenue costs – the maximum grant of £2,000 at an intervention rate of 45%
- Capital costs for property enhancement, including external/internal works for business premises. The maximum grant is £10,000 at an intervention rate of 50%.
Who can apply?
The following are eligible, but they must be based in Caerphilly County Borough:
- Sole traders
- Partnerships
- Limited companies
- Limited liability partnerships
- Community groups.
The fund is aimed at start-ups and SMEs with less than 250 employees.
Arts Council of Wales – Create
Arts Council Wales have grants available for the development and creation of high-quality arts experiences. Therefore, these experiences should help individuals and organisations in Wales engage with and connect to the public.
What is available?
There are grant opportunities value between £500 – £50,000. All grants cover up to 90% of total project costs. To apply, businesses will need to identify at least 10% of total projects costs from other sources.
Objectives
This grant has the priorities of ‘For the Benefit of All’. To clarify, this means this programme area will help the Arts Council meets its priorities around:
- Equality
- Diversity
- The Welsh language
- Nurturing creative talent
- Supporting sector resilience.
Who can apply?
This funding opportunity is open to organisations and individuals. They must:
- Based in Wales or the UK
- Formally constituted as one of the following:
- Company Limited by Guarantee
- Registered charity (including charitable trusts)
- Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
- Community Interest Company (CIC)
- Company Limited by Shares
- Unincorporated Association
- Partnership, including a Limited Liability Partnership
- The local authority, university or other public body
- Have a bank account in the organisation’s name that has at least two people who can authorise transactions.
- Have an Equal Opportunities Policy that has been reviewed by the organisation’s governing body within the last three years and that complies with current legislation.
- Not be in default of any financial agreement with Arts Council of Wales.
- Not have any overdue requirements on any other Arts Council of Wales funding.
- Have a Safeguarding/Child Protection Policy that complies with current legislation and has been reviewed by the organisation’s governing body within the last three years, if the project involves working with children, young people or vulnerable adults.
Arts Council of Wales Small and Large Grants
The funding available is for individual artists and organisations to support arts projects and activities. As a result, these must contribute positively to people’s quality of life and the cultural, social and economic wellbeing of Wales.
What is available?
There are Welsh business grant opportunities of funding between £250 – £5,000.
Small grants provide funding between £500 – £10,000.
Large grants provide funding between £10,001 – £50,000.
Who can apply?
Applicants pursuing an artistic career or be professionally employed in the arts in Wales, including freelancers. However, individuals (including sole traders and individuals trading as a business) must:
- Be over 18 and live in Wales
- Not be in full-time education, either at school/university/college
- No default of any financial agreement with the Arts Council of Wales
- Not have any overdue requirements on Arts Council of Wales grant funding awards.
To be eligible to apply, an organisation must:
- Be based in Wales, the UK or the EU
- Have a governance structure that meets the requirements
- Have a bank account in the organisation’s name that has at least two people who can authorise transactions.
- Not be in default of any financial agreement with the Arts Council of Wales
- No overdue requirements on Arts Council of Wales grant funding awards.
A funding writer can help with your application, they can optimise your success.
Need help securing your next bid for funding?
Our Grant Writing Service is for businesses who want to start applying for grants, but don’t know where to begin. Likewise, if you don’t have the resources or the time in-house to write a winning grant – we can help.
Our Grant Writing Consultants have over 60 years of experience in bidding for funding and grants. Whether it’s start-up business grants, council business grants, or grants for charities in the UK. Moreover, they can take care of the whole thing for you – they’ll even submit it on your behalf.
Get in touch to find out how we can help your business grow!
Our Grant Tracker service is now open and hosts latest grant opportunities in the UK from 1,500 data points. Opportunities are manually tracked, enabling for accurate keyword labelling, optimising your search for the perfect grant. This can help you optimize your search for grants for businesses.
You can sign up for free!
