GRANTS – €200,000 potentially available– how much have you claimed?
Ensure that your company has applied for all the grants available.
Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic have combined to create unprecedented turbulence, offering an environment of challenges and opportunities to the SME sector in Ireland. The viability of some companies is threatened, and in many cases, survival will be in question. However, as with any period of disruption, companies with the right skillset, outlook and resources will be presented with opportunities to grow their business significantly. Whether you are facing opportunities or challenges it is critical that you have applied for all the grants available to your business. Grants are an inexpensive and unsecured source of finance. Companies can potentially qualify for up to €200,000 in grant aid over a three-year period and in certain circumstances the amount can be far greater.
We have outlined the additional supports for companies effected by Brexit and Covid 19.
All grants discussed are subject to the business’s eligibility.
Are you an SME?
For Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) there are many grants available across several agencies and the question I have to ask, have you availed of the total amount of grants available to your business? To answer that question, you will have to know what grants you qualify for.
In this blog I will focus on established SMEs who trade with Northern Ireland, the UK and or Europe and are clients of either Enterprise Ireland or Inter Trade Ireland. If you export to Europe or trade with Northern Ireland, why are you not a client of either?
To qualify as an SME the following are the criteria:
· Has between 10 and 250 people employed: and
· Has a turnover of less than €50m; or
· Has a balance sheet of less than €43m.
If you have less than 10 employees and your turnover is €2m or less, you are deemed a micro enterprise and your first port of call will be your Local Enterprise Office (LEO).
You can also contact with InterTradeIreland, they have the Elevate programme to help micro companies looking to expand their market within Ireland.
If you are a small food company with turnover of under €3.5m have a look at Bord Bia, where there are a number of additional offerings including insights and routes to market. If you are in the fish industry BIM also have grants available.
“UK exports of salmon, beef, and whiskey to the EU plunged in January……… Salmon shipments declined 98% from the same period a year earlier, while sales of beef fell 92%”
New markets
Brexit may mean that new markets have presented themselves as many UK producers stop exporting to Europe (for example Salmon, whiskey & beef sales plummeted in January). It would be a great time to research the fallout from Brexit and identify the potential new customers you could approach. Enterprise Ireland have a suite of grants which could help you on this journey and they include the following:
Evolve Strategic Planning Grant – this is a grant which can be used for several activities including researching an international market, scenario planning and reviewing commercial aspects of the business, there is €5,000 (50% of costs) available under this grant.
Strategic Marketing Review Grant – this grant funds 80% of a consultant’s costs (costs up to €9,000) to work with you and your team to develop a clear actionable market driven business strategy.
Market Discovery Fund – this grant is for up to €150,000 and allows you to get boots on the ground to research potential markets. The grant covers a vast array of costs and is worth looking into for those serious about developing new markets.
eMarketing Improvement Assignment – for the times we in are many of you will have switched to e-commerce, this programme allows you to bring in an external expert and have an internal champion. This grant is for up to €35,000 (50% of maximum costs of €70,000).
There are other programmes which Enterprise Ireland have which will support you to grow your international markets and these include:
Enter the Eurozone Programme
Excel at Export Selling
International Selling Programme
InterTrade Ireland work with companies to help them realise the full potential of the market here on the island of Ireland. They have number of supports which include the following:
Acumen programme – this includes funding for either a fulltime or part time key manager and consultancy costs.
A simple guide to cross border trade – which is now an Interactive Tool.
Trade Accelerator Voucher Programme.
Tender workshops, events and advice – the public procurement market in the whole island is worth €12.1bn – many SMEs don’t target this market.
Innovation
In many instances your current product/service will have to be altered to suit the new market or it may be possible to develop an innovation of processes within your business which may give you a competitive edge.
Innovation is strongly supported by the agencies with Enterprise Ireland alone having ten programmes and grants on offer and they include:
Business Innovation Offer – the maximum grant offer is €150,000 (50% of costs). To be eligible the project must deliver a new way of working or a visible step up in terms of production capabilities or business practices.
Exploring Innovation Grant – this is effectively a technical feasibility study grant and the maximum grant is €35,000 (50% of costs) and will cover costs such as salary, international travel, consultancy, and prototype costs.
Agile Innovation Grant – this is to support new or substantially improved products, services, or processes. The percentage of grant depends on the type of project, a maximum of €150,000 grant is available.
Intellectual Property (IP) Strategy Offer – this is offered to complement the RD&I projects and it focuses on securing IP assets where they arise from the companies RD&I work. There are two grants available and the largest is €35,000.
Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) Fund – this grant supports the development of new or substantially improved products which will give the company a competitive edge – there is no set upper limit for this grant, so in effect the maximum grant could exceed €150,000.
The other grants available under innovation include:
Evolve Strategic Planning Grant – this is the same as the grant under markets above.
Innovation Voucher – these can be used for any kind of innovation and have a value of €5,000 and are extremely popular.
Innovation Partnership Grant Programme – this programme helps companies access the expertise in the research institutes across Ireland and will provide funding of up to €200,000.
Horizon 2020 and other EU Research Funding Programmes – on March 25th Horizon Europe was launched. This programme runs from 2021 to 2027 and has a €95billion budget – Enterprise Ireland will assist companies to succeed in getting funding from this and other European funds.
Innovation 4 Growth Programme – no programme has been announced for 2021 but if there is another programme launched it is an excellent one for businesses who want to excel at innovation.
IntertradeIreland also offer grants and programmes to promote innovation and they include:
Innovation Boost – which involves supporting the business to take on a graduate who will be mentored by an academic partner and IntertradeIreland Innovation Boost consultant. The 18-month support package is worth €67,900.
Impact – this is where two SMEs from either side of the border work together to develop a solution to an industry level problem. The maximum grant is approx. €300,000 shared between the two companies.
All Island Innovation Programme – series of lectures and masterclasses run across Ireland to share best practice in innovation.
US-Ireland R&D Partnership - links researchers across Ireland, Northern Ireland and the United States.
Co-Innovate – this is limited to companies in the border counties and Northern Ireland. It offers a wide range of supports including expert advice and capability reviews.
Grow your team
A company’s success is dependent on the skills and expertise of its team. Enterprise Ireland has a range of offerings to assist companies to do this including:
Mentor Grant – there are a panel of over 400 experienced mentors to offer practical expert advice to business owners and leaders. This is at no cost to the business.
Strategic Consultancy Grant – this grant will fund the hiring of a strategic consultant. This consultant can act in several different capacities for the business. The maximum grant is €35,000 (covering 50% of the cost).
Key Fulltime/Part time manager – partial funding will be provided for positions such as Financial Controller or R&D Manager. A company can have two key manager approvals in a rolling 12-month period.
Go Global for growth – this is a programme for CEO’s and their senior management team to facilitate the development of an international growth strategy. It is run in conjunction with DCU and the deadline for applications is May 3rd, 2021.
IntertradeIreland offer support under the Acumen programme mentioned under markets above.
Improve your productivity & sustainability.
No matter what sector you are in the competition is ever increasing and companies must continue to improve their productivity. However, they must also play their part and run a business in a manner that respects the environment. SMEs are at varying stages on both the productivity and green journey and Enterprise Ireland have a range of grants available to suit each stage:
Green Offer – there are two programmes, green start and green plus. The former funds access to an external Green Service Provider and helps companies with little or no expertise in the area. The latter has a maximum grant of €50,000 and will cover both internal and external experts and training costs.
Lean Business Offer – this programme is to encourage businesses to adopt Lean Business Principles in their organisations to improve their competitiveness. There are three programmes available; lean start, lean plus, and lean transform. There is extensive funding available with up to 60/70% of the costs being covered for SMEs
Capital Investment Initiative Fund – maximum funding is €250,000 (this relates to 10-30% of costs depending on size and location). This is to help companies improve competitiveness through investment in capital equipment.
Operational Excellence Offer – essentially this is to support a redesign of your business model to allow you to enter new markets and achieve sustainable growth. This is an extensive grant and can cover a percentage of capital assets, business innovation up €150,000 and training and management development.
Building Information Modelling (BIM) – this offering includes two levels of support. BIM-Enable is a 7-day strategic consultancy programme and facilitates companies to set out a digital roadmap with funding of up to €6,300 available. The BIM- Implement covers internal and external training costs and the grant is up to €31,500 for small companies and €24,500 for medium companies.
Gradstart – funds up to three graduates on a rolling basis for a 2-year contract term. It covers 50% of the costs up to a salary of €30,000.
Company expansion
If you are looking to expand it is best to discuss your options with your Enterprise Ireland Development Advisor. There are two options available:
Job expansion fund which supports recruitment of new employees above the current employment base and has a maximum grant of €150,000.
Tailored expansion programme.
De Minimis
As with all state aid there is a limit on the amount you can apply for over a rolling three-year period. This will include aid you received from the government agencies and it is important you always keep a running total of the aid you have received.
Conclusion
There is a myriad of grants, supports and programmes available for the SME sector and there will be more to come. The above does not cover them all but it gives you a flavour for what is potentially available to you if you meet the various eligibility criteria for each one.
If you would like to discuss these or if you would like help with applying for any of these grants, please feel free to contact us at info@walshemanagementconsultants.ie