Grant funding to support rural business growth

In its final call for funding, the Rural Development Programme for England will provide grants to rural start-ups and businesses to grow, diversify, and ultimately, benefit their local area, including parts of Rochdale.

If your business is carrying out a project to create jobs or bring more money into the rural economy, you could be eligible for a Growth Programme grant.

There are currently three open calls for funding in food processing, business development and tourism infrastructure.

The minimum grant you can apply for is £20,000 and the maximum is £750,000.

The grants are funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), which is part of the European Structural Investment Funds (ESIF).

You must submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) form before midnight on 16 February 2020.

To confirm whether your business is within the eligible area, you will need to check the map here: http://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx

• Click on get started
• Then on Table of contents click on Admin geographies and tick other Admin boundaries
• Tick the red box (for rural areas within Local Enterprise Partnerships)
• Go to Map search (at the top) and put your postcode in
• You will then be presented with a small blue box on a map, if you click on 'i' at the top of the screen and hover over the blue box it will tell you if it is located within a LEP rural area.

More information about the funding, and how to apply, can be found here: 

• www.gov.uk/government/publications/rdpe-growth-programme