Business Gateway Fife

Funded by Fife Council and delivered by Business Gateway Fife, the Fife Investment Fund provides financial support to Fife-based businesses looking to invest in and grow their business or progress towards Net Zero.  
  
The fund provides a fully repayable grant of up to £10,000 or 70% of the overall costs of the project being undertaken (whichever is lower) with the following conditions:

• No interest or any other charges
• An initial payment holiday of 6 months
• Following the repayment holiday, up to 24 months to fully repay the grant.

There are a number of ways the fund can be used including:

• Purchasing plant and machinery
• Property improvements
• Product development
• Process improvements
• Training
• Market development 

You may be eligible if you are a small to medium-sized business (SME) based in Fife and can demonstrate that the support will lead to increased turnover and/or employment for your business, or help it progress toward net zero emissions. Applications are submitted at the discretion of your Business Gateway Adviser.

The SME Development Grant provides financial support to help Fife-based businesses develop and grow.
The fund provides small non-repayable grants to assist with costs across the following seven themes:

Trade Development
The trade development funding provides grants to:

• assist businesses with the cost of exhibiting at trade shows within the UK or Europe
• assist businesses with the cost of participating in overseas trade missions.
• support other costs associated with accessing new markets, such as exporting

Workforce Upskilling
The funding for workforce upskilling provides grants to help companies improve the productivity and profitability of their business through training and upskilling existing employees.

Transition to Net Zero
Funding to support businesses making progress towards net zero emissions through a range of measures including premises improvements, waste reduction or reuse and the creation of green jobs.

R&D & Innovation Support
Support primarily for micro-SMEs unable to access the R&D and innovation support provided by Scottish Enterprise.

Agriculture Business Diversification
Support for agriculture businesses to develop agritourism and food & drink focussed proposals as well as supporting adoption of new approaches and technologies including vertical farming.

Support for Studies
Support for businesses requiring studies (e.g., ecological impact, noise assessment) as part of a project to develop new or existing premises.

Digital Development
Support for the costs associated with implementing digital efficiency measures.

The SME Development Grant is delivered by Business Gateway Fife on behalf of Fife Council.

There is no automatic entitlement or qualifying criteria for this funding - grants are offered at the discretion of a Business Gateway Adviser, therefore, you must be working with Business Gateway Fife to be considered.

Fife’s Specialist Business Advice programme can provide Fife-based businesses that are looking to develop with up to 3 days of fully-funded consultancy support.

Tailored, expert advice is available from specialists across a range of topics, including:

Business Development

• business strategy
• sales and market development
• marketing, communications and PR
• brand development
• quality assurance and accreditations
• product & process development
• innovation
• procurement (public and private sector) and supply chain opportunities
• business continuity and resilience

Finance

• management accounts
• financial analysis
• purchasing a business, premises or asset (inc. mergers and acquisitions)
• financial business planning
• funding application support and preparing for and securing investment
• business valuation
• pricing products and services

Social Media and Online Presence

• website development and review (inc. SEO)
• e-commerce
• social media
• digital and video content creation

Information Solutions and Technology

• connectivity
• security
• infrastructure (hardware & software)
• communications technology and solutions
• data driven solutions
• performance information and management

Legal and Property

• contracts
• intellectual property
• export/import regulations
• land and property law (inc. right to buy)
• conveyancing
• surveying and property consultancy
• planning application support
• data protection/ GDPR
• health and safety

Environmental

• energy efficiency audits and advice
• environmental strategies and plans
• waste minimisation, recovery and reprocessing
• resource efficiency
• utilities
• environmental and noise impact assessments

Human Resources and Employee Development/Wellbeing

• recruitment and employment law
• employee engagement and development
• management and leadership development
• employee and owner wellbeing
• mindfulness and mental health
• fair work

The Specialist Business Advice programme is delivered by Business Gateway Fife on behalf of Fife Council and is fully funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

There is no automatic entitlement or qualifying criteria for Specialist Business Advice programme - support is offered at the discretion of a Business Gateway Adviser, therefore you must be working with Business Gateway Fife in order to be considered.

Fife Council’s Business Efficiency Grant provides financial support to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Fife become more efficient.

The initial round of applications opens on 1 March 2024 and closes on 30 April 2024. Further application rounds will be held if budget allows.

The fund provides small non-repayable grants of between £3,000 and £20,000 (£5,000 max for short-term let providers). These will cover up to a maximum of 90% of eligible project costs.

Grants can be used to help with costs in 2 eligible areas:

Net zero

The net zero grants help companies invest in measures that will increase the efficiency of their premises, processes and technologies. The funding can be used to:

• make the fabric of a building more energy efficient
• replace outdated heating, lighting or other systems
• introduce energy generation or storage solutions
• replace equipment used in the business processes with cleaner and more efficient alternatives

Digital development

The digital development grants help companies invest in digital solutions to improve their efficiency, competitiveness and reach. Eligible uses could include:

• a tourism or hospitality business implementing an online booking system
• a retail business implementing an integrated e-commerce, point of sale and stock control solution

Applications are completed by a Business Gateway adviser, then checked, signed and submitted by the business that's applying. Therefore, you must be working with Business Gateway Fife to be considered.

You'll need to provide detailed information about your business (including financial) and your proposed use of the funds (including quotes for proposed work or equipment purchases) to complete the application form.

The Business Efficiency Grant is delivered by Business Gateway Fife on behalf of Fife Council and is fully funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

To find out more and submit an enquiry - https://findbusinesssupport.gov.scot/service/funding/business-efficiency-grants-for-fife-based-businesses