Open Air Business February 2018

INDUSTRY TALK
THINKING OUTSIDE
THE BOX
You could also consider schemes to boost your tourism
offer – for example woodland management schemes.
There are a number of different programmes through the
Countryside Stewardship scheme to support the creation
and management of woodland. These schemes can help
you to manage existing woodland for the benefit of local
wildlife, plant new woodland across a minimum area of
three hectares, or improve woodland as part of a wider
environmental scheme across your land.
The main aim of these programmes is to improve the
woodland habitat for wildlife but it’s worth bearing in mind
that these are multi-annual agreements that require you to
manage the land in a certain way for 10 years or more.
Deadlines for some of the programmes are tight – with
some programmes closing in early February 2018, while
other programmes have deadlines later in the year. Again
this is an EU grant scheme and it isn’t clear if or when these
programmes will reopen in 2019. The CLA can keep you upto-date
and let you know when new opportunities arise.
For smaller areas of planting, the Woodland Trust may
be able to help. The Trust sells various tree packs but also
offers one-off grants for planting new small woodlands.
This can cover 60% of the cost of the trees and appropriate
protection, and will also include advice on what species to
plant on your site and how to manage them.
GETTY IMAGES
across the country, with some
groups asking for completed
applications by the summer of
2018, while others are stretching
out into the late autumn. If you are
considering a project, but don’t
feel you are quite at the point of
applying for funding, it is certainly
worth having a chat with the
local programme manager, who
administers your local group, to
make sure you are on the contact
list for news and updates.
GROWTH PROGRAMME
Where LEADER is administered
at a very local level, the Growth
Programme is administered at
a county or multi-county level
through the Local Enterprise
Partnerships (LEPs).
There are three grant funding
schemes under the Growth
Programme – Food Processing,
Business Development, and
Tourism Infrastructure. Each LEP
will have different priorities and
not all will have put funding into
all three schemes so it’s worth
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Katy Anderson is
a regional adviser
for the CLA. The
membership
organisation
represents more
than 30,000 farmers,
landowners and
rural businesses
and advises on
planning, third
party agreements,
taxation and more.
For information on
funding avenues and
more, visit www.cla.
org.uk
checking which schemes you can
access in your local area.
The size of the grants available
is also determined by your local
LEP but the minimum grant
size you will see through the
Growth Programme is £35,000.
With Business Development
and Tourism Infrastructure
the maximum grant is around
£170,000, however the Food
Processing scheme can provide up
to £1million – or even higher!
Again this can cover 40% of your
total eligible project costs, and
the other 60% must be covered by
private match funding. You cannot
apply for both LEADER and the
Growth Programme to help fund a
single project.
Finally, like LEADER, the
Growth Programme is an EU
grant scheme and the deadline
for the Expression of Interest
applications across the country is
31 May 2018 so time is tight. The
guidance documents, along with
the Expression of Interest form, are
available on the gov.uk website.
OTHER
CONSIDERATIONS
If you intend to apply for
grant funding you will
also need to consider
the implications of any
planning permissions
needed such as
change of use, third
party agreements and
taxation when looking at
diversifying.
My advice would
be, if you are thinking
about setting up a new
business, expanding
an existing business or
even just considering
purchasing a new piece
of equipment then
have a look into the
grant funding that is
available. There could
be a significant amount
of money just waiting to
be invested in your rural
business. Good luck!
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