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The Abbey Information Exchange: Receive up to £175k through RDPE grant.

Friday, 17 January 2020





Receive up to £175k with an RDPE grant.

A summary of GOV.UK Rural Development Programme England’s Handbook. Who is eligible and how to apply for the grant.




For our second feature in our exchange, we discuss how your business can benefit from the UK Government’s RDPE grant. But first, let’s address the question, what is an RDPE grant…?

RDPE stands for Rural Development Programme for England and its objective is simple, to create jobs and growth in the rural economy through funding. The fund itself can help pay for constructing or improving buildings or buying new equipment and machinery. Examples may include a small rural leathercraft business wanting to extend their workplace to make room for new tooling and an expanding team. This in turn, will enable the company to make more product, improve their quality and subsequently lead to new markets, locally, nationally and internationally.   
There is a 2-part application process starting with submitting an expression of interest (EOI) to your Rural Payments Agency (RPA). The agency will look for projects which fulfil local and national priorities and best match their criteria. If the RPA concludes your expression of interest is suitable, they will invite you to submit a full application.

Below, we’ve summarised the key points in the 68-page document from GOV.UK.

Does my business qualify?
This grant is available for small and micro businesses that are rural based. The grant also extends to farmers who are diversifying into non-agricultural activities. You can see which category your business qualifies in by viewing the table below.

Business SizeNumbers of FTE employeesAnnual Turnover
SmallFewer than 50£8.5m or less
MicroFewer than 10£1.7m or less.

*FTE – full time employee refers to an individual who works 30 hours or more per week.

Businesses looking to apply must be aware of the legalities which may link them to another business i.e. being a majority shareholder. This might mean your business exceeds the size limit for this funding.

How much funding will I receive?
The minimum amount of funding a business will receive is £20,000 and the maximum is £175,000. This funding is paid for in stages, in arrears and can be claimed after the project has been completed and paid for. Businesses must show they have sufficient funds to pay for costs incurred by the project until they receive the grant.
 
 
How is the grant funded?
The grant is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) which is part of the European Structural and Investment Funds. However, the UK Government has guaranteed any rural funding which has been agreed by the end of 2020, to be fully funded through the entire project. This means successful applicants will not be affected post Brexit.

How do I apply?
Please download your Expression of Interest (EOI) form here and email growthapps@rpa.gov.uk. Please note, RPA will only accept Microsoft Excel documents saved in the 1997-2003 XLS format.

The RPA must receive your EOI by 16th February 2020.

If you require any help with your application, you can attend a Growth Programme workshop. For locations and dates, please click here.

If you can’t make one of the events listed, please refer to page 28 in the document below. You can also learn what your area’s funding priorities are as set by the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP) on page 29 by clicking on your location.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rdpe-growth-programme-eoi-workshop-various-locations-tickets-79685763263

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rdpe-growth-programme