A Midlands lawyer has urged farmers and rural entrepreneurs to get aboard a new Government grant initiative.
Helen Gough, a solicitor with Lodders in Stratford-upon-Avon and a member of the Agricultural Law Association, said the Rural Economy Grant Scheme was an opportunity to make the sort of small-scale investment initiatives, which many had thought about but couldn’t afford to implement, actually happen.
“It may be you want to diversify the business, it may be you have ideas for expansion … I believe the REG is well worth a look.
“The test will be whether it is light on its feet avoiding the time-consuming and energy-sapping red tape and regulation which all too often seems to come with anything associated with civil servants.”
The scheme, launched earlier this year, is worth up to £60 million in total.
Aimed at SME and micro businesses, it has been introduced under the Rural Development Program for England and is designed to complement the Farming and Forestry Improvement Scheme (FFIS) brought in last November.
REG grants will range from £25,000 to about £1 million.
Schemes need to relate to various themes including farm competitiveness, water resource management, animal health and welfare, rural tourism, forestry and agri-food.
Ms Gough said: “This could allow farmers and rural entrepreneurs to become more competitive and break new ground.
“We are not talking huge amounts of money but this is seed corn finance which can make the difference to whether a project goes ahead or not.
“Countryside folk can get too caught up in their day to day world. Often they have all sorts of under-utilised assets, such as buildings and land. This is a chance to make the wider picture a reality.”
To be eligible an outline of the project has to be submitted first, detailing investment requirements, the likely benefits and in which way the scheme meets the qualifying criteria. Applications must be submitted by April 30.
If the proposal finds favour then the next step is submission of a business plan.
Successful applicants will be eligible to receive up to 40 per cent of the cost of projects.
