North East business growth fund urges businesses to apply before it runs out

The North East Business Support Fund (NBSL) has helped nearly 5,000 SMEs over the last 18 years with grants totalling £9.1 million.

The European-funded scheme is the longest established business support programme in the region but will end in March 2023, and NBSL want to ensure the scheme makes the maximum impact in the region.

The fund offers grants of up to 40 percent to County Durham SMEs for projects costing between £2,500 and £8,000.

Schemes to help businesses grow are most likely to get approved and applications are being encouraged from business that have not accessed the fund before.

NBSL business support manager John King said: “The success of the North East Business Support Fund has been incredible. It has long been one of the region’s most accessible and effective forms of grant funding for SMEs. The secret of its success is its simplicity: it’s there to help businesses grow; and its application process is simple, taking just 15 minutes to complete, and having already achieved so much, we want this fund to end on a high.

“We are working hard to maximise the opportunity this grant offers. This tranche of funding must be allocated before the end of March 2023, and we want to see every penny spent on helping our regional business community evolve.”

Apply for NBSL funding at www.nbsl.org.uk.