A new website has launched offering a single point of access to information about millions of pounds worth of grants available to businesses in the UK.
www.j4b.co.uk claims to offer information on around 5,000 capital grants which British businesses can apply for free of charge. The aim of the site is to make businesses aware of the money available to them - apparently more than £100 million is currently available but isn't claimed because of lack of awareness or because there's mountains of red tape to negotiate.
j4b.co.uk ("just for business") has been set up by Nick Jaspan of the Newsco publishing group and former Financial Times journalist Ian Hamilton Fazey, who say that the pot of money designed to benefit Britain's 3.7 million companies progress and develop isn't being claimed because people are put off by the time involved in searching for the relevant information, which is often complex and confusing.
The site claims to have the most comprehensive, up-to-date information on business grants currently available, ranging from Regional Selective Assistance grants which can consist of awards for several million pounds, to localised grants for under £100. The service should be of particular benefit to SMEs, because more funding is potentially available to them. Hamilton Fazey said: "A staggering 93% of SMEs are not taking advantage of the grants available to them. Most are reliant on bank overdrafts, loans or family savings. It's often hard enough for them to keep up with all the bureaucracy that surrounds running a business, they don't have time to tackle the jungle of researching grants. This is a terrible shame because it is precisely these smaller enterprises which many grants are designed to support, and which can often go under through a lack of capital."
j4b also believes its site will save taxpayers' money, by helping to save money the government currently spends on advertising and promoting grants to businesses.
To try the service out we visited the site and put in TrainingZONE's details. Within seconds a lengthy list appeared detailing grants we would be able to apply for. On closer inspection there were 27 possibilities, including support for undertaking market research, money for training for overseas visitors working with the company, money to help set up projects in deprived areas of the country, details of an Access to Enterprise grant available for those at the early stages of setting up a business and information about the Missions Scheme, which works to bring together those interested in management best practice across Europe. There was also information about discretionary grants available for those working towards Investors in People accreditation and details of the New Deal schemes.
Once you've identified those grants you're interested in applying for, you're pointed in the direction of a grant administrator for that particular fund, who will help you get your application moving. You can also make use of an e-mail service which will alert you whenever a new grant is made available. You need to register with the site to access full details of the grants given, but all information given is free of charge.
TrainingZONE says: Although this site doesn't remove the administration involved in applying (which would make these things a lot easier), it's a really useful service for establishing whether there's funding out there you could be eligible for. Our search took only a couple of seconds, so why not check it out? You could be missing out on something!
