Grants and Incentives

If you are thinking of setting up an office or plant in the UK, there is a good chance you will be eligible for some kind of financial assistance.

Altogether, there are about 250 different kinds of financial assistance on offer in the UK. Fortunately, you do not need to understand them all.

The key points to know are these:

• Broadly speaking, you have two main sources of help: the UK government and the European Union.
• The former is the more important.
• There are three types of assisted areas in the UK, which are called Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 Enterprise Grants.
• If you are looking for the UK's most generous grants, you should locate in one of the UK's assisted areas. Sheffield is one of the few Tier 1 assisted areas in the UK.
• In theory, locating in a Tier 1 area gives you access to a larger grant; in practice, this is not always true.
• All UK grants are discretionary, which means factors such as viability, job creation, promotion of exports or economic development are also taken into consideration.
• The size of any grant you receive will be determined by negotiation with the government department or agency offering the grant.
• The key grants to apply for are those that come under the heading of Regional Selective Assistance or RSA.
• Crucially, you must apply for RSA before your investment goes ahead; if you invest first and then apply you will not receive assistance.
• RSA is offered to companies making an investment in the UK for the first time, and also to companies already there which plan expansions or modernisations.

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