Welcome to the latest funding update from Dorset Gateway.
These are understandably extremely challenging times for our local businesses, their staff and the wider population in general. The government has unveiled an unprecedented range of measures, financial and non-financial, to support businesses, including the self-employed and those offering apprenticeships. The latest COVID-19 business support information is available on our website and being shared across our Twitter and LinkedIn.
Amidst challenges the COVID-19 outbreak has brought, there remains some good news for UK businesses. There’s currently around £55 million of research and development grant funding in the UK, aimed primarily at SMEs. This funding is there to support the development of companies with innovative ideas that meet a market need – whether start-up or scale-up.
We can offer local businesses up to 40 hours of fully-funded specialist bid writing support. In addition, we’re hosting a live bid writing Q&A webinar at 12:00 on Friday 3 April to answer all your bid-writing questions. To help you understand bid-writing and to focus the Q&A, we invite you to listen to our #BidBites podcast series being released from 30 March.
As well as offering support for businesses, the government is seeking support from UK businesses to help respond to the Coronavirus. NHSX is calling on all innovators who can support the elderly, vulnerable and self-isolating during COVID-19 to apply for government funding of up to £25,000 to test their solution. This is aimed at helping in the community - they are not looking for solutions that are trying to solve clinical problems or require integration with NHS systems. You can find out more on the Techforce19 Challenge website.
In this update, we’re chosen to focus on funding that supports the One Health agenda. In early March 2020 we hosted the One Health 2020: Aquaculture Expo at Kingston Maurwood College, packed with business, UK government representatives and academia with an interest in developing UK aquaculture. A key part of the day was exploring funding opportunities that are available to aquaculture companies, such as the Maritime Fisheries Fund, Seafood Innovation Fund and (although these are available to all other relevant industries) Transforming Food Production (new rounds opening later in 2020) and Innovate UK SMART Grant.
Check out our video to find out more about the sector and why the Department for International Trade has identified Dorset as a high potential opportunity for inward investment.
In terms of on-going funding support, there are other opportunities covering key One Health areas to tackle pollution, plastic, biomedical science, cyber security (all businesses), agricultural productivity and sustainability, etc. These rounds are:
Closes: 1 April 2020
Closes: 15 April 2020
Closes: 15 April 2020
Closes: 15 April 2020
Closes: 15 April 2020
Closes: 6 May 2020
Closes: 13 May 2020
Closes: 20 May 2020
Closes: 30 June 2020
Closes: 1 July 2020
If you’re interested in applying for any of these funding rounds and you’re a Dorset-based company with a game-changing innovative idea, contact our fully-funded Bid Writing Support Service for guidance and support.
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