WHAT IS LOCASE AND HOW CAN MY BUSINESS BENEFIT?
The Low Carbon Across the South and East (LoCASE) programme is supported by the European Regional Development Fund to provide a free business support programme in the South and East. The aim is to help your business to become more competitive and profitable while protecting the environment and encouraging low-carbon solutions.
To do this, LoCASE provides grants for businesses of up to £10,000 as well as training workshops and fully funded events. Targeted business support is on offer for companies who offer “green” or low carbon goods and services.
HOW WILL IT DO IT?
The LoCASE Programme brings together 3 key requirements for the growth of a low carbon economy – “Stimulating Demand”, “Supporting Supply” and “Transferring Knowledge”. This work will offer focused, individual support to SMEs (including social enterprises) improving competitiveness and creating jobs through increased energy efficiency and new low carbon business predominantly across the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) areas of South East (SELEP), Solent, Coast 2 Capital and Enterprise M3.
Achieving these ambitious targets means creating and encouraging collaboration of a range of stakeholders, sectors and supply chains across the South and East. This builds on the shared aims of linking the economy, environment and sustainability, bringing them into reality through best practice. Whether it be unlocking funding for an energy efficiency upgrade to their operations, developing or improve their ‘green’ product/service or simply assisting them to streamline or innovate, LoCASE is here to support businesses.
WHERE IS LOCASE DELIVERED AND FOR HOW LONG?
LoCASE is being delivered from Spring 2016 until Spring 2023 across the South and East. The partnership consists of local authorities and universities across four Local Enterprise areas which are SELEP, Coast to Capital, Enterprise M3 and Solent. SMEs are able to seamlessly access the programme through multiple routes including local authority or Growth Hub referral, engagement at awareness-raising events and peer-to-peer recommendations. If you’ve already benefitted or know someone that has, don’t be afraid to share information about the programme by word of mouth – our funding is secure and available until Spring 2023.
If you would like to register your interest to receive a grant, please complete and submit the Eligibility Questionnaire. Guidance is available to help understand the variety of project costs that grant funding can support
LoCASE is a grant funding programme providing (non-repayable!) grants for small and medium-sized businesses, social enterprises or charities to make your business greener – either through launching new eco products, processes or services, developing your green business or through reducing your operation’s environmental impact through energy efficiency measures like LED lighting upgrade, Solar Panels or Air Source Heat pump installation and other resource-saving projects.
The LoCASE grant limit is now up to £20,000. The minimum grant remains at £1,000 and still covers up to 40% of eligible costs. Grants are calculated by the CO2e savings and the additionality impacts of projects. We are very pleased by this news which should help businesses look at higher value projects, which have normally got longer returns on investment. This will enable businesses to invest to better their carbon footprint and cut their energy costs at a time when there is instability and inflation in energy pricing.
The LoCASE Hampshire team is on hand to help you with your application. Don’t miss out though as the programme must close in around 9 months’ time, so register now to claim your grant
The grant will form up to 40% of the cost of your eligible project, with the remainder matched by your business:
- Any business can use this money toward having energy efficiency measures installed for their business. The grant can contribute to both the cost of materials or equipment and any installation. Projects which save on fuel/mileage are also acceptable.
- If your business offers low carbon (or “green”) goods or services, a business development grant is also available to you. You can claim against costs such as marketing, consultancy, equipment, IT software, product/process development, accreditation and certification.
If you would like to register your interest to receive a grant, please complete and submit the Eligibility Questionnaire.
Guidance is available to help understand the variety of project costs that grant funding can support.
To be eligible for support, you just have to meet the following criteria:
- You must be a small or medium enterprise (SME). This includes:
- Employing 250 (FTE) employees or less
- Having an annual turnover of £44M or less and an annual balance sheet of £38M or less
- If another firm owns more than a quarter of your company, they must meet the above criteria
- Your organisation must not have received more than approximately £200,000 of state aid in the last three years
N.B. – Businesses applying for a business development grant must be an organisation which offers goods or services which improves the environment, can be considered to lower the environmental impact of their customers, or works as part of the supply chain for other businesses who do work around the environment.
Your business should fit somewhere into the following:
- Decarbonising the energy system
- Improving energy or resource efficiency
- Preserving and enhancing the natural environment
If you aren’t sure if your business would fit, or to enquire about other LoCASE services, please email us.
