Grant applications have a reputation for being hard to complete. You don’t always know what the assessor is looking for…let alone how you’ll fit all the answers and details expected into 400 words! Many companies, even those experienced at winning bids, are finding it harder and harder to secure funding compared to the days before the pandemic, and now that the SMART grant application format has changed, will find it harder to fit a compelling case for funding in fewer words and appendices that before.

So how can we help?

The goal of this 2-hour workshop is to provide you with the tools, the knowledge, and the understanding of the application process to help you complete your own submission. Delivered in a friendly and informative interactive virtual webinar, your expert guide is Nicola Musgrove, Entrepreneurial Programmes Director of Anchored In whose current role includes designing national start-up training programmes and mentoring companies on how to access and develop their business case for funding and investment, coaching companies on completing grant applications, and preparing themselves for investment. She also actively works with a pool of Innovate UK and EU grant assessors and so has a unique insight into what they are looking for.

Nicola will explain all you need to know about how to think like an assessor, using an Innovate UK SMART grant application as an example. She will provide a best practice approach, taking you through the positives and pitfalls using real-world examples, tips and tricks from real-life Innovate UK grant assessors. She will also tell you where grants can be located. At the end of the workshop, you will have an understanding of how to complete a grant application, using an Innovate UK SMART grant template, and a step-by-step process to building up your own application.

Please note that this event is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and is delivered as part of the Innovation Support for Business programme to help SMEs. By engaging in this programme you are being offered assistance under the De Minimis regulation which allows a company to receive up to but not exceeding €200,000 of public funding (at the applicable exchange rate) of De Minimis aid over a rolling three-tax year fiscal period. This De Minimis declaration does not cover undertakings engaged in: the primary production of agricultural goods and fisheries/aquaculture, road freight, services of general economic interest and export related activities and activities favouring domestic over imported goods. Please note, support cannot be given to undertakings (businesses) in difficulty. In order to receive support from this programme, you will be required to complete an application form and other relevant documentation. If you need to check your current position for state aid please contact us. If you would like any further information on De Minimis aid and Special Drawing Rights (SDR) subsidies, please see the state aid page on the OxLEP Business website:

https://oxlepbusiness.co.uk/state-aid