A fund of around £75,000 is available to businesses in South Cumbria looking to safeguard jobs.
The cash comes from the GSK Enterprise Fund, which was set up 2019 to help address the local economic impact of job losses resulting from the restructuring of the GSK Ulverston antibiotics business.
Administered by Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, the fund supplied grants to businesses and start-ups of all sizes in eligible areas. It encouraged the creation of new jobs and/or safeguarding of existing jobs, and promoted competitiveness, sustainability and growth.
Due to the challenges which have been facing businesses over the last few years, not all of those awarded grants have been able to use or fully use the funding.
The chamber is now able to reopen the scheme for a short period so that we can reallocate that cash.
The fund offers grants to businesses in the LA postcode areas of Cumbria to meet up to 30 per cent of project costs (capital and revenue) which will lead to the creation or safeguarding of permanent jobs.
Suzanne Caldwell, managing director of Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, said: “This scheme has made a huge difference to businesses, who have made some great investments in growth and productivity. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, given the challenges of recent years, we’ve had a few who’ve been unable to implement their projects, either in full or in part. So we now have at least £75,000 available to new applications.”
It is a competitive fund which has monthly deadline for submission for expressions of interest and applications. Forthcoming deadlines are:
- 9am December 1
- 9am January 3
- 9am February 1
