Funding for West Sussex businesses to adapt and innovate in response to coronavirus

West Sussex businesses have been awarded funds to adapt, innovate or evolve to cope with the impact of the coronavirus emergency.
Jonathan Sharrock, chief executive of Coast to Capital LEPJonathan Sharrock, chief executive of Coast to Capital LEP
Jonathan Sharrock, chief executive of Coast to Capital LEP

Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership, which covers the whole of West Sussex, Brighton and Hove and parts of Surrey, has set up its Backing Business Grants fund.

It was brought in to help businesses in the Coast to Capital area mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic by adapting innovating or evolving their businesses.

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So far it has supported more than 80 businesses with grants between £5,000 and £25,000 with a total of £1million already awarded.

The remainder of the £2million fund will be allocated shortly with the team working hard to support as many businesses as possible.

In Steyning, The Sussex Produce Company was awarded £16,207 to evolve the business to allow for deliveries and invest in a website.

Nick Hempleman, chief executive at The Sussex Produce Company, said: “We are over the moon to have received the fantastic support from Coast to Capital to roll out our home delivery scheme to a wider audience.

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“We are working around the clock to build an e-commerce website and hope to have this operational in the next 14 days.

“The investment required would simply not be possible without this support, so from us, our self-isolating customers and our suppliers, we’d like to say the very biggest, locally-sourced thank you.”

Over the coming weeks, Coast to Capital will be sharing more success stories from business who have been awarded funding across West Sussex, Brighton and Hove and East Surrey.

Jonathan Sharrock, chief Executive at Coast to Capital, said: “Our region is one of the immediately hardest hit by Covid-19 in England, and we have been engaging with Government on the importance of supporting our regional economy to restart in order to support the national recovery.

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“As an immediate response, we created the Backing Business Grants fund to help businesses adapt and respond to the crisis.

“We look forward to sharing the impact of this funding in the coming weeks.”

Due to high demand, businesses can still complete an eligibility checklist to be placed on a waiting list.

More details can be found at wwww.coast2capital.org.uk/backing-business-grants

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Funding is dependent on satisfactory due diligence, funding available and final approval.

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