Funding
Investors in Energy Central have access to not only an extensive skills pool and business support from our team and the North East’s business networks, but they can also access to a wealth of funding programmes.
To date more than £30m of government funding has been secured to provide the right conditions for economic growth within Energy Central.
North East Enterprise Zone status
Energy Central provides access to over 16 HA of designated North East Enterprise Zone development space.
The North East LEP oversees the North East Enterprise Zone to support a drive in sustainable private sector growth and job creation in the North East.
Our Enterprise Zone sites provide a number of benefits to businesses in order to ensure the right environment for growth.
This can include:
- Business Rate Discount – businesses can gain up to 100 per cent discount against business rates worth up to £275,000 over a five-year period from occupying the premises on the Enterprise Zone site. This is equivalent to £55,000 per year.
- Enhanced Capital Allowance – businesses can receive up to 100 per cent capital allowance for investment in plant machinery and equipment on Enterprise Zone sites.
North of Tyne Rural Business Growth Service
This offer is part of a dedicated business support programme designed to help businesses develop a comprehensive and robust business plan and guides businesses towards appropriate sources of finance.
Funded by the ERDF, it also includes a Capital Grant Investment Fund to support investment in projects that enable rural businesses to expand productive capacity and / or diversify into new markets or products.
The offer will help address the scale up challenges faced businesses with growth potential in rural areas. It will also help drive increased productivity and business performance, encouraging more overseas trading and incentivising business innovation.
The offer is delivered by Advance Northumberland, a regeneration company dedicated to delivering some of the most transformational projects to regenerate Northumberland.
North of Tyne Growth Fund
The North of Tyne Growth Fund is a £4.6m programme of investment part-funded by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) that supports SME growth.
Small or medium sized businesses could be eligible for a grant of up to 30 per cent of expenditure if they are planning capital investment of at least £134,000, or are expanding or establishing in Newcastle, North Tyneside or Northumberland.
North of Tyne Inward Investment Fund
For businesses looking to make its first investment in Newcastle, North Tyneside or Northumberland there is £10m available to support this investment. For businesses looking to invest and create jobs the fund may be able to contribute up to 10% of costs.
Grants are available between £100,000 up to a maximum of £1m for foreign or UK-owned businesses making a first investment in the area.
North East Investment Fund
The North East Investment Fund is a loan fund supporting capital projects that encourage local economic growth and create jobs in the North East.
It is an evergreen fund which means that all repayments and interest from loans is put back into the fund and re-allocated to support new projects.
The North East Investment Fund is managed by the North East Local Enterprise Partnership and financed by £25m of Growing Places Fund and £30m of Regional Growth Fund.
The North East Investment Fund supports projects that help maintain or improve infrastructure assets. The projects it supports may be a new construction, expansion, renovation, or replacement of an existing facility / facilities. These capital projects must prove how the investment provides an improvement, new feature or benefit, for example: expanding capacity, reducing costs or producing new components.