Evidence you need to include with your Main Application

Once you have completed your main application form, you will need to send this into us with all the supporting evidence we have asked for. You will need to include the following information with your application form:-

Quotes and/or tenders for all items purchased/work undertaken
An explanation of how the project will be funded and confirmation/proof of match funding
Financial accounts for the applicants business
Any permissions, consents and licences required for the project
Supporting case studies, market research or feasibility studies
Evidence of project team experience and capacity to deliver
Any relevant photographs, architects drawings or plans
Proof of tenancy (if applicable)

Quotes and/or tenders

You must supply quotes or references to catalogue listings for each item purchased (see table below for number of quotes required)

£1,500 or less	2 quotes or references to 2 catalogue listings
£1,501 – £50,000	3 quotes or references to 3 catalogue listings or 3 formal tenders

Quotes should be originals. They should come from different suppliers that trade as standalone businesses (not linked through shared ownership) and they should be independent from the applicant or the applicant’s business.
References to catalogue listings should be print-outs or photocopies – they should include the date when printed or copied, the item description and price, the name of the company or catalogue and the page no or webpage.
All quotes or tenders should include a detailed and itemised breakdown of costs, the supplier’s address, tel no and contact name, the VAT number (if supplier is VAT registered and VAT is itemised on the quote) and the supplier’s company registration no. if they are a limited company.
The quotes or tenders must be comparable to each other in terms of quality, size, quantity, units and specification. They should be from the last 6 months and still valid, and they should be made out to the same business address as provided on the application form (this also applies to online quotes).
Applicants are expected to show best value for money for any equipment, so they will need to give a detailed justification if they haven’t used the cheapest quotes. We may also check your quotes against market rates.
The following reasons will not be accepted as sufficient justification for why the applicant has not used the cheapest quote; the location of the supplier, the fact they have used a supplier before or the supplier has offered a deal regards maintenance or future service.
If an applicant buys second-hand equipment, they must provide a declaration from the seller (at point of claiming) that proves; original proof of purchase, it hasn’t been bought using public funds in the last 7 years, it meets health and safety legislation, it has at least 5 years useful life remaining from the date of the final grant payment, and it doesn’t cost more than the market value for new equipment.

Your Financial Accounts

You must send us copies of accounts for the business or organisation applying for the grant. Copies of all of the following must be sent; title and introduction pages, profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and account notes pages.
If your grant amount is less than £35,000, copies of financial accounts are needed for the last 2 years. If your grant amount is over £35,000, copies of financial accounts are needed for the last 3 years.
If you are a new business and don’t have accounts covering the 2 or 3 years required, you must send one of the following; draft accounts, latest tax returns, management accounts or an opening statement from an accountant that includes expected income and operating expenses.

Permissions, consents and licences

If your project needs specific permissions, consents and licences for the proposals to go ahead, they must be sent in with your application hardcopy. For example, this could be planning permission (talk to your local authority to determine if this is needed), or environmental consents such as an abstraction licence from the Environment Agency.
If your local authority confirms that full planning permission for a building is not needed, written proof of this should be included with the application. We cannot provide funding to a project that does not provide full evidence of any required permissions or licences.
You must include relevant photographs, architects drawings or plans as relevant to the project if work is to be carried out to land/buildings.

Proof of tenancy

If the activity involves investments in immoveable assets (e.g land and/or buildings), and the applicant is a tenant, the landlord’s written consent to the improvements must be obtained. In addition you must provide written evidence of the tenancy agreement, including the duration of the agreement remaining if it is a fixed term arrangement. The tenancy should be for at least 5 years from the point of claiming the grant.
Once the project has been funded, it is the applicant’s responsibility not to make any substantial changes to the assets or how they are used, and continue to use them for the purpose described in the application, for at least 5 years after receiving final payment.
In the event that the tenancy agreement ends within the 5 year period specified and is not renewed on substantially the same terms as the previous agreement, the applicant will need to repay some or all of the grant monies received. For this reason, we ask that applicants ensure they have at least 5 years remaining on their tenancy agreement and proof of this should be included with the application hardcopy.
For evidence of the tenancy agreement, applicants must send a copy (not original documentation) of the tenancy agreement sections that show; the holding address, tenant, landlord, signatures, and for fixed term agreements – the tenancy term.

Proof of how you will fund the project

We need to know that you can bank roll the project, paying for everything upfront before you claim the grant money from us. You must send us proof that you can do this, either a copy of a bank statement, or loan agreement, overdraft etc.
You must prove that you can meet the match funding required by sending us evidence of this; either a bank statement, or loan agreement etc. If this is to be met by an overdraft, you must be able to prove you can afford the interest repayments and this should be shown as part of your cash flow forecasts in your application.