Rural Enterprise Grant Scheme

As a result of the Comprehensive Spending Review in 2010, Defra has recently announced that there will be funding reductions to elements of the RDPE programme. The Rural Enterprise Grant Scheme's budget, which is funded under RDPE, has therefore been reduced and we can no longer accept any new applications.

We understand that Defra will be developing a new range of nationally consistent small grant schemes from April 2012. If you have a proposal or, wish to find out more about the new schemes please contact Advantage West Midlands RDPE Team on 0121 503 3220.

For further information on the RDPE transition process please click on the following link which responds to a range of questions from stakeholders arising from the transition process and budget reductions.

RDPE Transition Questions and Answers

The Rural Enterprise Grant (REG) is a small capital grants programme funded under the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE), and has been investing in rural businesses since October 2008. It is available to farmers and specific rural micro-businesses in the West Midlands region.

Funds are available for eligible applicants for investments in Environmental Technologies, Food and Drink and Tourism.  Projects which are based on-farm and whose core activities support agricultural businesses may also be considered.

Farmers and members of farming households may be eligible to apply for a wider programme of grant funding linked to farm diversification activities.

The regional RDPE programme is managed by Advantage West Midlands, the Regional Development Agency for the West Midlands Region. The Rural Enterprise Grant Scheme is administered by Herefordshire Council.

The key criterion is that the applicant is an eligible RDPE beneficiary, i.e.

• farm business
• members of farming households and 
• new or existing businesses of less than 10 full time equivalent employees whose turnover is equivalent to less than €2m. The business will need to be located in the eligible area (determined by postcode)

To find out more you can download a summary of the scheme by clicking the appropriate resource from the box below, and contacting the Programme Manager to discuss your proposal and confirm that your project is eligible.

You will be asked to complete a Stage One Enquiry Form, which can be downloaded using the links below.

If the details of your project meet the initial criteria and priorities of the scheme, you will be invited to complete a full application.

Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) is part of the Solutions for Business portfolio of publicly funded business support.

Contact Details

West Midlands Rural Grants Manager
PO Box 4
Plough Lane
Hereford
HR4 0XH
Tel: 01432 383616 or 01432 260662
Fax: 01432 383031
Email: regscheme@herefordshire.gov.uk

Resources

Rural Enterprise Grant Brochure

Adobe PDF

596 kb

Rural Enterprise Grant Stage One Enquiry Form

55 kb

Rural Enterprise Grant Stage One Enquiry Form (for electronic completion)

MS Word

346 kb

If you need help to understand a document, or would like it in another format or language, please call 01432 260500 or email info@herefordshire.gov.uk

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