Finance and Funding

Getting the right type of finance for your business is essential. There are many different types available including loans, grants and equity finance (investment) - each of them designed to meet different needs.

Loans

Fredericks Oxfordshire
Fredericks Oxfordshire is a local loan fund for viable businesses that have been turned down by a bank or a mainstream lender. The business can be at any stage - money to start-up; capital to expand the business; or funds to bridge a gap. For start-up businesses Fredericks Oxfordshire offers up to a maximum of £10,000, though the average loan is less than £5,000. For further information please download the Fredericks Oxfordshire flyer or visit the Fredericks Oxfordshire website.

Be the Boss
Be the Boss provides funding, training and mentoring support to UK Armed Services leavers on how to run a successful small business. You can apply for start-up funding of up to £7,500, and for funding to grow your existing business (if you have been trading for more than 12 months and less than 24 months) of up to £30,000. Those receiving start-up funding can also apply for growth funding, once the business has been trading successfully for six months. For further information please visit the Be the Boss website.

Enterprise Finance Guarantee
The Enterprise Finance Guarantee is a Government loan guarantee scheme. The loans are available from ordinary commercial banks and can be up to £1million, repayable over a period of up to 10 years. The scheme is open to viable businesses with an annual turnover of up to £25m. Contact your bank for further details

Grants

Grant for R&D
The Grant for R & D programme assists businesses, including pre-start-ups and start-ups, to engage in Research & Development projects in strategically important areas of science, engineering and technology from which successful new products, processes and services can emerge. Three types of grant are available:

Proof of Market (up to £25,000 grant)
Proof of Concept (up to £100,000 grant)
Development of Prototype (up to £250,000 grant)

For more information please see the Technology Strategy Board website.

Sustainable Routes
Sustainable Routes is a grant scheme offering up to £1,000 to businesses, excluding franchisees, who want to cut travel costs by adopting new ways of working. If your business has been trading for at least two years and has a turnover of at least £75,000, then please see the Sustainable Routes website for more information.

Apprenticeship Grant for Employers of 16 to 24 year olds
The National Apprenticeship Service provides £1,500 grants to small & medium sized employers to take on new apprentices between 16 and 24 years old.
The £1,500 is in addition to the training costs of the Apprenticeship framework which are met in full for young people aged 16 to 18 and 50% for those aged 19 to 24.
For further information including eligibility criteria, please see the Employer Fact Sheet.

Shell LiveWIRE Grand Ideas Awards
If you're aged 16-30, based in the UK and need funding to get your new business or project off the ground, Shell LiveWIRE have up to 5 x £1,000 prizes to give away each month to the most innovative ideas submitted by new businesses in their first 12 months of trading.
Please see the Shell LiveWIRE website for more information.

Fund101
Fund101 from Enterprise Nation is an innovative grant scheme offering awards of up to £500 to help get businesses started. The money is to buy equipment, promotion flyers, hardware or other basic things to get your business started. Please see the Enterprise Nation website for more information.

Other grants
The Council subscribes to Grants4.info, a user-friendly service that has been devised to assist organisations in identifying funding sources available for specific projects. To search for grants, please visit the Grants4 website. There is no charge for this service.

Investment

Oxfordshire Investment Opportunity Network
The Oxfordshire Investment Opportunity Network (OION) was established in 1995 as one of the UK's first business angel networks. Today, it ranks among the most successful in Europe. OION links investors to companies with high growth potential who are seeking business development funds from £50,000 to over £1m. For more information please visit the OION website.

Oxford Early investments
Oxford Early Investments (OEI) is a business angel network that focuses on innovative companies at the very early stages of technical and commercial development. These companies are often building on an initial proof of concept, and require investment capital of between £20,000 and £150,000 to develop their product. This stage of company growth is often the most difficult to fund. For more information please visit the OEI website.

The Thames Valley Investment Network
The Thames Valley Investment Network (TVIN) links investors to companies with high growth potential who are seeking funding from £50,000 to £500,000. For more information please visit the TVIN website.

British Business Angels Association
The British Business Angels Association (BBAA) is the national trade association dedicated to promoting angel investing and supporting early stage investment in the UK. The BBAA now represents almost 100 organisations including the vast majority of business angel networks across the UK and over 20 early stage venture capital funds. For further information and to search for more investment networks, please see the BBAA website.

Finance South East
Finance South East help growth businesses achieve their potential through direct investment from its £33.6m funds under management, together with a range of professional support and advice. It provides an integrated, independent and specialist offering which prepares companies for investment and high growth

For further information please visit the Finance South East website or contact them on 01276 608510

Further Information

If you are struggling with business debt, please also see the Dealing with business debt page.

Business Link have published two "No Nonsense" guides to Finance and Funding - one is a Guide to Small Business Funding and the other is a Guide to Finance for High Growth Companies. Copies are available from the Download Section on the right hand side of this page.
For further information on finance and funding please contact the Business Development Team or call 01993 861485