Grant for Research and Development (GRD) (and Smart in Scotland) are government grants to help small and medium sized businesses carry out research or development into innovative technologies that will lead to commercial products or processes. In England the grant is administered by the Regional Development Agencies, and Scottish Enterprise administer Smart in Scotland.
There are four categories of grant available (called projects): micro, research, development and exceptional development.
Micro Projects
Aimed at micro businesses with fewer than 10 staff and balance sheet or turnover less than €2m. The grant rate is 45% of the project’s eligible costs subject to a maximum grant value of £20,000. Micro projects support the development of innovative technologies i.e. taking a product/ process to pre-production stage.
Research Projects
Research projects are accessible to small businesses i.e. less than 50 staff and balance sheet or turnover less than €10m, these support the early proof of concept work leading to a “bench-top” prototype or early alpha software code i.e. the result will not be suitable for direct commercialisation and will require a further development stage. The grant rate is 60% of the eligible project costs up to a maximum grant of £100,000.
Development Projects
Development projects are accessible to all small and medium sized businesses i.e less than 250 staff and balance sheet of less than €43m or a turnover less than €50m. The grant rate is 40% for small enterprises and 35% for medium sized enterprises, both with a maximum grant value of £250,000. Development project ssupport the development of innovative technology through to pre-prduction prototype stage.
Exceptional Development
Exceptional development projects are available to all small and medium sized businesses. Exceptional development projects are expected to have strategic significance for a UK industry sector. The grant rate is 355 of eligible costs to a maximum grant of £500,000. By their nature they are ex ceptional and rarely given. If you are considering such an application we would strongly recommend that you use our consultancy service. Note that not all RDAs offer exceptional development projects.
Proof of Market
Recently introduced, this is aimed at small businesses to help them test the commercial potential of an idea for a technologically innovative product or process. The grant rate is 60% of the eligible costs subject to a maximum grant of £20,000.
General points
The grants are discretionary and competitive, which means that to maximise the chances of being funded the application has to be the best it can be, this is where we can add value. On average between 40 and 50% of applications gain funding. We offer a variety of services and can either draft your application for you, or review your application if you have it ready, to ensure that your project proposal actually addresses the points it is being assessed on. We can also assist on the Carbon Trust Applied Research grant, which is effectively the same grant but without the commercial priority.
Note that the applicant will have to fund the remaining part of the project’s costs, the matched funding. This cannot be in-kind i.e. the applicant has to have private funding available, or be capable of generating the matched funding thorugh normal daily activities. GRD cannot be matched funded by other grant funds.
In addition, if desired, we can provide full project management, or a lesser service of claims management (highly recommended), to ensure that the project is delivered in time or to ensure claims are submitted regularly to maximise the business cash flow.
N.B. Currently no new GRD grant offers are being made by the RDAs pending budget review in the autumn.
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