Updated: Updated to include Round 5.
This guide provides general information about the Regional Growth Fund.
For specific information see also:
Regional Growth Fund: a guide for selected bidders
Small businesses may be interested in:
Regional Growth Fund: a guide for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
Case Studies of previously funded projects:
Regional Growth Fund case studies
[PDF, 360KB, 6 pages]
What it is
The Regional Growth Fund (RGF) is a £3.2 billion fund, helping companies throughout England to create jobs between now and the mid-2020s. The payment of Regional Growth Fund money is spread between 2011 and 2017. Regional Growth Fund supports projects and programmes that are using private sector investment to create economic growth and sustainable employment.
The first 3 rounds of the Regional Growth Fund are now delivering, with £2 billion awarded to almost 300 projects and programmes. These projects and programmes have committed to deliver 473,000 jobs and £12 billion of private sector investment.
Following the June 2013 Spending Round allocation of a further £600 million to the Regional Growth Fund, ministers are considering the scope and timings of Round 5 of the Regional Growth Fund. We will make announcements in autumn 2013. This demonstrates the positive impact Regional Growth Fund is having across England, quickly stimulating private sector investment that would otherwise not have gone ahead.
The Regional Growth Fund is a flexible and competitive fund, with bidders able to submit bids either as a project or a programme. It has a minimum bid threshold of £1 million.
Round 5
Round 5 will open on 11 October and close on 9 December 2013.
This round will make funds available to bidders from the private sector seeking £1 million or more for high quality projects that generate private sector investment and create sustainable jobs.
More details about Round 5 will be available on the Regional Growth Fund web pages in the autumn and the application form will be available on this page from October 11 2013.
Small and medium-sized businesses who do not want to bid for this much should be aware there are millions of pounds of Regional Growth Fund cash currently available from programmes for eligible projects.
See Regional Growth Fund: a guide for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for a list of programmes which have money currently available.
A number of local enterprise partnerships and other local partners have made successful bids to the Regional Growth Fund to date. Through Regional Growth Fund programmes, local enterprise partnerships are playing an important role in the provision of business support and investment in local areas.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will be making available an additional £100 million for the Local Growth Fund in the period 2015 to 2017. This will top up the Local Growth Fund with some additional flexible funding to support the priorities identified in each local enterprise partnership’s strategic economic plan. Local enterprise partnerships will no longer be expected to make separate bids to the Regional Growth Fund.
Separately, the government will soon launch Round 5 of the Regional Growth Fund. Round 5 will be available to bids clearly led by private sector proposals, because local enterprise partnerships should use Growth Deals and the Local Growth Fund to secure funding to pursue business support priorities. Local enterprise partnerships may still wish to get involved in the next Regional Growth Fund rounds by supporting or endorsing private sector bids that will help to achieve their priorities for economic growth.
Round 5 regional events and expression of interest days
Potential applicants can find out more information at regional events in the autumn. There will also be ‘expression of interest’ days offering guidance to businesses about their applications.
Dates, locations and booking details will be listed on this web page soon.
Round 6
Round 6 of the Regional Growth Fund will be launched in the summer of 2014 on the same conditions, giving companies unable to apply for Round 5 an opportunity to bid.
Round 4 bids selected
We have selected 102 bids to receive Regional Growth Fund Round 4 funding. See the list of all Regional Growth Fund Round 4 selected bidders.
Of the £506 million of funding awarded in this Round, £314 million will go to 60 companies in the private sector and 12 private sector run Regional Growth Fund programmes.
A further £192 million will go to 30 Regional Growth Fund programmes such as local authorities and local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) who fund eligible SMEs with grants and loans across a range of locations and sectors. See the guide for SMEs.
Selected bidders will be investing £2.8 billion of private sector cash for the projects and programmes. This is expected to safeguard or create 77,000 jobs.
see the Regional Growth Fund Round 4 selected bidders for a full list of the selected projects and programmes by region
selected bidders from Rounds 1, 2 and 3.
How Regional Growth Fund helps businesses
Our case studies have more about businesses that have been helped by funding from the Regional Growth Fund.
See also: Regional Growth Fund: a guide for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
Regional Growth Fund case studies
PDF, 360KB, 6 pages
The Regional Growth Fund application process
When an Regional Growth Fund round is open to receive bids, the Regional Growth Fund team offers a variety of support to ensure that bids are of a high quality and that bidders clearly understand the fund’s objectives. Support includes one-to-one sessions (expression of interest meetings), email and telephone help, simple application forms and a clear, fixed deadline.
When bidders submit an application, their bid is subject to an economic appraisal to consider a range of value for money factors.
An Independent Advisory Panel, chaired by Lord Heseltine, recommends to ministers which bids government should support.
Independent Advisory and Ministerial Panels
[MS Word Document, 28KB]
The Ministerial Group, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, then meets to discuss the recommendations and all the other bids, and agrees who to select for RGF support.
Once a bid has been selected, the bidder works with the RGF team to complete a due diligence process to agree the terms of the support RGF can provide, and to provide assurance that the project or programme can be delivered.
Not all selected bidders will complete due diligence and take up their offer of funding. Some will choose to withdraw; this is a normal part of a competitive funding process where due diligence checks are made after selection.
Exceptional Regional Growth Fund
Ministers reserve the option to use Regional Growth Fund funding flexibly in order to respond quickly to economic shocks and opportunities. This will be in exceptional circumstances only, and will take place outside the normal bidding process. Applications for exceptional Regional Growth Fund support will be subject to the same level of appraisal, including independent scrutiny. Where support is granted due diligence is still required.
Organisations interested in exceptional Regional Growth Fund should first approach the government department that manages their sector relationship. Departments will determine what other sources of support might be available before considering applying for exceptional Regional Growth Fund.
For further information see Questions and Answers on Exceptional Regional Growth Fund (eRGF) support.
Regional Growth Fund Annual Monitoring Report 2013
We have published the first Regional Growth Fund Annual Monitoring Report (AMR). It reports on the progress made by the 239 projects and programmes that were awarded Regional Growth Fund support in Rounds 1 and 2. It covers the period to 31 March 2013.
Regional Growth Fund selected programmes: Rounds 1, 2 and 3
This list shows all the approved programmes in the UK.
RGF selected programmes
PDF, 267KB, 7 pages
Other funding schemes
Any business still looking for government support to help them grow can look at the other sources of funding listed below, or go to the government’s finance finder at www.gov.uk/business-finance-support-finder
Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) - a loan guarantee scheme which facilitates additional lending to viable and eligible small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) lacking adequate security or proven track record for a normal commercial loan.
Start up loans - loans aimed at young entrepreneurs. This scheme is aimed at 18-30 year olds, who are living in England and looking for finance to start a business.
Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) - offers tax breaks to investors into small start-up businesses. The SEIS aims to encourage investment in small and early stage companies by reducing the risk to investors of investing in these types of companies.
Government help for exporters - UK Export Finance (also known as the Export Credits Guarantee Department) is the UK’s official export credit agency. It provides government assistance to exporters and investors, principally in the form of insurance policies and guarantees on bank loans.
Legal bases for Regional Growth Fund
The UK legal bases of the Regional Growth Fund are:
Industrial Development Act 1982
Section 126 of Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996
Section 228 of the Banking Act 2009
Section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003
Section 5 of the Science and Technology Act 1965
Section 20 of the Tourism Act
Section 153 Environmental Protection Act 1990
Section 14 of the Education Act 2002
Aid provided under the Regional Growth Fund will be within the limits set out in Articles 13 to 42 of the Commission (EC) Regulation 800/2008 (General Block Exemption Regulation), with the exception of Article 25.
Summary information relating to the Scheme has been registered with the European Commission under reference 32538(2011/X).
For the purposes of the Regional Growth Fund, the definition of an SME is the definition in Annex I of the Commission (EC) Regulation 800/2008 (General Block Exemption Regulation).
Contacts
If you have further queries about the Regional Growth Fund please contact us at growthfund@bis.gsi.gov.uk. Alternatively, you can speak to someone at the Department for Business Innovation and Skills using the following contacts:
Department for Business Innovation and Skills Regional Growth Fund Team: 020 7215 6758, 020 7215 1691 or 020 7215 1589
Department for Business Innovation and Skills Local Offices
North West 0161 2610350
Yorkshire and Humber 07798 675138
North East 07825 841 835
Central and South West 07990 692252