Page 38 - Horizon Han22

38. UK SPF
The End!
BEU Funding
usinesses often question why Just as a business has to apply for a grant by they can still access business a particular date, and then once approved
support schemes and grants, (such they have a specified timeframe within as the Department for International Trade's which their activities/spend has to be
Internationalisation Fund) which still uses European funding all this time after the UK has left the EU!
So we asked Tracey Watson, Founder of The Funding Forum, for her thoughts.
Firstly, what do the Funding Forum do?
"We specialise in EU and UK public funding, helping local authorities and other business support organisations to develop free business support & grant schemes for local businesses to access."
Tracey explains how the European Structural Investment Funds (ESIF) programme runs in 6-year cycles, the most recent being the 2014-2020 round.
completed.
"In the same way, the UK had to apply for ESIF money before the end of 2020, but they were given
3 years to complete all the activities and spend"
Tracey Watson, EU Funding Specialist Founder of the Funding Forum Ltd
"...hence, some European funded support programmes can continue into 2023. I say 'some' because each grant or support programme will
have its own approved 'end date' by which it has to close."
So we asked: "what happens now that the UK is no longer in the EU and can't access the next round of ESIF?"
As part of its Levelling up programme, the UK government's vision is to invest £2.6 billion in a new fund between 2022 and 2025, which will succeed the EU structural funds.
"The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is not a straightforward like-for- like successor, however the UK
Government have committed to fully match the levels of EU funding previously received in the Northeast and Tees Valley.
Horizon - Taking your international trade further.
Horizon issue 2.indd 38 14/12/2022 14:50:01