Grants

What is it?

There are two types of grant available, a capital grant and a training grant.

The TechHUB capital grant can be allocated to capital expenses that will help your business to increase productivity or support your transition to net zero transition. Digital technologies and data innovation in the food and drink industry has grown in recent years with more data than ever being generated, often producing information in real time. Automated processes are also transforming the production line and speeding up processes.

Grants of between 10% and 40% of total project costs are available. This can increase up to 50% where the business is based in a remote or rural area or has been trading for less than 5 years.

The minimum grant award is £10,000.  

The TechHUB training grant aims to support food and drink producers and those in the supply chain based in the Highland Council area, to upskill their workforce in the use of technologies new to the business. Embedding skills and  maximising the opportunity that new technology and data innovation offers.   

The funding is a non-repayable grant of up to £3,000 which can cover up to 70% of costs.

HIE’s financial contribution to the project will be determined by due diligence and the financial need of the business. 

What can the grants be used for?

The capital grant can be used to invest in technologies that will result in one or more of the following:

• Increase efficiency and productivity in production.
  Where technology enables more streamlined and efficient production and monitoring processes. This could include purchase and installation of renewable energy generating devices where there is on site storage capability for example, solar pv, or wind turbines. There is no requirement to have battery storage in place prior to application. We are unable to support renewable generation projects where energy not used is sold to the grid.
  Solar PV can only be supported where it forms part of a larger project to reduce carbon emissions i.e. in conjunction with other suggested uses of the fund which can include battery storage where all energy is reused within the organisation and is not sold to the grid.
• Provide a greater focus on sustainability and net zero
  Technology that can track and monitor your environmental impact allowing you to make informed choices and implement changes to reduce your carbon impact
• Support more environmentally friendly practices
  Including but not limited to, energy efficient process flows; energy efficient equipment, or introducing new equipment that opens new opportunities or improves current practices for reusing waste through recovery and reprocessing.
• Enhance decision making
  Data led decisions have a direct positive impact on investment, production and trade activities.
• Support reformulation
  Algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) systems can analyse the ingredients, flavours and textures of existing products and create new combinations that are appealing, healthy or novel.  This can support you to diversify your offering, reduce costs or meet changing consumer demands.
• Increase transparency and traceability
  making it easier for you to track ingredients and suppliers, enabling both customers and consumers to know where a product has come from and how it was made.
• Improve food safety and quality control 
  making it easier for you to manage and track food safety and quality.

The capital grant cannot be used towards costs of:

• Energy efficient measures relating to the building and building works e.g. insulation, upgrade to doors and windows, building extensions etc
• The purchase of electric vehicles or charging points for electric vehicles. 
• Like for like replacement of machinery that does not increase productivity or reduce carbon emissions.
• Waste management costs involving a third party
• Research and development activity. If you have an idea for a research and development project, please contact HIE’s Innovation Team.
• To match fund another HIE grant.
• Projects that have already started at the time of submitting an expression of interest. Any costs which have been invoiced to the applicant or paid by the applicant prior to submitting an expression of interest will not be eligible for funding.

The training grant can be used for:

Training courses delivered online or in-person that will support staff to operate, implement and maintain technology that is new to the business  resulting in an increase in productivity or reduction in carbon emissions. The grant can support training in the use of technology that will result in one or more of the following:

• Increase efficiency and productivity in production
  Where technology enables more streamlined and efficient production and monitoring processes.
• Provide a greater focus on sustainability and net zero
  Technology that can track and monitor your environmental impact allowing you to make informed choices and implement changes to reduce your carbon impact
• Support more environmentally friendly practices
  Including but not limited to, energy efficient process flows; energy efficient equipment, or introducing new equipment that opens new opportunities or improves current practices for reusing waste through recovery and reprocessing.
• Enhance decision making
  Data led decisions have a direct positive impact on investment, production and trade activities
• Support reformulation
  Algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) systems can analyse the ingredients, flavours and textures of existing products and create new combinations that are appealing, healthy or novel.  This can support you to diversify your offering, reduce costs or meet changing consumer demands
• Increase transparency and traceability
  making it easier for you to track ingredients and suppliers, enabling both customers and consumers to know where a product has come from and how it was made.
• Improve food safety and quality control 
  making it easier for you to manage and track food safety and quality.

The training grant cannot be used for:

• Training on the use of standard Microsoft packages such as Word, Excel, etc.
• Social media/ online marketing training.
• E-commerce.
• Business as usual activity – training should be for technology that provides a step change for the business/ new process.
• Projects that have already started at the time of submitting an expression of interest. Any costs which have been invoiced to the applicant or paid by the applicant prior to submitting an expression of interest will not be eligible for funding.

Who's eligible?

To be eligible for the grant you must be a:

• Private business or social enterprise based and operating in the Highland Council area.
• Be a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME). For a definition of an SME, please see this guide.
• Enterprises involved in activities that directly create a food or drink product for human consumption. Examples include primary and value add processing and manufacturing.
• Supply chain enterprises that directly support these activities. Examples include growing, harvesting, packaging and logistics.
• Have been trading for at least 12 months (start date determined by date of incorporation or registered with HMRC if an unincorporated organisation). 

Applicants must comply with HIE’s fair work conditions for grant support. For more information, please visit our fair work page. If you want to speak to someone about the fair work requirement or need more information, please email enquiries@hient.co.uk 

How much will I pay?

You will be required to provide evidence of match funding to ensure costs can be fully met. This will normally be your own business contribution, however in some cases we will consider funding from other sources.

Application process

Please complete our Food and Drink TechHUB enquiry form.

You will hear about the outcome of your enquiry within 7 working days and if successful, you will be allocated a development manager who will guide you through a stage two application.

If your stage one enquiry proceeds to full application (stage 2) and your project seeks to reduce your carbon emissions you will need to have measured your corporate carbon footprint for at least Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions** (scope 3 required for waste management).
As a minimum we recommend using a recognised foot printing tool or methodology such as the Scottish Business Climate Collaboration. You may also wish to work with a consultant who can provide your business with a carbon emissions and savings report. We recommend Business Energy Scotland.

Full grant applications will need to supply supporting documentation. This includes copies of historic accounts, financial projections, business plans, evidence of quotes for goods and services.

In all cases applicants must demonstrate they have a clear understanding of the digital and technological requirements for the business.  Applicants are encouraged to explore the other TechHUB interventions available – Net Zero Mobilisation; Awareness Raising and Knowledge Exchange; and Specialist Advice which could support their grant application.

The final grant will be subject to specific Terms and Conditions set out in an individual grant award letter.

THE SMALL PRINT - THIS IS IMPORTANT

All HIE grant assistance is discretionary. Grant awards are subject to due diligence and budget availability. Due diligence includes making an assessment on the need for public funding; the viability of the business going forward; the ability of the applicant to deliver the project; the impact of the development on the economy, subsidy control considerations and the strength of the business case presented to HIE.

Making an application to the scheme does not guarantee that your application will be successful. If you are not successful in your application or are only partially successful e.g. you receive funding of a lesser amount than you applied for, we will arrange a call with you to let you know why you have been unsuccessful and point you in the direction of other possible sources of funding.

There is NO appeals process. We are unable to consider a complaint purely relating to dissatisfaction as to the outcome of a funding decision.  However, if you have identified a specific process failure relating to your application then you may wish to make a formal complaint. See our formal complaints process for more information.