An opportunity to bid for significant funds to help kick-start development at stalled sites across the county has been launched by the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP).

But firms and local authorities keen to bid need to make their interest known by the end of this week.

It has unveiled the latest found of its Growing Places Fund (GPF) which last year approved an £800,000 loan towards the £8.4m conversion of the Fitted Rigging House at the Historic Dockyard Chatham.

GPF works as a recycled capital loan scheme, regenerating funds based on the repayment schedules agreed for existing funded projects.

To date, a total of £54.4m has been invested in 21 projects across the south east from an original pot of £49.2m, which has grown thanks to the recyclable nature of the fund.

Now SELEP is calling on businesses, local authorities and other partners in the area to bid for between £250,000 and £3.5m for their projects, which will be prioritised based on the assessment criteria for the available funding.

The total amount of funding through GPF currently available for reinvestment is £20.724m, of which £15.595m will be available in 2020/21 and a further £5.129m in 2021/22.

Christian Brodie, chair of SELEP, said: “We are excited to launch this call for projects. We have had some excellent projects in the past which have made a real difference to their local areas.
"This latest round provides another opportunity for the South East LEP to kick start projects which may not otherwise be moving forward due to the uncertain economic climate."

Companies wishing to submit their project for funding from the GPF have until Friday, October 18, to make initial contact with the appropriate lead officer with the deadline for submissions on Friday, November 1.

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