Rural businesses have their last chance to apply for a share of a £50 million grant scheme to boost entrepreneurship in the countryside.
The government funding is focusing on rural businesses, and is still up for grabs with a little over a week left to apply.
Rural businesses and start-ups are being encouraged to apply for a share of its Growth Programme, which provides grants from £20,000 up to £750,000 to boost productivity and create local jobs.
So far the scheme has seen around £110 million awarded to 625 projects across England, creating almost 4,000 new jobs in rural communities since 2015.
In Cumbria, fresh food supplier Caterite Food and Wineservice secured funding to significantly expand their vegetable and salad processing facility, creating 10 new local jobs.
Elsewhere, a Devon local landscaping business has used the funding to move into a new purpose-built facility that promotes environmentally friendly operations, such as recycling, re-using materials and growing an extensive nursery stock.
To apply for this funding, interested parties need to send an Expression of Interest (EOI) form to the Rural Payments Agency outlining how they meet the criteria for the scheme by midnight on 16 February.
Successful applicants will then be invited to submit a full application.
