Grant Funding For Young Businesses Opens For Applications

15th November 2024

Young businesses and social enterprises in the Highlands and Islands looking to increase productivity, innovation and employment can apply for funding from HIE.

The fourth round of the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) Young Business Capital Grant (YBCG) is now open to businesses that have been trading for less than five years with up to 250 full-time equivalent employees.

It follows on from the success of the first three rounds of the programme introduced by HIE in 2020 to accelerate recovery from the pandemic.

Together, the previous rounds have resulted in awards totalling almost £3m, generating around 196 FTE jobs and increased business turnover by more than £33.7m.

Businesses interested in applying must have been trading for less than five years, operate within a defined period of growth sectors (see notes) and have a clear ambition to work outwith local markets.

The scheme can provide grant funding of between 20 and 50 percent of eligible costs including development of new and existing business premises, investment in new technology, capital equipment and works. The minimum grant available is £10,000.  

YBCG aims to help businesses and social enterprises to accelerate business growth, increase their contribution to the local economy and help to create new employment opportunities.

Rachel Hunter, director of enterprise and community support at HIE, said:

"We are looking to support projects that help businesses and social enterprises to grow. That could be through investment enabling new market entry, increased sales or the creation of quality employment opportunities.

"We had a great response across the region in the first three rounds of funding. Opening this up again will provide the incentive needed to assist more young businesses to move their plans forward and expand their impact on the local economy."

Through a previous round of the YBCG scheme, North Uist Distillery was awarded £93,000 towards the cost of acquiring and installing whisky production equipment including stills. The business currently produces bottled gin and aspires to produce a world-class single malt whisky at Nunton Steadings in Benbecula, which has been redeveloped into a distillery, shop and visitor centre.

Shetland Oysters was awarded £11,690. The business is operated by Winston Brown and based on a family croft at Whiteness, Shetland, where oysters are cultivated and processed. The fund enabled the company to purchase equipment to help get products to market by harvesting, grading and packaging all oysters on site. Through the project, one full-time member of staff was recruited.

Another business supported through the scheme was Argyll Coffee Roasters, which was awarded £10,751 in a previous round. Based in Tighnabruaich on the Cowal peninsula, founder Eve Macfarlane operates a coffee roasting enterprise, selling roasted speciality coffee to wholesale and trade customers as well as directly to customers online. The project has enabled her to purchase new equipment to help produce more coffee for sale and this has resulted in the creation of a new post to support the growth of the business.

In Caithness, North Coast Watersports, a partnership of two young champion surfers whose main business is operating a surf school, was awarded funding through a previous round of the fund. Having established a solid reputation for providing an excellent service and getting the business on to a solid footing, they wanted to expand their offering by investing in a jet-ski to provide safety cover for big wave surfers and a RIB to allow boat trips and safety cover for paddleboarders and coasteering, together with safety and ancillary equipment. HIE provided 50 percent funding through the scheme towards the business's £67k investment in the project.

Lossiemouth-based agricultural machinery manufacturer, Agropack benefited from two awards in previous rounds, which has helped the business grow. The firm supplies potato processing machinery and packing lines from a workshop in Lossiemouth where they also store and recondition used machines for resale. They received £47,209 in 2022 towards the purchase of new workshop equipment to ensure that modern and high tech infrastructure is in place to increase productivity and deliver world class products.

More details on eligibility and applying are on the HIE website at:
https://www.hie.co.uk/ybcapitalinvestment

Businesses and social enterprises more than five years old that are interested in finding out how HIE can support their capital investment plans, should contact enquiries@hient.co.uk

YBCG closes for expressions of interest on 31 December 2025.