Town Centre Recovery Fund

Some key information from the Town Centre Recovery Fund (TCRF) is summarised under the following headings:

• Fund Overview
• How much will be made available?
• Eligibility for grant support
• What a grant may cover
• Associated Application Documents
• How to Apply
• FAQs
• Case studies

Further details are available in the 'Guidance for applicants' and 'Policy' documents, both available in the Associated Application Documents Section below. 

Fund Overview

As part of the successful development of the Stapleford Town Deal Programme, a total of £1million has been allocated for the Town Centre Recovery Fund project.

The Fund reopened to new applications under £5,000 on 13 January 2023. The Board are looking for businesses who can create jobs, improve the accessibility of their business, or provide cofunding. The final deadline for new submissions is 31st January 2023. 

The fund will offer grant support to high street businesses in Stapleford Town Centre, and will be split into two grants to support different aspects of business recovery:

1. The Business Continuity Grant aims to support business resilience and growth over the long term, sustaining occupancy levels within Stapleford Town Centre. This grant will support existing businesses looking to expand the way they distribute their services. 
2. The Building Development Fund is to create buildings of the future; improving accessibility, energy efficiency and the look and feel of Stapleford Town Centre. 

Please note it is not possible to receive multiple grant awards in the reopened round as of January 2023.

How much is available?

Please note only strand A is open to new applications as of 13 January 2023.

Business Continuity Grant (BCG)

Strand A

Grants of up to £5,000.

Strand B

Grants of between £5,001 and £20,000. Businesses will be required to provide a 30% co-funding amount through Strand B. For example, to receive a grant of £10,000 a business will need to provide evidence of co-funding of £3,000 within their proposals.

Building Development Fund (BDF)

Strand A

Grants of up to £5,000 (as of January 2023)

Strand B

Grants of up to £100,000. Businesses will be required to provide a 30% co-funding amount through Strand B. For example to receive a grant of £50,000 a business will need to provide evidence of co-funding of £15,000 within their proposal.

The improvement of vacant commercial units can be considered as part of an application to the BDF.  

How to Apply

The Stapleford Town Centre Recovery Fund reopened to high quality applications under £5,000 on 13/01/23.

• Stapleford Town Centre Recovery Fund Application (Opens in a New Window)

Eligibility for grant support

• A business must be registered. This can take the legal form of sole trader, partnership, limited company or social enterprise/CIC (Community Interest Company).
• Businesses must be located within the boundary as defined in the Guidance.
• The grant must be spent on new investment and cannot cover any retrospective costs.  Any expenditure prior to the awarding of a grant is ineligible.

What a grant may cover

Town Centre Recovery Fund grants may cover costs including:

• Capital assets such as plant, equipment or machinery. N.B vehicles, stock and consumables are excluded;
• Office equipment, furniture and the purchase and installation of computer systems;
• Security equipment and installation;
• Shop fitting and improvements to shop fronts, including refurbishment to interior;
• Advertising and marketing costs including website design;
• Temporary click and collect adaptation;
• Building fabric improvement and expansion;
• Remediation of abandoned or dilapidated units.

Town Centre Recovery Fund cannot cover

• Rental costs of units and associated bills;
• Business rates for premises or applicants for planning permission;
• Stock and consumables;
• Running costs;
• Retrospective costs

Associated Application Documents

The following documents were published in advance of the Town Centre Recovery Fund launch to aid applicants:

• Stapleford Town Deal - Town Investment Plan (TIP) - (.pdf) (10,949KB) (Opens in a new window).
• Town Centre Recovery Fund Guidance for applicants (.pdf) (299KB) (Opens in a new window).
• Town Centre Recovery Fund Policy (.pdf) (318KB) (Opens in a new window). 
• Stapleford Town Centre Recovery Fund boundary map (.pdf) (863KB) (Opens in a new window)

Businesses in Stapleford Town Centre will need to consult the above documentation in order to properly develop their proposals for grant funding, understand an interpret the Town Investment Plan (TIP) and seek quotations.

Next Steps

Once an application has been received, the Council will directly contact the applicant to provide more information to support the application where necessary. Larger grant requests, such as those in strands B, will require more detailed supporting information. This may include but is not limited to:

• further detail on their proposals;
• provide itemised costs for those proposals, with written quotes for grant requests over £2,000;
• economic outputs as a result of any investment - such as jobs created/safeguarded, new floor space created or new DDA improvements;
• how the proposals link to the Stapleford Town Investment plan;
• the business need for grant support;
• provide a business plan, to include a cashflow forecast.

The Council will inform the applicant in writing of the outcome of their application as soon as possible, and within 28 days to confirm receipt of the application and any supporting information being received.

Town Centre Recovery Fund FAQs

Is the TCRF still open?

After closing to new applications in July 2022 due to being oversubscribed, a small amount of funding has since become available.

Therefore, the Fund has reopened as of 13 January 2023, for high quality applications of a maximum of £5,000.

What do eligible projects look like?

Eligible projects must align with the Town Investment Plan. Desired projects outputs are job retention, job creation, accessibility improvements and energy efficiency increases.

Crucially, all project spend must be completed prior to 31st May 2023.

What is the payment process if my application is successful?

Successful grant recipients must pay for the work and purchases before submitting an invoice for reimbursement. This is to ensure the grant is spent on the purposes agreed.

My business applied for a grant, but I have not yet received a grant offer - what should I do next?

Businesses that were successful in phase one have now been sent Conditional Grant Offer Letters. Where your business has not, your application will be considered further, with Council officers making contact to obtain further information and clarifications based on the panels requests. Phase two applications  offer letters to successful businesses by the end of November 2022. Phase three January 2023 applications are still being reviewed, please be patient.

What is the new catchment area for eligible businesses?

The Stapleford Deal Executive Board met on 8 April 2022, where members agreed to expand the catchment area for applicant businesses. This can be viewed in the Stapleford Town Centre Recovery Fund boundary map.  Applicant businesses that were previously ineligible for a grant due to location outside of the town centre, have their applications retained on file. Should those applications now be eligible, they are now being processed and considered by the panel.

My business still falls outside the boundary, why?

The boundary has been considered by the Town Board on several occasions which has included liaison with affected businesses, we tried to be inclusive as we can. There is only a limited pot of money for this particular scheme, which has been set up for a very specific purpose and represents only one part of the long term investment in making Stapleford a better place to live, work and do business.

Case Studies

New lease of life in store for dilapidated Derby Road building

An important Stapleford high street building will soon offer new business opportunities for people in the town thanks to a £97,330 grant from the Town Centre Recovery Fund.

The Victorian 20 Derby Road, used most recently as a commercial storage facility for local tradespeople, will be converted into three fully accessible offices, with green-spaces and cycle storage with charging points.

The building is owned by local property owner Barbara Demetriou, who owns a number of high street buildings.

20 Derby Road has had a variety of uses over the years, and despite the owner’s grand plans for converting the building, the increased costs of building works has meant it hasn’t been affordable.

The Town Centre Recovery Fund grant, in addition to personal funding, will help bring the building back to life, with a purpose that will attract businesses and jobs to the town.

Barbara, said:

“I’ve lived, worked and invested in Stapleford for over 30 years and love what the town has to offer. I’ve seen first-hand the difference that investment can make and it’s great that so much money is coming through this grant and the Towns Fund to make it a more popular place to come to, to work in and call home.

“Being able to improve the appearance of the high street and provide new opportunities will have a huge impact and we can’t wait to get started as we really want to create something really special for Stapleford.”

Grant funding secures healthier future for Stapleford food outlet

A town centre takeaway food business is able to secure its future thanks to a £5,000 grant from the Town Centre Recovery Fund.

Like many businesses, the pandemic was hard for family-owned Sun Shine Fish and Chicken on Derby Road, and the rise in the price of oil and a lack of availability of oil has been a real worry.

The marketplace has also changed with more demand from local people for healthier options.

Subaranjani Kapilraj, who has run the business since October 2020, said:

“Business has been very slow. Oil has been in short supply and we’ve had to increase our prices to keep the business going. We’ve had to look at other ways to secure the future of our business.”

The grant will fund a new rotisserie machine that means the business is not solely reliant on oil and Subaranjani can diversify his menu, offering a range of new healthier grilled chicken dishes.

“This grant means we can offer grilled food for the first time, something that isn’t available in Stapleford at the moment, and it’s healthier too, which is something that we know people want,” he added.

Business expansion on the horizon for local plumber Ryan

Improvements to a plumbing and heating showroom on Derby Road will pave the way for a bright post-Covid future for local plumber, Ryan Leggat.

Ryan, from Stapleford, who set up Ryan Plumbing and Heating in 2006, saw a gap in the market for a showroom in the town, and has worked hard towards opening his store fully to the public this month.

However, the pandemic and increasing costs of building materials meant that some of the jobs he wanted to do to complete his showroom were no longer possible.

With a £6,000 grant from the Town Centre Recovery Fund he is now able to finish his project, with new exterior signage and fixtures and fittings inside the 137a Derby Road showroom.

Ryan said:

“Opening the showroom is really important to me. It means I can display and sell products which will provide me with the income I need to expand my team from two to three. As a small business this just would not have been possible without this grant,” said Ryan.

“A good first impression can make all the difference and I know that once the new signs are up we will see more people coming through our doors. I know it will also make the high street look better as a whole which can only be a good thing for Stapleford,” he added.