Processing and Marketing Grant

England Rural Development Programme		Processing and Marketing Grant
Location	National
Dates	Launch Date: October 2000 Deadline for applications: There is no deadline. The funding opportunity is part of the England Rural Development Plan (ERDP), which is set to run until 2006. The period for projects to take place is: Ongoing
Aims	Objective of the funding opportunity: To enable capital investment in processing and marketing of English primary agricultural products. The programme aims to help farmers to become more competitive, respond to consumer demand, be more innovative and add value to their produce.
	It aims to help the following client groups:
	Entrepreneurs
FRESA priorities	The funding opportunity fits with the following FRESA priorities:
	Top Priorities: Response to redundancies	Medium Priorities: Business investment Enterprise Innovation
	More information on the FRESA The following labour market factsheets contain evidence to support bids for this funding: Response to redundancies
Eligibility	Eligible organisations: Individuals, groups of primary producers or companies of any size involved in agricultural production, processing or marketing. SMEs will be given priority if the scheme is over-subscribed. See pg 4 of the Process and Marketing Grant Introductory Booklet for further details of eligibility criteria.
Accreditation	Organisations must have the following accreditation to bid: No accreditation is needed
Amount available	Funding available: £44 million is available nationally between 2000 and 2006. Applications can be made on investments of any size over £70,000. The maximum grant available is £1.2 million. Grants are available for up to 30% of eligible project costs and applicants must find at least 45% of the cost from their own resources.
Previous Bids	For details of activity funded by the England Rural Development Programme in 2001 see the ERDP Bulletin
Application	You will need the following documents to apply for this funding: Claim Form Supplementary Form Guidance Booklet ERDP Generic Application Form and related documents A selection of other useful documents can be found at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/erdp/docs/default.htm
Contact	For further information contact:
	DEFRA (RDS) Block B Government Buildings Brooklands Avenue Cambridge CB2 2DR 01223 462727 enquiries.east@defra.gsi.gov.uk http://www.defra.gov.uk/erdp/schemes/pmg/default.htm
Weblinks	Other websites you may find useful: ERDP Homepage - http://www.defra.gov.uk/erdp/default.htm Rural Development Service - http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/rds/default.asp