Minutes:
Caroline Duffy, Business Development Officer, introduced the report which presented thirty-four Covid-19 Recovery Grant applications for consideration by the Cabinet Grants Panel. She noted that twenty applications have been recommended for funding; four not recommended for funding due to their receipt of a recent microbusiness grant and ten not recommended for reasons including being located out of the Mid Sussex area, for retrospective activities or not meeting the Covid-19 specific criteria. She noted that the application from the Sussex Chamber of Commerce has been amended from £5,000 to £4,000 as an intended project they were seeking funding for has been withdrawn. Also, that the grant award for Tamarind has been amended following the identification of retrospective equipment purchases which are not permitted funding in the scheme.
The applications which were recommended for consideration by the Panel are set out below:
Purpose for which award is sought |
Award Requested |
Award Suggested |
|
The Maypole Inn / Mark Pinch |
Improvements to the outside area, with an outdoor structure to create more customer space |
£4,928.00 |
£4,928.00 |
MNH Sustainable Cabin Services Ltd / Emma Rance |
Purchase specialist equipment to ensure hygiene of onboard products and upgrade to finance IT system to allow remote working |
£5,820.00 |
£5,000.00 |
Elizabeth Ockford Ltd / Elizabeth Ockford |
Wallpaper pattern books to send to new agents and distributors |
£3,817.00 |
£3,817.00 |
Mark Parsons T/A Frontline Automation / Jayne Clowes |
Move reporting and job sheets online, negating the need for contact paperwork; laptop, licenses and software |
£1,199.00 |
£1,199.00 |
Artemis Telecoms Ltd / T/A Start Communications / John Davis |
4 Laptops to enable team to work remotely more efficiently, when supporting customers during lockdown(s) |
£3,100.00 |
£3,100.00 |
Albourne Winery Ltd / Nick Cooper |
One outdoor mini tepee and 10 picnic tables to make better use of external space to host visitors outdoors |
£4,441.00 |
£4,441.00 |
SENse Learning / Sophie Amos |
Upgrade to website to be more interactive and improve accessibility for families, students and referral streams |
£2,335.00 |
£2,335.00 |
Tamarind / Anita Hayman-Lewis |
Purchase specialist equipment and updates to the eCommerce website |
£2,697.00 |
£1,805.90* |
Mid-Sussex Super Cream / Ashok Kumar |
New tills to handle cashless payments. Social distancing and Covid-19 protection measures on all units |
£10,290.00 |
£5,000.00 |
Not Another Bunch Of Flowers / Anikka Burton |
Improvements to warehouse to create a usable, Covid-safe office to increase working space |
£5,000.00 |
£5,000.00 |
Veterinary Insights Ltd / Alexander Arpino |
Purchase a laptop to be used by the team when working from home |
£993.00 |
£993.00 |
Worth Glamping Ltd / Susie Whittingham |
New website to improve promotion and enable online payments. Marketing and advertising to support diversification to broaden reach |
£4,784.00 |
£4,784.00 |
DT Electrical Supplies (HH) Ltd / David Thomas |
Continued purchases relating to Covid-19 measures to ensure safety of staff and trades people when entering the premises |
£5,000.00 |
£5,000.00 |
Sussex Tuition Centre / Sarah Lawrance |
Website rebuild, tech support (1 year), local advertising and leaflet drop (6 months) |
£8,925.00 |
£5,000.00 |
Ultimate Warrior Training / Nicola Gilson |
To open up with more capacity in a safer training environment removing a wall to increase the capacity of the gym |
£5,000.00 |
£5,000.00 |
Community Inspired Ltd / Richard Manville |
Development of existing PTA.co.uk website and development of new website www.fundraisingalliance.co.uk plus marketing to attract local businesses |
£5,000.00 |
£5,000.00 |
The Talbot / Dean Harding |
Handheld tablets for staff for use with EPOS system, further investment in the outdoor area (heating, lights etc.) |
£5,000.00 |
£5,000.00 |
Lost Pier Brewing Ltd / Daniel Gale |
Purchase and fit racking to store the cans now produced (diversification from kegs) |
£5,000.00 |
£5,000.00 |
Sussex Chamber of Commerce / Ana Christie |
New business services / projects; includes careers fairs, business festival or conference |
£8,000.00 |
£5,000.00 |
Kitchens Bespoke / Sarah Loxton |
Diversifying to add new product range, creating a new online shop and associated display equipment in the showroom |
£5,000.00 |
£5,000.00 |
TOTAL |
|
£96,329.00 |
£82,402.90 |
The Chairman found the pie chart a very useful indicator for the spread of applications across the District and reminded colleagues that the grants are funded using Mid Sussex District Council’s own money.
The Vice-Chairman was impressed with the quality of the work and the effort of officers engaging with the businesses. He thought the work was outstanding and expressed that he was grateful to all concerned for the work they have done.
The Chairman seconded the Vice-Chairman’s comments as he thought officers had worked exceedingly hard, some seven days a week for months and months to process the grants; he hoped that there was light at the end of the tunnel.
The Member endorsed the comments of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman. He stated that he hadn’t appreciated that if a business was in receipt of a microbusiness grant it precluded the application of a business grant. He enquired whether the business was made aware upfront that this would occur, if they were applying for both grants.
The Business Development Officer confirmed that businesses weren’t specifically precluded from one scheme if they had applied for another. The maximum amount of funds was almost reached, and officers had to make difficult decisions as to where the monies could be allocated. She added that the second round of funding didn’t open until 15 December and some businesses had, at that time, already applied for a microbusiness grant, which closed on 30 November. She also added that some applications under different schemes were for the same project and in that situation both applications wouldn’t be granted.
The Chairman took the Panel to vote on all applications except the applications from Sussex Chamber of Commerce, Community Inspired Ltd and The Koorana Centre.
Members were supportive of the applications and recommendations.
[The Vice-Chairman was removed from the voting and discussion at 16:25]
The Chairman took the Panel to vote on the applications from Sussex Chamber of Commerce, Community Inspired Ltd and The Koorana Centre.
Members were supportive of the applications and recommendations.
[The Vice-Chairman returned to the meeting at 16:27]
RESOLVED
The Cabinet Grants Panel agreed:
Supporting documents: