Agenda and minutes

None as all Members were present.

None as all Members were present.

The Vice-Chairman declared a personal interest in the Micro Business application from Just Drinking Water Ltd as he has known the owner of the company for a number of years. The Chairman also declared a personal interest in the Micro Business application from Just Drinking Water Ltd as the owner of the company is known to him. Both Members confirmed that they had no interest in the company and took no part in the submission of the application by the applicant.

The Chairman had no urgent business.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on the 27 August 2019 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

No representations were received.

Mark Healy, Regeneration and Economy Programme Manager, introduced the eight Micro Business Grant applications. He noted that two of the applications are specifically for the recruitment of an apprentice of which one sought a grant for both business growth and an apprentice. He noted that if all grants were to be approved by the Panel then a total of £63,068.77 would have been allocated from the current Micro Business Grants funding pool, leaving a balance of £8,359.80 remaining.

All the applications were assessed against the criteria of delivering wider outreach, assisting with the delivery of new business lines, enabling more employees to be taken on, and delivering benefits to the community. Each business has also passed Officers due diligence checks.

The applications which were recommended for consideration and approval by the

Panel are set out below:

The Vice-Chairman requested that the business owner’s name be included in the brief of the business as councillors have a significant number of connections within the local community and he does not always find the link between an individual and an applying business which could lead to an interest not being declared.

The Regeneration and Economy Programme Manager confirmed that the owner’s name can be included in future reports.

Holly-Jade Ryder, Business Development Officer, introduced the application from Sell4Profit Ltd which sought a grant to undertake a Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) project to promote the business. She noted that previous applications which sought a grant to undertake a SEO have proved very successful in driving business growth.

The Vice-Chairman drew attention to Appendix B and highlighted that the business only scored 12 out of a possible 35 in the scoring for applicants.

The Business Development Officer confirmed that the applicant only received a low score as their application was very specific which would naturally score lower as it only meets certain requirements of the application.

The Chairman felt that a project cost of £4,000 is quite generous and enquired how that figure was calculated.

The Business Development Officer explained that the cost of SEO projects can vary depending on the traffic reaching the website and therefore is hard to quantify. She said that it is likely the project will be costed under the requested amount and reassured the Chairman the grant will be paid on receipt of an invoice.

The Member expressed that he was happy to award the grant as long as the business is assured growth.

Members were supportive of the application.

William Hawkins, The Economic Development Officer introduced the application from The Jonathan Lea Network which sought a grant to undertake a series  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.