Small and medium sized businesses will be provided with access to R&D facilities, laboratory and office space as well as networks and support. This will assist businesses in developing products to the point of market, reduce substantial overheads of research facilities which are prohibitively expensive for innovative R&D SMEs to provide for themselves. Businesses will also be supported in developing business plans to develop and expand the businesses and deliver their products and services to market. 

In addition, Future Solent and Eastleigh Council (acting as Accountable body for the scheme) together with the University of Southampton and the University of Portsmouth will run a competitive programme to award business grants from £5-100k available for existing SMEs looking to develop environmental technologies 

Whilst the support and the grants will be open to all R&D SMEs in the Solent LEP area, a priority will be given to those located within the administrative areas of Portsmouth, Southampton, the Isle of Wight and the campus of University of Southampton Science Park (within Test Valley administrative area). The R&D facilities, networks and support will be delivered at the University of Portsmouth campus and the University of Southampton Science Park. 

Interested? Contact your local university: 

The businesses benefiting will be from across the spectrum of the green economy including those within the energy efficiency / retrofit business; waste and recycling; renewable and low carbon energy production; marine and maritime; and sustainable design, engineering and construction - all areas where the Solent has a good base of businesses to grow and develop. 

In addition, support will be provided to Local First CIC to establish a Hampshire Community Bank. This will provide an on-going source of loan capital to green economy businesses and remedy a market failure in loan provision to SMEs generally and green economy businesses specifically. Together with provision of a grant to Local First CIC, it is envisaged that the Bank, once established, will inherit the loan portfolio to help capitalise the bank, to enable leverage to provide further funds to SMEs and to create an on-going revolving fund of loans to green economy businesses. All ‘green economy’ SMEs in the Solent LEP area may apply to the Green Growth Business Loan Scheme.