RGF6 Textiles Growth Programme overview June 2015
Textiles Growth Programme
Grant Application Form Guidance Notes
Introduction
The Textiles Growth Programme is a £97M initiative, backed by £19.5M from the Regional Growth
Fund (RGF), which aims to support the national revival in textiles started by the first programme.
The sector is demonstrating significant domestic growth, export and job generation potential. The
programme has the following objectives:
 Create or safeguard over 2,000 jobs in the target areas of Greater Manchester, Lancashire,
West Yorkshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire which contain the highest
concentrations of clothing and home ware manufacturing in the UK.
 Bridge the gap between global retailers, domestic micro businesses and SMEs to
strengthen local supply chains and promote sustainable growth.
 Continue to support sustainable and irreversible revival in the textiles sector by
demonstrating how investment in workforce skills, design & innovation capacity and
modern plant & machinery enables SMEs to capitalise on the opportunities for growth
emanating from increased demand for UK textiles products.
The programme aims to maintain its reputation for delivering support and investment to the
industry and for efficient and streamlined processing of investment proposals, leading to a
growing confidence throughout the sector in the programme’s ability to deliver.
These areas are defined by the following Local Authority Districts:
Greater Manchester
Bolton
Bury
Manchester
Oldham
Rochdale
Salford
Stockport
Tameside
Trafford
Wigan
Lancashire
Blackburn with Darwen
Blackpool
Burnley
Chorley
Fylde
Hyndburn
Lancaster
Pendle
Preston
Ribble Valley
Rossendale
South Ribble
West Lancashire
Wyre
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West Yorkshire
Bradford
Calderdale
Kirklees
Leeds
Wakefield
RGF6 Textiles Growth Programme overview June 2015
Leicestershire
Blaby
Charnwood
Harborough
Hinckley & Bosworth
Leicester
Melton
North West
Leicestershire
Oadby & Wigston
Nottinghamshire
Ashfield
Bassetlaw
Broxtowe
Gedling
Mansfield
Newark & Sherwood
Nottingham
Rushcliffe
Derbyshire
Amber Valley
Bolsover
Chesterfield
Derby
Derbyshire Dales
Erewash
High Peak
North East Derbyshire
South Derbyshire
The Programme will consider investment proposals from elsewhere in England outside these areas
but these will need to offer exceptional benefits to the UK textiles sector as a whole and the
unique potential to strengthen the supply chain to the advantage of firms operating in the key
target areas above.
The table below gives guidance into the activities that the programme will invest in:
Trading and Wholesale
Activities of agents; wholesale of textiles, clothing
Apparel manufacturing
Manufacture of workwear, outerwear (including handicraft tailoring),
underwear; cut, make and trim
Dry cleaning and textile /
leather servicing
Repair of shoes and other articles of leather; repair and alteration of clothing;
washing and dry cleaning of textile and fur products
Manufacture of made-up
textiles
Manufacture of soft furnishings, canvas goods and household textiles
Knitting, lace, narrow
fabrics
Manufacture of lace, narrow fabrics, knitted fabrics, hosiery, knitted
garments; dyeing and finishing of knitted fabrics
Carpet manufacture and
fitting
Manufacture of carpets and rugs (woven and tufted); carpet fitting
Footwear, leather apparel
and leather goods
Manufacture of leather clothes, luggage, saddle and harness, footwear
Weaving
Weaving of cotton, woollen, worsted, silk-type fabrics; dyeing and finishing of
woven fabrics
Technical textiles
Technical textile companies produce textiles, materials, fabrics and
composites which are specified for a broad range of technical end uses
because of performance characteristics
Process Yarns and Fibres
Preparation and spinning of textile fibres
Design
Independent design consultancies, haute couture establishments, small scale
designer-makers (e.g. bridalwear makers), designer brands
Leather and Fellmongery
Fellmongery, dressing and dyeing of fur; manufacture of articles of fur,
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RGF6 Textiles Growth Programme overview June 2015
tanning and dressing of leather
Man-made fibres
Manufacture of artificial or synthetic filament tow, staple fibre, single yarn,
monofilament or strip
Manufacture of
machinery for textile,
apparel and leather
production
Manufacture of auxiliary machines or equipment for textile machinery;
manufacture of textile printing machinery; manufacture of machinery for
fabric processing; manufacture of laundry machinery; manufacture of sewing
machines, sewing machine heads and sewing machine needles.
Note that the following will not be eligible for support:

Qualifications linked to a licence to trade or more generally meet an employer’s statutory
or legal responsibilities

Any retailing activity
Three investment pots have been created to reflect the breadth of activity required to achieve the
programme’s objectives of sustained growth across the sector as follows:
Capital
Grants
Training

Land acquisition – Subject to express approval from BIS

Building acquisition – Subject to express approval from BIS

Site investigation

Site preparation including demolition

Building and construction including internal / external refurbishment, conversion of
existing buildings, new build, provision of services, landscaping

Plant and machinery – tangible assets, capitalisation of hire / lease purchase, purchase
of second hand equipment provided not previously purchased with RGF grant

Fees and salaries for consultancy design and supervision, legal, technical, financial,
planning, building regulations – professional fees capped at 12.5% of total eligible
works costs

Other capital not covered by the other categories for projects which meet programme
objectives

Qualifications in the QCF from Entry to Level 4

Awards, Certificates and Diplomas in the QCF subject to their credit value, level and
purpose and Sector Subject Area Code (SSAC)

Units from qualifications approved for funding subject to their credit value, level and
SSAC

Other professionally recognised training and qualifications including Fellowship and
Associate qualifications / accreditation

Qualifications and training which are linked to continuing professional development
(CPD)

Qualifications and training at Level 5 and above for delivery outside of a Higher Level
apprenticeship

Training as part of apprenticeship scheme

Any relevant employment costs associated with the above
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RGF6 Textiles Growth Programme overview June 2015
Research and 
Development
In-house research and development – work undertaken to increase the stock of
knowledge to devise new and improved goods, products, services, business structures
and processes

Bought-in external research and development / consultancy – undertaken externally
by consultants, Universities, other research bodies to support the adoption of
advanced management concepts, outsourcing, supply chain integration, changes in
marketing / branding techniques and product market testing

Machinery, ICT equipment, software to support R&D – new or improved equipment
and associated training to support the development or introduction of new products
and/ore services / processes

Any relevant employment costs associated with the above
Regional Investment and Employment Aid cannot be granted to a company, or a company within a
wider Group, which undertakes synthetic fibre manufacture. This is defined as:

Extrusion/texturisation of all generic types of fibre and yearn based on polyester,
polyamide, acrylic or polypropylene, irrespective of their end uses

Polymerisation (including polycondensation) where it is integrated with extrusion in terms
of the machinery used

Any ancillary process linked to contemporaneous installation of extrusion/texturisation
capacity
Please note that this activity will not disqualify a company from support, but may affect the type
and scale of projects that can be supported and the level of grant that may be awarded.
Grants may be offered to textiles companies within de-minimis and GBER limits, the overall
programme leverage target of 4.5 to 1 Private to Public sector investment. The maximum grant
available to any one company is £1M. The table below offers a summary of the state aid vehicles
used by the programme. Please consult your Adviser for more information on funding levels:
Category
All grants below EUR200,000
Co. size
Max
Grant
Intensity Ceiling
ALL
c. £150k
Up to 100%
0% or 10%
20%
30%
note 5
State Aid Scheme
De-minimis
1,2
GBER – Regional
Investment &
Employment Aid
3,4
Capital grants above
EUR200,000 in Assisted Areas
Large
Medium
Small
£1M
£1M
£1M
Capital grants above
EUR200,000 outside Assisted
Areas
Medium
Small
£1M
£1M
10%
20%
GBER – SME
Investment &
Employment Aid
Research & Development
Large
Medium
Small
£1M
£1M
£1M
50%
60%
70%
GBER – Research &
Development Aid
Training (all grants below
EUR2.0M)
Large
Medium
Small
£1M
£1M
£1M
50%
60%
70%
GBER – Training Aid
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Notes
1
RGF6 Textiles Growth Programme overview June 2015
Notes:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Max grant based on current exchange rate – will be modified on the basis of the exchange
rate which prevails at the time of grant offer.
De-minimis applies to the accumulated aid received by a company over a three year period.
Please see the new Assisted Area maps that were revised in July 2014.
Note that the Regional Investment aid for large businesses only applies for businesses moving
into an assisted area, of for new economic activity for existing business within an Assisted
Area
The above indications are for guidance only. You will be expected to be compliant with all relevant
areas of GBER or de minimis as may apply and may be subjected to further information requests in
order that such compliance may be properly audited and verified, including the issue of “incentive
effect” for GBER-based aid (see Article 6 GBER).
The details of your turnover and number of employees are required so that we can determine the
size of the company for State Aid purposes (note that payroll evidence of employment is required
as a benchmark)The definition of company size is as follows:
Large
Over 250 employees and more than €50M annual turnover or balance sheet above €43M
Medium
Below 250 employees and less than €50M annual turnover or balance sheet below €43M
Small
Below 50 employees and less than €10M annual turnover or balance sheet below €10M
The Textiles Growth Programme Grant Application Form is to be completed by projects seeking
funding by the Programme and is designed to extract all the necessary information necessary to
appraise projects. The appraisal process has similarly been designed to meet the governance
requirements of the Programme and those external funding bodies that have provided the
funding.
The application process
The Textile Programme Business Advisers will work with the Applicant to assist in the definition
and development of the project and the application process. In order to be successful in attracting
grant funding from the Programme, the Applicant will need to demonstrate that the project is
viable and meets all the eligibility criteria for the Programme including State Aid. See below for
more details on eligibility and State Aid.
The process has three project gateways leading to full approval for funding. The three gateways
that are linked to funding allocation/release and investment decisions are;
1.
Eligibility and State Aid compliance checks by the Programme Manager
2.
Approval by Programme Board to proceed to full project appraisal
3.
Investment Approval and grant award by the Programme Board
Spending on this programme must be completed by May 2017. This is a compressed timeframe
and it is essential that this is taken into consideration during project development.
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RGF6 Textiles Growth Programme overview June 2015
We expect the amount of information and detail to be proportional to the amount of funding you
are seeking i.e. we would expect more information for a £1M project than a £10K project. If you
need any help in understanding a question or in completing the form, please contact your Textiles
Adviser.
Application Process Flow
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