Grants an alternative to credit, says Lucas
A FORMER Beever & Struthers accountant has set up a new venture to help businesses gain grant funding.
Charles Lucas is behind Manchester-based Going for Grants which will seek to clear the bureaucratic fug that surrounds the sector and deters many businesses from applying.
According to Mr Lucas, who left Beever & Struthers earlier this year, £5bn is available in grant funding from various UK and EU bodies. He believes this is a valuable source of funding while credit is tight.
Mr Lucas said: “We’re looking to take away the pain and the idea that applying is a waste of time. For a small business it could take three or four days to handle a grant bid and if they only have a few staff it can be difficult to manage the business at the same time.”
He added: “In the current climate this is a unique form of funding. There’s no interest and there’s no need to return it, unless it is a loan.”
Going for Grants will offer an initial assessement of a client’s suitability for grant funding through its website. If an application progresses it will work on the bid on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis, taking a percentage of the final award.
The business is based at Manchester Science Park and is working with university researchers and Manchester Business School students to analyse and study data on grants throughout the EU.
Mr Lucas is working with Lancashire entrepreneur Tom Bathgate on the venture. Mr Bathgate previously ran the Lancaster-based animal feeds business W&J Pye where Mr Lucas was also a non-executive.
Businesses such as J4B, founded by Nick Jaspan, and Grants Online already offer databases of available grants, while accountancy firms often provide a grants service. But Mr Lucas said the databases can overwhelm users with information while accountants do not offer a specialist service.
