We deliver a programme of promotional activity to encourage and secure new inward investment and reduce barriers to growth for businesses looking to relocate or expand. We work to attract investment in key employment sites and regeneration schemes to help create high value jobs.
This project is funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information, see the Shared Prosperity Fund prospectus.
The Business Support Hub is an online support hub for entrepreneurs and small business owners that provides a range of tools and services including; on-demand webinars and training videos, a schedule of live workshops and masterclasses covering key topics from cash-flow forecasting to developing a sales pitch as well as a suite of useful business templates and guides needed to start and run a business.
Flexible Workspace Grant
This scheme aims to incentivise and encourage investment in enterprise and employment site development projects in our town centres by offering grants to landlords/leaseholders to refurbish vacant or under-utilised property into flexible co-working spaces.
The grant scheme is offering grants from £25,000 up to £100,000. Grant recipients must therefore make at least a £75,000 contribution toward total costs to be able to receive a grant of £25,000 or at least £300,000 to be able to receive a grant of £100,000.
Sustainable and Inclusive Growth Programme Grant
Update 28 March 2025 - this scheme is now closed
This scheme is offering grants from £1,000 up to a maximum of £10,000 per eligible business to support businesses to invest in new equipment, technology, and business practices to decarbonise their operations, become more energy efficient and improve productivity to drive employment growth and to support long-term sustainability.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Only businesses and organisations trading from a property based in the Cheshire East Council boundary can apply for a grant.
- Businesses must apply to the Council via an online application form to be considered for a grant payment.
- Businesses must have a Decarbonisation Plan or Business Growth Plan featuring decarbonisation in place to support the need for the grant. Assistance with developing these plans is fully funded through the programme Business Support Hub
- Businesses can be from any sector but to be eligible they must be an SME with between 1 and 249 employees
- Only expenditure that occurs after the 1 April 2023 will be eligible
- Businesses must hold a business bank account.
Refer to the scheme policy (PDF, 180KB) for full details of the Sustainable and Inclusive Growth Grant.
The allocation for this scheme funded via the UK Shared Prosperity Fund is reaching conclusion, in accordance with the scheme policy and based on the remaining allocation, we have made the difficult decision to reduce the maximum award to £10,000.00. There is limited funding available.
All live grant schemes are supported by the Business Support Hub.
All our grant schemes are paid retrospectively once full payment of items can be evidenced.
When making an application to any of our grant schemes above you will be taken to an external website called ‘Grant Approval’. You will need to register with an email address to access the applications. Once registered you will be able to search for the schemes.
Repurposing our High Streets Grant scheme
The Repurposing our High Streets grant scheme is aimed at supporting businesses and organisations to take on empty premises in Crewe Town Centre.
Led by Cheshire East Council and overseen by Crewe Town Board, the project includes a grant scheme for businesses and organisations that wish to take on vacant commercial premises in the town centre.
Available support
Capital grants of up to £30,000* for businesses/ organisations taking leases on vacant town premises, supporting their costs in improving the property for their occupation including fit-out costs, as well as other capital equipment purchased.
* The amount of grant will depend on the type of property and the length of lease taken. For example, shorter-term ‘meanwhile use’ businesses would receive a smaller grant than those businesses committing to a five-year lease.
* This is a retrospective scheme.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Businesses (including sole traders, community enterprises and charities) and some organisations that take on new leases of previously vacant commercial premises in Crewe town centre.
- Employs less than 50 people.
- Has a turnover of £10.2 million or less.
- Less than £1.5m on balance sheet.
- Has not reached Subsidy control limit over a 3 year period.
- Be taking on a new lease on a vacant commercial property within Crewe Town Centre.
- Some types of organisations would not normally be considered eligible, and priority will be given to applicants diversifying the mix of town centre business uses.
Apply for a grant
Enquiries should be made by emailing ROHS@cheshireeast.gov.uk
This grant is funded by UK Government and powered by Levelling up and is part of a package of projects being supported by the Government’s Towns Fund and Crewe’s allocation of up to £22.9m of funding.
* Please note that all applications are being reviewed; however, due to the high volume we are receiving, there may be a delay in the processing of applications.
Life Science Accelerator
The programme will combine specialist laboratory incubation support and business model development, with expertise provided by industry leaders from Bruntwood SciTech partners including Triple Chasm, ThermoFisher Scientific, Marks & Clerk, Pharmalytical Services, Mercia Ventures and Praetura Group, to name a few.
Life Science Accelerator programme provides:
- 6 months free lab access
- 1-to-1 coaching
- Access the expert mentor network
- Support accessing finance
- Support accessing markets
- Access to community events
- £60,000 worth of support
- Pay-per-use scientific equipment
The Life Science Accelerator will begin with an in-person two day bootcamp at Alderley Park on 3rd and 4th July 2024, with an optional online workshop to be held on 1st July 2024.
For more information about the Life Science Accelerator programme and to apply, please visit Bruntwood SciTech’s website.
This project is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.
