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SEEDA provides £8m to help South East businesses go green

The South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) has allocated GBP3.8m to green businesses throughout the region and established a GBP4m sustainability loan fund.

The GBP3.8m will fund 2,500 businesses to develop initiatives within a framework of six sustainability-led projects. The projects focus primarily on waste reduction, sustainable procurement and the development of sustainable technologies. Qualifying businesses will undergo training and environmental audits in order to establish methods that boost profits through energy reduction.

The GBP4m South East Sustainability Loan Fund will provide additional support for businesses that contribute to reducing the region’s ecological footprint. The fund will make between GBP20,000 and GBP200,000 available to every business that wishes to improve its green credentials. The move is expected to increase the competitiveness of micro, small and medium sized businesses in the South East.

Oona Muirhead, Group Executive Director of Strategy and Support, said: “The funding from the European Regional Development Fund comes at a time when so many businesses are working to grow out of recession. Investing in going green will help businesses to cut costs, increase profits and support long-term sustainable prosperity in the South East.”

The South East European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Competitiveness Programme 2007-13 supports new ways of linking good practice between prosperous and less economically successful areas. This is achieved through collaborations with businesses throughout the region and sharing best practice wherever possible.

The fund has a total allocation of over GBP21m to be awarded over the seven year period. Further funding rounds are to be held in early 2010. Oona adds: “The ERDF has supported some exciting and innovative projects and we look forward to see how the funding helps businesses as it is rolled out throughout the region.”

More information on all these projects and the South East ERDF Competitiveness Programme, can be found at: www.seeda.co.uk/European_initiatives

For further information on future funding calls for the South East ERDF Competitiveness Programme 2007-13, please contact Gemma Starr, SEEDA on (01483) 470180

For further information on the South East Sustainability Loan Fund, please contact Sally
Goodsell, of Finance South East (01276) 608527

2 Feb 2010