SMALL companies in the North-west are lagging behind other regions in the UK
when it comes to boosting business growth through government grants, it is claimed.
Cattles Invoice Finance questioned around 300 organisations from start-ups to those that had been around for more than 50 years.
The survey found that only 29 per cent of companies in the North-west had ever applied for a grant, compared with 43 per cent in Scotland and 34 per cent in the North-east.
Seventy three per cent of the North-west companies which went through the application process were successful, but almost a quarter did not think it was worth the effort.
Those which were unsuccessful gave a variety of reasons for their
failure, such as an inability to afford their proportion of the investment, the funded staff training was unavailable in their area or they could not afford to wait for the grant funding to purchase necessary equipment.
A massive 81 per cent of businesses in the region thought the grant process was flawed.
Some respondents said applying for a grant cost more than the amount received.
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