Securing a £400k Manufacturing Grant for Evove
Overview
FI Group helped secure a regional manufacturing grant worth over £400k for membrane manufacturer Evove
About the Client
- Client Name: Evove
- Industry: Membranes for separation and filtration
- Location: Warrington
- Company Size: 11-50
The Challenge
Evove, membrane manufacturers for specialised filters and separation, had many projects, both ongoing and potential future projects, that they would like to secure grant funding for. While they had applied for grant funding for one project previously, they needed help with future applications in deciding which project(s) to focus on for grant funding, finding the right grant funding that matched their sector and aims, and with writing the grant application. Writing grant applications can be very time consuming for small companies, especially as SMEs usually rely on a member of the leadership team to prepare the grant application, taking away valuable time from more important work. Without full knowledge of the application guidance, clients may also struggle to write effective applications or apply for grants that are not the best aligned to their project.
The Solution
Our Roadmapping service is designed for companies that have multiple projects, including ongoing, well-formulated projects, to those that are not yet solidified. In this service, we discuss these projects with clients and gather the basic detail of these projects e.g. scope, aim, budget, development stage, to work out which of these projects is eligible for grant funding within the current and future grant landscape. Following this, we perform a deep dive into the best 1-3 projects to investigate the commercial aspects and financials of the projects.
Having explored clients’ key projects, we can identify the best grants through our weekly scan of funding opportunities. As the business case of the project is outlined already as part of Roadmapping, writing the application is faster and easier than from scratch, meaning the client inputs less later down the line, saving their time.
Outcome
Through Roadmapping, we were able to select and highlight for Evove projects that had best alignment with grant funding. Ultimately, a project covering the manufacture of spacers for membrane filtration was selected and written. In this project, a new 3D-material printer was designed and developed, allowing Evove to produce large spacers for filtration membranes. These spacers could ultimately help desalination plants (where salt is removed from water) reduce energy usage, saving money and reducing carbon.
After selecting this project, we wrote an application for a very specific, regional funding opportunity, found due to our weekly scanning (Launchpad: Advanced Manufacturing CR&D Liverpool City Region, R2), and wrote a successful grant that won Evove £404,506 and their partner Added Scientific Limited £91,790.
Testimonial
We have used FI Group for grant bid writing and support of our R&D tax credit filing. They helped us secure a valuable grant and helped us fully comply with the latest HMRC R&D tax credit guidelines. Without hesitation we have engaged them again this year.
Craig Clement – COO at Evove