Grants for food and drink manufacturers have been made available by ‘The Food and Drink Forum’ along with the FEAST project. ‘The Food and Drink Forum’ has secured funding for the next three years which offers a range of useful services.

What are these services?

There are a total of five services on offer, and these are:

Grant Funding

The grant funding enables food and drink manufacturers to claim a minimum spend of £2,500 and a maximum of £80,000. This allows them to purchase new equipment to grow as a business and create new jobs.

Technical Support

The Food and Drink Forum’s technical team offer two days of free technical support to eligible businesses. These industry experts offer a range of support from shelf life extension to factory layout, along with much more.

Business Mentoring

Industry experts are keen to share their experience in running food and drink manufacturing businesses, and this will be fully subsidised for eligible businesses and they will also receive mentoring in any aspect of the business.

Technical Apprentices

Technical apprentices will be made available by the Forum in order to bridge the skills gap in the sector. They will be trained by the Forum’s team of technical experts and will be employed by the Forum at no extra cost to the business, as well as the apprentices gaining hands on experience in this work placement.

Industry Events

Throughout the course of the project, The Food and Drink Forum will host a number of events where like-minded people in the industry can share experience and knowledge.

Eligibility

In order to be eligible for the funding by the FEAST project, businesses must be:

• A food and drink manufacturer
• Based in D2N2, NEP or SEMLEP Areas
• An SME Business (Small/Medium Enterprise) – THIS ONLY APPLIES FOR ACCESSING GRANT FUNDING

The eligible are areas are:

• Amber Valley Borough
• Bolsover District
• Chesterfield Borough
• Derby City
• Derbyshire County
• Derbyshire Dales District
• Erewash Borough
• High Peak Borough
• North East Derbyshire District
• South Derbyshire District
• Ashfield District
• Bassetlaw District
• Broxtowe District
• Gedling Borough
• Mansfield District
• Newark and Sherwood District
• Nottingham City
• Nottinghamshire County
• Rushciffle Borough
• Daventry District
• Kettering Borough
• Corby Borough
• East Northamptonshire District
• Northampton Borough
• Northamptonshire County
• South Northants District
• Aylesbury Vale District
• Bedford Borough
• Central Bedfordshire
• Cherwell District
• Luton Borough
• Milton Keynes

For further information, please visit: foodanddrinkforum.co.uk/web/xfdf/feast.cfm or contact us at davidowens@hawsons.com.