Who can apply

Community organisations and businesses located in an eligible rural area with legal status in the UK as listed on this page can apply for the grant.

REPF business grants will fund capital projects for micro, small and medium-sized businesses. 

Your business must have

• fewer than 250 employees and;
• a turnover equal to or less than £50m or;
• a balance sheet equal to or less than £43m (including any partnership your business is a part of).

Your legal status must be one of the following:

• partnership
• private limited company
• company limited by guarantee
• unlimited company
• community interest company
• sole trader registered with HMRC
• public limited company
• limited liability partnership
• co-operative society

For REPF community grants, your community group or organisation must be one of these:

• charitable incorporated organisation (CIO)
• charitable trust
• charitable community benefit society
• town or parish council
• charitable company 
• cooperative society 
• community interest company (CIC)

In addition, your business/organisation must confirm that it has not or will not exceed the state subsidy limit of £315,000 Minimum Financial Assistance (MFA). This is set out in Section 42 of the Subsidy Control Act 2022. You will be required to confirm this as part of the application process.

Other eligibility requirements are given in the application form. 

Eligible areas of North Somerset for the purposes of REPF have been determined by DEFRA (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). These are broadly classed as:

• towns, villages and hamlets with populations below 10,000 and the wider countryside
• market or 'hub towns' with populations of up to 30,000 that serve their surrounding rural areas as centres of employment and in providing services

Applications can be made by businesses and community groups located in eligible rural areas. This includes farmers (including those looking to diversify into new income streams not related to agriculture), growers and foresters. 

Any businesses and community groups located in an eligible part of North Somerset and who meet the application criteria are encouraged to apply.

Your trading address must be in an eligible part of North Somerset and your project must be too. You can check if your trading address and project is in an eligible area using our eligibility map.

Guidance on the key objectives of the fund, example projects and outputs and outcomes can be found on our dedicated webpage.