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Succeeding through innovation
    Grant for investigating an innovative idea
    What is it?
    Frequently asked questions
    Guidance notes
    Application form
      Supplementary guidance for mentors and consultants
      Guidelines for officials
      Contacts

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Grant for Investigating an Innovative Idea

Supplementary Guidance For Mentors and Consultants

There are two consultancy roles under the Investigating an Innovative Idea product, that of mentor and that of subject expert consultant.

The role of a mentor is:

  •   to help potential applicants look at their idea in a holistic way;

  •   to facilitate the use of the diagnostic tool to analyse the ability of potential applicants to realise their idea;

  •   when appropriate, to assist with assessment of help applicants might need and to help identify potential subject expert consultants with suitable skills;

  •   to estimate the costs of such work; and

    • to help with any application (including entering a suitable agreement with the applicant to have all the services necessary supplied).
The mentor’s role with successful applicants will then continue by:
  •   assisting with keeping projects on track and ensuring suitable input comes from both the subject expert consultant(s) and the applicant;

  •   helping the applicant develop a challenging but realistic action plan to implement their idea;

  •   trying to ensure that the applicant learns as much as possible about the process of innovation to prepare and encourage them to try further innovations later in an appropriate manner; and

  •   ensuring the applicant knows how to submit an appropriate claim for the grant.

The role of subject expert consultant is more self-explanatory, but providers of such a service should be familiar with SMEs and the way they work and be capable of translating what are sometimes complex ideas into a format that is usable by the particular business.  Where appropriate, more than one subject expert consultant may work on a project but they should also work with the mentor and any other expert consultant to fully integrate all the output from the successful applicant’s perspective.

An individual with appropriate skills may perform both the mentor and expert consultant roles.

The Diagnostic tool

A diagnostic tool has been developed specifically to accompany the Grant for Investigating an Innovative Idea. It is called the 'Assessing an Innovative Idea Tool' and all applicants must have completed this with their chosen mentor prior to submitting an application. It is intended to highlight the weaknesses and barriers to the company if it tried implementing its innovative idea alone.  The results of the diagnostic are required to be submitted as part of an application.

An introduction to the tool, guidelines for usage, the tool itself and supporting information are available on the Small Business Service extranet. This is a private extranet that requires users to be registered for membership. If you do not already have access, please use the ‘Register’ link on the initial page at http://www.sbsextra.net/.You will then be contacted to establish your reasons for requesting access and to provide the name of a sponsor from within a Business Link or the Small Business Service. This should be the name of your regular contact at your local Business Link. If you do not have a regular BL contact, please name Erik Warren as sponsor - he is a member of the Investigating Innovative Ideas Secretariat at the Small Business Service. In addition, you should also submit to Erik a copy of your CV detailing your knowledge, skills and experience in undertaking business orientated change projects, along with your reasons for requesting access to the tool. His e-mail address is erik.warren@dti.gsi.gov.uk.

When you have been given password access to the extranet, the tool can be found in a community entitled ‘Assessing an Innovative Idea’ by following the path – Communities > People Like Us > Business Support Products > Assessing an Innovative Idea Tool. This is a private community that has been set up to provide access to only those people SBS know are going to use the tool. Membership of the community will also allow you to comment on the tool and post questions on the site about its use. Any problems with accessing the tool through the extranet should be directed to the community facilitator, Sally Reynolds, at sreynolds@cnr.co.uk.

It is anticipated that there will be occasional updates to the tool and you will need to access the extranet regularly to ensure you are using the latest version. 

How the SBS can help consultants working with the Investigating Innovative Ideas product.

We value high quality consultants in the Grant for Investigating Innovative Ideas product and could, if requested, put them in touch with the local BL. We are also prepared to discuss principles and cases with you, not only by phone, but also by e-mail, over video link or in face-to-face meetings where we can offer wider guidance or any other help.

What the SBS and applicants are looking for

Experience and Expertise 

The subject expert consultant must have the relevant expertise and experience to undertake the particular role and must also have relevant subject knowledge. Where not submitted previously you should provide evidence to the SBS as a supplement to information submitted with the application form. This information might include;

  •   a CV of the individual consultant undertaking the work,

  •   examples and/or a list of equivalent assignments already undertaken by the individual (including referees/clients), and if desired

  •   any helpful background eg brochure(s) advertising areas of expertise within the company.

Applicants will be looking for someone who understands businesses of their size and sector and is capable of successfully carrying out the role (mentor or subject expert). This should be demonstrated by the information submitted.

Application Form  

The application form is supplied with a set of Guidance Notes for Applicants and businesses should always be encouraged to read them.  Applicants should be made aware that when they sign the form they become legally responsible for the content even if they have had help to complete it.

The Agreement 

The project Agreement must follow the format of the example given at Appendix C in the Guidance Notes for Applicants and be signed by both the applicant and mentor. It must also follow the wording of the example and paragraph 2 (‘Object’) should include particular areas of investigation that the applicant needs to be undertaken in the project. These should relate to the barriers/weaknesses highlighted by the diagnostic tool (ie the red and amber marked areas).

Consultants rates and effort

The mentor and expert consultants’ day rates should be competitive for similar services in the sector. The number of days effort put into the project should not be excessive and should be appropriate to the work required. Both the SBS and the applicant will want to know who specifically in the consultancy will be doing the work (this should be included in the Agreement).

We will expect good value for money from the project.  Very few projects are likely to even approach the maximum grant and we expect the majority to be between £2k and £7k.

Applicant’s eligibility

This is set out in the ‘Who is eligible for a grant?’ section of the Guidance Notes for Applicants. However, many eligible applicants do not take note of the requirements of the ‘How will the DTI decide who gets a grant?’ section of the guidance, in particular providing reasons why the grant is essential for the project to proceed, and may be judged by the SBS as being able to undertake their project without grant assistance. The mentor may save himself and the applicant a lot of time on the initial approach by discussing their financial health and establishing their need for a grant. The applicant may appear ‘cash rich’ but there may be underlying reasons why the money is not easily available to support the proposed project. If this is the case the mentor should advise them to detail the reasons in their response to Question 33 in the application form.  Conversely they may be easily able to afford the work and may be best advised not to apply for grant support but to pay for the work themselves.

Application Process

We are available to discuss any issues of concern, particularly regarding aspects of the application form and the wider application process. Mentors and expert consultants can e-mail the Investigating Innovative Ideas Secretariat at innovative.idea@dti.gsi.gov.uk or telephone 020 7215 4167 to speak to a member of the team.  The mentor should advise an applicant that if an offer of a grant is received it should be checked, signed, dated and returned to the SBS within 28 days of the date of the letter to signify acceptance of the conditions.

The project

The project may start from the date the applicant signs acceptance of the Offer Letter. The mentor should liaise with the applicant to become aware of the project completion and claim dates in the Offer Letter and to work with them so that the project is concluded and claim submitted within the stipulated time. We appreciate that sometimes factors may arise  that hinder progress of the project. If there is any doubt as to the timely completion of the project or submitting the subsequent claim, you should encourage the company to contact us with reasons for the delay and we will decide if an extension is appropriate.

Problems during projects

We know that a variety of problems can arise during projects.  Businesses should always be encouraged to contact us as soon as any problem affecting the project arises, however small it is.  We are here to help and will always aim to put projects back on track. 

We also understand that some projects will ‘fail’, for example technologies may not interact in the way originally envisaged.  If this happens we should be contacted straight away as any work other than that originally agreed will not be eligible for support.  We will not attempt to penalise businesses (or any consultant) for ‘failures’ where work has been undertaken in good faith – indeed alerting us promptly is good practice which we will appreciate and allow us treat businesses as helpfully as possible

Carrying out the work and Claim process

The mentor can help the applicant make a trouble free claim by:

  •   making sure their action plan report is written in good time and always before the project completion date.

  •   issuing a statement of how many days each consultant spent working on the project

  •   issuing a receipted invoice to the applicant as soon as their payment to you has reached your bank account, and

  •   making sure the applicant company states the number of days worked by their personnel on the project

The consultant should advise the applicant that their claim should include the above documents and that it must reach the SBS before the ‘no obligation to pay’ date stated in paragraph 5 of the offer letter.
Related Links:

Search the Business Support Directory for grants and business support from other providers as well as the DTI

For further practical help and advice for small business visit Business Link