Regional Growth Fund
The Regional Growth Fund (RGF) is a £1.4bn fund operating across England from 2011 to 2014. It supports projects and programmes that lever private sector investment creating economic growth and sustainable employment.
It aims particularly to help those areas and communities currently dependent on the public sector to make the transition to sustainable private sector-led growth and prosperity.
The final date for requesting feedback on Round 1 bids has now passed. Those considering submitting a strengthened bid can still request an Expression of Interest meeting up until 1 June. See “
Submitting a project outline
” for details.
Who can bid for RGF funds?
We will accept bids from private bodies and public private partnerships across England. No sector is excluded from bidding.
How does the bidding process work and who decides?
Each bid is in competition with the next. Even if you have a good bid it might not succeed if others are better.
Final decisions regarding support and prioritisation will be taken by a ministerial group chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister including the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and the Secretaries of State for: Business Innovation and Skills; Communities and Local Government; Transport; and Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The ministerial group will be assisted by an independent Advisory Panel chaired by Lord Heseltine that will make recommendations on which proposals best address the objectives of the RGF.
Who can be involved in a public private partnership?
The make up of bidding partnerships is not prescribed. As a consequence bidders can form the best partnership to suit individual projects. The public sector partner can include local authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships.
Local Enterprise Partnerships can get involved in two ways:
- coordinating bids across areas and communities
- bidding to the Fund themselves
Which areas of the country can bid?
Bids are invited from all areas of England. One of the objectives of RGF, however, is to rebalance areas and communities currently dependent on the public sector. Bids which demonstrate that they will create growth and employment in areas of dependency that lack a strong private sector are more likely to succeed.
What sort of projects and programmes qualify?
The RGF will support bids that remove barriers to private sector-led economic growth. It will provide funds to support:
- private sector investment that triggers growth and jobs
- some basic infrastructure that triggers private sector led economic growth as part of a wider investment
It will not support speculative developments that do not explicitly address long term growth. All bids must be state aid compliant.
How much can I bid for?
The minimum bid is for £1m RGF support. A low minimum has been set to encourage innovative bids from all sizes of companies across a range of sectors.
The amount requested should be the minimum necessary to make the project go ahead. Since the RGF is a challenge fund bids need to be realistic and competitive.
Projects that would go ahead without support from the Fund will not be considered.
What should I do next?
You can:
The deadline for submission of bids to the Regional Growth Fund is noon on 1 July 2011.
Frequently Asked Questions
Please see our Frequently Asked Questions for answers to the most common queries regarding the Fund.
Further information
If you have further queries about the Regional Growth Fund and Round 2 bidding you can contact the following:
BIS Local Offices
North West 0161 2610480
Yorkshire, Humber and North East 07825 841835
West Midlands 0121 3452209
East Midlands 0115 9712675
Central and South West 07990 692252
London and East 020 72153295
BIS Regional Growth Fund Team 020 7215 5496 or 020 7215 6758
Alternatively Email the central enquiry point.
Additional information on bidding for round 2 of RGF can be found on the Bidding Guidance page
Applications must be submitted on the RGF Round 2 Application Forms
Round 2 of bidding was launched on 12 April 2011 on the same day that the announcement of successful bids to Round 1 was made. For further information on the announcement and decision making see the additional information page.
