New Anglia LEP Investment Appraisal Committee
Wednesday 23
rd
June 2021
Teams Meeting
9am to 9:45am
Agenda
No. Item
1. Welcome
Main Agenda
2. Apologies
3. Declarations of Interest
4, 4a IAC and GBF Terms of Reference
5. Minutes of previous meeting – 26 May 2021
6. Horizon Paper and GPF repayments – Confidential
Reporting: Growing Business Fund
7,
7a-c
Growing Business Fund Programme Performance Report and GBF, SGS and
GTI and grant award appendices
8 Growing Business Fund- Grants by district supported by Growth Deal
Items for discussion
9.
Suffolk Inclusive Growth Investment Fund- Round 3 projects for approval
Confidential
10. Getting Building Fund- Grant application- Confidential
Other
11. Any Other Business
1
Committee Members
Cllr David Ellesmere Ipswich Borough Council
Andrew Proctor Norfolk County Council
Sandy Ruddock Scarlett and Mustard
Alan Waters Norwich City Council
Tim Whitley BT
Dominic Keen High Growth Robotics
Kathy Atkinson Kettle Foods Ltd
Martin Williams Williams Business Advisory
Exec Members
Rosanne Wijnberg New Anglia LEP
Chris Dashper New Anglia LEP
Iain Dunnett New Anglia LEP
Date and time of next meeting: Wednesday 21 July 2021. 9am-9:45am
Venue: Teams Meeting
2
Item 4
Investment Appraisal Committee
Terms of Reference
Purpose
To ensure allocation of funding is delivered appropriately and in accordance with the Assurance
Framework through the mechanism of LEP Programmes - Growing Places Fund, Growing
Business Fund, Capital Growth Programme, EZ Accelerator Fund and the Innovative Projects
Fund or other funds as appropriate, and that the funding allocations support the development of
schemes that deliver the Economic Strategy.
Functions
• Making an assessment as to the long term financial and legal viability of offering Growing
Places Fund loan finance to clients and other.
• Making assessments on projects received through Capital Growth Programme, ensuring
value for money, additionality and alignment with the Economic Strategy ambitions and
Economic Indicators.
• Consider proposals for co-investment of the Enterprise Accelerator Fund for projects to
be developed on Enterprise Zones, generating a rental return through co-ownership of a
suitable built asset.
• Provide scrutiny to the Growth Deal spend profile and agree any reallocation of funds.
• Providing a strategic assessment of proposed LEP Programme bidding calls.
• Providing a final strategic assessment of projects and to make a decision on which
projects should be approved for funding where the value of the LEP intervention is £500k
or less.
• Make a recommendation to the LEP Board to approve or reject each request for funding
received exceeding £500K.
• Approve contract variation to funding agreements after initial approval by the committee
within £500k of the original agreed funding or delivery profile.
• Lead on the development of the LEP Investment Plan making recommendations to the
LEP Board in the summer of each year which sets out the framework for LEP
Programmes for the proceeding financial year.
Membership and Appointment
The committee will comprise a total of eight members. Seven committee members will be
members of the LEP Board- four private sector members, three public sector. A further private
sector member will be independent of the LEP Board. The Chair of the Committee will be
appointed by the LEP Board, and a Deputy Chair shall be appointed to chair the Committee in the
Chair’s absence or if he/she elects to delegate the chair. Substitutes may only be accepted in
exceptional circumstances and only for public sector members at the discretion of the Chair.
Quorum
Five members, of which at least two shall be private sector directors and includes relevant LEP
Board Champion for the programme, one public sector Board member and the chair or deputy
chair.
Attendance of non-members at meetings
Officers from the LEP Executive will attend meetings and present reports and recommendations
but will not be entitled to vote. Project applicants will not be entitled to attend meetings unless it
is deemed necessary. Meetings of the Investment Appraisal Committee will not be open to
observers or other attendees.
3
Advisers
The Growing Business Fund uses independent appraisers to conduct the due diligence on each
applicant to the programme. Adviser contracts will be compulsorily reviewed every 3 to 5 years
Meeting Frequency
A meeting will be scheduled to be held before each LEP Board meeting. If no decisions are
forthcoming, the meeting can be cancelled. Ad hoc meetings can be scheduled if necessary, both
in person and by conference call, particularly to review changes to outstanding projects.
Delegated Authority including limits
The committee will have a delegated responsibility from the LEP Board for financial decisions up
to £500k.
The Investment Appraisal Committee will set the annual budget for the Growing Business Fund
for each forthcoming financial year and will agree any variance to the budget during the delivery
year should this be necessary. Authority will be delegated for Growing Business Fund (GBF)
decisions to the GBF panel, which the LEP Board Champion for GBF and member of the IAC
attends. The maximum award size under GBF will be £500k. A report will be provided on awards
made by the GBF panel for each IAC meeting.
Authority is also delegated, through the GBF panel, to the ERDF funded Small Grant Scheme.
The SGS, an on-line panel, will report decisions made to the GBF panel and in turn to the IAC.
The maximum award size under SGS will be £25k.
The Investment Appraisal Committee will consider their responsibilities under the Public Sector
Equality Duty (PSED) as outlined in the New Anglia LEP Assurance Framework and will
incorporate equality considerations into all decisions.
Reporting procedures
The minutes of meetings will be circulated to all members of the LEP Board and will be published
on the LEP website. The IAC will receive minutes from GBF, incorporating Small Grants Panel
decisions to ensure alignment with investment decisions. IAC minutes will be published 10 days
after meetings in accordance with LEP governance arrangements.
Decisions made by the IAC, GBF panel and Small Grants panel will be recorded in the LEP’s
register of decisions which is published online.
Communications
Meeting agendas will be circulated 5 working days before each meeting in accordance with LEP
governance arrangements. Agendas will include all appropriate papers required to support any
decisions to be made. Additional papers may be circulated by email between meetings as
necessary.
Key stakeholders such as the Skills Board and the Local Transport Body will be consulted and
informed on projects and decisions made.
Decisions will be communicated to applicants in advance of minutes being published.
Review
The membership of the Investment Appraisal Committee will be reviewed annually. The
Committee shall, review its own performance once a year and terms of reference to ensure it is
operating at maximum effectiveness and recommend any changes it considers necessary to the
LEP Board for approval.
4
Last Updated: 8 June 2021
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April2020
Item 4a
Growing Business Fund
Terms of Reference
Purpose
To ensure the allocation of funding to the Growing Business Fund programme is delivered
appropriately and in accordance with the Assurance Framework through the mechanism of the
Growing Business Fund and that the funding allocation supports the delivery of the Economic
Strategy through individual projects.
Functions
• Consider applications requesting financial support from the Growing Business Fund and
reach an agreed decision to support or reject each application.
• Provide support to applicants and partners to ensure that a quality standard of application
and subsequently project is achieved.
• Support New Anglia LEP and the New Anglia Growth Hub and in the promotion and
publicity of the Growing Business Fund to improve and sustain the flow of quality
applications for funding.
• Approve grants to individual applicants with values between £25k and £500k in accordance
with delegated decision making powers from the New Anglia LEP Investment Appraisal
Committee (IAC).
• Approve financial interventions in accordance with guidance on State Aid for SMEs.
• Consider applications in line with Growing Business Fund criteria and in accordance with
the New Anglia LEP Economic Strategy.
• Approve contract variation to funding agreements after initial approval by the committee
only where necessary.
Membership and Appointment
The committee will comprise a minimum of seven voting members. All voting members will be from
the private sector including the independent Chair. At least two member of the panel will be private
sector LEP board members of which one is a member of the LEP’s Investment Appraisal Committee.
They will act as LEP board champions for the GBF programme. Each Panel Member will be expected
to sign a Declaration, in confirmation of their appointment to the Panel and acceptance of these
Terms of Reference. Substitute attendees are not permitted at GBF panel meetings.
Two panel members will take the roles of Chair and Deputy Chair of the Panel. The full Panel will
elect them on an annual basis, at its April meeting.
Membership of the Panel is undertaken on a voluntary basis and is for a period of twelve months,
renewable at the discretion of New Anglia LEP and confirmed at the March Panel meeting, unless a
Member’s appointment is terminated.
A Panel Member may terminate membership of the panel by giving at least three months’ notice in
writing to New Anglia. New Anglia may terminate the Panel Membership of any Member if they do
not act at all times in accordance with these Terms of Reference. Panel Membership will be
terminated if the GBF programme comes to an end.
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Quorum
Four members of the panel should be in attendance and in agreement for a decision to be made.
Those unable to attend can send electronic comments in advance by emailing the coordinator and
the chairman and these will be considered.
Attendance of non-members at meetings
Officers from the LEP Executive will attend meetings and present reports but will not be entitled to
vote. Project applicants will not normally be entitled to attend meetings. Other attendees at the
meeting will include at least 1 representative of SCC (the accountable and delivery body) and at
least 1 representative of Finance East (the independent appraisers). In addition, 1 representative
from each of NCC and SCC’s Economic Development teams may attend to provide local knowledge
and context to the discussion.
No-one other than the private sector voting members will have a vote on any of the applications.
Observers
Alongside the main panel members, one New Anglia Growth Hub adviser is encouraged to attend
the panel as an observer and on occasion there maybe a visitor such as a government representative
Appraisal and Due Diligence
The Growing Business Fund uses independent appraisers to conduct the due diligence on each
applicant to the programme. The Appraiser contracts will be compulsorily reviewed every 3 to 5
years.
Meeting Frequency
Panel meetings will be held monthly, with dates, times and locations determined at least three
months in advance. Meetings will be located evenly between venues in Norfolk and Suffolk, usually
Ipswich and Norwich and arranged and coordinated by New Anglia LEP.
Panel Members will be expected to attend at least two thirds of the meetings per year. Any apologies
should be advised at least one week before meetings are held. Panel Members unable to attend a
meeting may submit their comments by email in advance, with any further relevant comments on
each grant application to be considered at that meeting. In some instances it may be deemed more
efficient to ask the whole panel to provide their vote by email, particularly if there is only one
application to consider. This will be ratified at the next actual meeting.
Decision making process
Panel Members should not enter into any discussion on applications prior to a meeting, other than
to clarify matters of detail in relation to those applications. Opinions on the eligibility or quality of
applications should be reserved for Panel meetings. Questions on matters of detail should be
submitted to Finance East, who will respond to all interested parties to ensure consistency of
information.
The Growing Business Fund Panel will consider their responsibilities under the Public Sector
Equality Duty (PSED) as outlined in the New Anglia LEP Assurance Framework and will
incorporate equality considerations into all decisions.
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Declarations of Interest
If a Panel Member has a personal or professional pecuniary or non-pecuniary interest in any
organisation or project to be considered by the Panel, they should declare that interest at the
beginning of the meeting and leave the meeting before any discussion on that item commences. The
Panel Member will have no right to vote on that particular application.
In addition all panel members must complete the standard LEP register of interests form twice a year
and is responsible for ensuring this form is kept up to date. The form is published on the LEP website.
Delegated Authority including limits
The Panel will have a delegated responsibility from the Investment Appraisal Committee for financial
decisions up to £500k.
Authority is also delegated, through the GBF panel, to the ERDF funded Small Grant Scheme. The
SGS, an on-line panel will report decisions made to the GBF panel.
The maximum award size under SGS will be £25k.
Budget Setting
The Investment Appraisal Committee will set the annual budget for the Growing Business Fund for
each forthcoming financial year and will agree any variance to the budget during the delivery year
should this be necessary.
Reporting procedures
The minutes of GBF meetings will be taken by a member of the New Anglia staff team and circulated
to all members of the LEP Board and will be published on the LEP website.
The minutes will not contain commercially sensitive information but will include the applicant name
and the amount awarded.
The GBF panel will also provide information on decisions taken for the IAC.
The minutes will include a record of decisions made by the Small Grant Scheme, which has
delegated financial approval from the Investment Appraisal Committee through the Growing
Business Fund panel. Minutes will be published ten days after meetings in accordance with LEP
governance arrangements. In accordance with new General Data Protection Regulations, panel
members will delete all emails relating to projects after meetings and destroy all papers.
Decisions taken by the GBF Panel and Small Grants Panel will also be included in the LEP’s Register
of Decisions which is published on the LEP website.
Communications
Meeting agendas will be circulated 5 working days before each meeting in accordance with LEP
governance arrangements. Agendas will include all appropriate papers required to support any
decisions to be made. Additional papers may be circulated by email between meetings as necessary.
Decisions will be communicated to applicants in advance of minutes being published.
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April2020
Review
The membership of Growing Business Fund panel will be reviewed annually. The Panel shall review
its own performance and terms of reference annually to ensure it is operating at maximum
effectiveness and recommend any changes it considers necessary to the LEP Board for approval.
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Page 1 of 2
New Anglia Investment Appraisal Committee
Confidential Meeting Minutes (Unconfirmed)
26
th
May 2021
Present:
Committee Members
David Ellesmere (DE)
Ipswich Borough Council
Dominic Keen (DK)
High Growth Robotics
Sandy Ruddock (SR)
Scarlett & Mustard
Kathy Atkinson (KA)
Kettle Foods
Alan Waters (AW)
Norwich City Council
Martin Williams (MW)
Independent IAC Member
In Attendance
Rosanne Wijnberg (RW)
New Anglia LEP
Chris Dashper (CD)
New Anglia LEP
Helen Wilton (HW)
New Anglia LEP
Melanie Richardson (MR)
New Anglia LEP
ACTIONS
Grants to be reordered on the Horizons report as per the level certainty around claiming – ID
1
Welcome from the Chair
David Ellesmere (DE) welcomed everyone to the meeting.
2
Apologies
Apologies were received from Tim Whitley and Andrew Proctor
3
Declarations of Interest
None
4
Minutes of previous meetings
The minutes of the last meeting were agreed as accurate.
Chris Dashper (CD) advised that the end of year grant data was now available and a full breakdown of
grants by district will be provided going forward
5
Horizon Paper and GPF Repayments – Confidential
The Committee agreed:
• To note the content of the report
6
Growing Business Fund Programme Performance Report and SGS/GTI and Visitor
Economy/Wider Economy grant award appendices
CD advised that the 2021 budget was overcommitted and this has been carried forward into the 21/22
year. £2m was allocated from projects as unused and the same approach will be taken from other
projects going forwards where the funding is not drawn down. The programme continues to be popular
but the future fund is limited.
Page 2 of 2
The Committee agreed:
• To note the content of the report
7
Resilience and Recovery Programme Performance Report and Grant Approvals by District
CD confirmed that new applications continue to be received. Local authorities are looking to set up their
own versions of the scheme to use the remainder of funding receive from Government and the Growth
Hub and LEP is assisting with this.
Martin Williams (MW) asked whether any requests were to support refinancing.
CD confirmed that proof of the project and capital investment was required and although a loan can be
used as part of the match funding the due diligence ensures that this can be repaid.
The Committee agreed:
• To note the content of the report
8
IPF Calls 1 & 2 Programme Performance Report and IPF 2 project RAG rating appendix
CD confirmed that the pandemic has slowed many of the projects but that they were now progressing and
drawdown was expected soon. RW confirmed that there are no time restrictions on claiming these funds.
The Committee agreed:
• To note the content of the report
9
Growing Places Fund Programme Performance Report – confidential appendix
The Committee agreed:
• To note the content of the report
10
Growing Places Fund - Loan update - Confidential
11
AOB
CD advised that the updated committee Terms of Reference will be brought to the next meeting.
Growing Business Fund Performance Report - May 2021
Programme Overview - What is the Growing Business Fund?
What is the overall Programme Status?
Finance
Green
Outputs
Green
Delivery
Green
What are our key updates?
What is our financial position?
Financials (£ million)
Year 2013 to 2016 2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019 2019/2020 2020/2021 2021/2022 Total
Profile Spend (£m) £12.000 £3.536 £3.050 £5.096 £4.121 £2.790 £2.150 £32.743
Actual Spend (£m) £11.999 £3.001 £3.049 £4.764 £2.533 £2.815 £0.632 £28.161
Remaining Spend (£m) £0.001 £0.535 £0.001 £0.331 £1.588 -£0.025 £2.431
What is our contribution to the Economic Strategy?
Target
A
ctual to end of
March 2022
Monthly Change Shortfall Notes
£0 £0 £0
£0 £0 £0
0.0 0.0 0
£2,150,000 £631,864 £631,864 £1,518,136
£8,600,000 £5,814,696 £5,814,696 £2,785,304
107
6.0 6.0
101
What is the project status?
Number of
Projects
Approved
Grants
Approved
Private
Match
Total Project
Costs Jobs to be Created
3 235,899 1,018,543 1,254,442 58.0
1 100,000 1,654,600 1,754,600 10.0
141 15,891,096 101,413,745 117,304,841 1,664.5
6 520,000 2,166,000 2,686,000 38.5
23 2,395,631 14,518,518 16,914,149 245.5
28 2,947,608 53,452,312 56,399,920 392.0
10 1,002,601 6,016,625 7,019,226 114.0
5 372,000 2,342,138 2,714,138 45.5
11 753,200 3,792,342 4,545,542 76.0
1 30,000 79,425 109,425 3.0
1 100,000 232,500 345,000 10.0
26 3,207,666 20,880,393 24,088,059 313.6
20 1,660,100 9,434,097 11,094,197 200.0
1 20,000 102,191 122,191 4.0
1 31,580 126,320 157,900 3.5
8 502,921 3,159,776 3,662,697 55.5
2 320,000 4,737,413 5,057,413 32.0
288
30
,
090
,
302
22
5,
126
,
938
2
55,
229
,7
40
3
,
26
5.
6
What are the next steps?
C - Manufacturing
E - Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities
The LEP is continuing to work with delivery partners, to ensure that the scheme can be accessed by businesses to facilitate growth during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
As we are nearing the end of this fund, we are closely monitoring the applications and claims coming forward to ensure they can complete on time, 31st March 2022.
K - Financial and Insurance Activities
S - Other Service Activities
I - Accommodation and Food Service Activities
Total
N - Administrative and Support Service Activities
L - Real Estate Activities
M - Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
P - Education
Q - Human Health and Social Work Activities
R - Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
Participant SMEs of the Scale Up New Anglia programme are being offered a range of support including applications to GBF (where appropriate).
This is still the LEP flagship grant scheme and continues to attracting interest despite COVID-19, we are seeing confidence in that some businesses submitting grant applications.
Many of the businesses are proceeding with their growth plans especially those of a medium size with a healthy pipeline of larger grant applications
The GBF pipeline continues to be buoyant with a number of projects coming forward requesting support.
Outputs April 2021 to March 2022
GBF has been really successful, its still the main growth grant available to businesses in Suffolk and Norfolk
Value of grants approved
Value of private sector match approved
Number of New Jobs to be Created
Value of grants claimed
J - Information and Communication
Private sector match funding drawn down
B - Mining and Quarrying
F - Construction
G - Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles
H - Transportation and Storage
The following table shows grants approved by sector since the start of the programme in 2013/14
Number of New Jobs Created
Sector
A- Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
The scheme started 2021/22 with £23,401.34 already committed
Pipeline is buoyant, with interest in some larger size grant applications . Regular panel meetings continue to approve applications
Launched in April 2013, the Growing Business Fund provides grants for businesses to enable growth, an increase productivity and job creation.
Capital grants between £25,000 and £250,000 are provided at up to 20% of project costs for SMEs.
Funding for the Growing Business Fund is provided on an annual basis by the LEP, this year we begin with £2.15m
The fund is accessed through the New Anglia Growth Hub with Due Diligence undertaken by Finance East and agreed by a GBF panel which meets monthly as required .
Since the end of 2020 we have seen a significant increase in the number of applications coming forward, these are now being progressed to panel.
Q1‐21/22 Q2‐21/22 Q3‐21/22 Q4‐21/22
QuarterlyForecast
£0.538 £0.538 £0.538 £0.538
QuarterlySpend
£0.632 £0.000 £0.000 £0.000
Variance
‐£0.094 £0.538 £0.538 £0.538
‐1
0
1
2
2020/2021ExpenditureProfile
17
Approval
Date
Company Name
Grant
Awarded
Business
Size
Reason for Support
Apr-21 No approvals in April
May-21
Flexion Global Ltd
£194,700 Small Capital investment to support business growth
May-21
Two Magpies Food Company Ltd
£44,000 Small Capital investment to support business growth
May-21
Broadland Radiators & Heat Exchangers Ltd
£25,800 Small Capital investment to support business growth
Total for Growing Business Fund £264,500
New Anglia LEP
Growing Business Fund
Grant Approvals - April 2021 to March 2022
18
Date
Approved
Company Name
Grant
Awarded
Business
Size
Reason for Support
Apr-21 Plantscape Tree Services Ltd £7,951
Micro
Capital investment to support business growth
Apr-21 East Anglian Sea School Ltd £4,000
Micro
Capital investment to support business growth
Apr-21 Freeclix Ltd £10,508
Micro
Capital investment to support business growth
Apr-21 Travel Photographer of the Year Ltd (2) £2,372
Micro
Capital and revenue investment to support business growth
Apr-21 Synergy15 Ltd £3,520
Micro
Capital investment to support business growth
May-21 No approvals in May
Total for Small Grant Scheme £28,351
Small Grant Scheme
Grant Approvals April 2021 to March 2022
19
Approval
Date
Company Name
Grant
Awarded
Business
Size
Reason for Support
Apr-21
PG Products Ltd £16,048 Small Revenue investment to support R&D or Innovation
Apr-21
Raptor Aerospace Ltd £25,000 Micro Capital and Revenue investment to support R&D or Innovation
Apr-21
UroPharma Ltd £12,065 Micro Revenue investment to support R&D or Innovation
Apr-21
FamilyCarersNet Ltd £24,750 Micro Revenue investment to support R&D or Innovation
Apr-21
Bed-Down LLP £22,016 Small Revenue investment to support R&D or Innovation
Apr-21
Make An impact CIC £8,100 Micro Revenue investment to support R&D or Innovation
May-21
IKON Training Limited £8,000 Small Revenue investment to support R&D or Innovation
Total for Growth Through innovation £115,979
New Anglia LEP
Growth Through Innovation
Grant Approvals - April 2021 to March 2022
20
