Companies wishing to combat the climate crisis, or those who own a commercial property in Macclesfield, could get a grant from Cheshire East Council.

The Flexible Workspace Grant and the Sustainable and Inclusive Growth Programme Grant are available to applicants via the council's business growth and investment team.

The Flexible Workspace Grant is offering grants from £25,000 up to £100,000 to landlords or leaseholders to refurbish empty or underused property into flexible co-working spaces.

The criteria for application is straightforward. Applicants need to:

• be businesses owning a commercial property in an urban centre in the borough;
• be liable for paying business rates to Cheshire East Council (where rates are payable);
• hold their own business bank account; and
• Apply for the grant through the application form, which can be found on the support packages and services for business pages on the council's website.

The Sustainable and Inclusive Growth Programme offers grants from £1,000 to £10,000 to businesses looking to invest in new equipment, technology and business practices, which will decarbonise their operations.

The eligibility criteria for this grant is that organisations must:

• Trade from a property within the borough;
• Have a decarbonisation plan or growth plan to support their application; and
• Only apply for expenditure that has occurred since 1 April this year.

A dedicated online hub has been set up to help with locations with the two grants, with applications now open via this link.

Councillor Mark Goldsmith, chair of Cheshire East Council's economy and growth committee said: "These are two very different grants which I hope will appeal to a wide remit of businesses in our borough.

Cheshire East HQ, Sandbach.

"Increasingly, showing versatility and flexibility are typical attributes that many forward-thinking organisations are having to show, so on that front the Flexible Workspace Grant is something I think will resonate well. 

"The Sustainable and Inclusive Growth Grant is very much focused towards companies with a strong environmental conscience, which connects directly with the council's own ambitious target of being carbon neutral by 2025. I'd urge businesses of any size to look at this grant and to get in touch with our business support hub colleagues directly, who will be very happy to help."

In a statement sent to Macclesfield Nub News, Cheshire East Council added: "These grants are distributed by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and are part of the government's Levelling Up agenda, which is providing £2.6bn of funding through local investment by March 2025."

"Cheshire East Council has been allocated £12.4m, with a further (circa) £1.5m allocation specifically for an adult numeracy programme known as 'Multiply' from the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund."

See Also: Macclesfield business All Things Nice celebrates first birthday

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