Industry Forum

Supplier Skills Programme (SSP) eligibility for existing SMEs

To be eligible for the Supplier Skills Programme (SSP) you must NOT be a Charity or a Not-for-Profit organisation.

Here is the current understanding of the eligibility criteria, subject to final confirmation from Birmingham City Council: To be considered for SSP support you must be able to answer “YES” to each of the points below by the time you submit your application form:

  1. Are you an SME actively trading for 6 months or more? (The definition of an SME is that your business has between 1 and 249 employees, which have an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 50 million, and/or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million and be less than 25% owned by another company or combination of other companies).
  2. Can you deliver your project in a 4-month period following receipt of your offer of grant? For high value, more complex projects, project timescales are subject to negotiation.
  3. Do you pay your business rates to one of the local authorities based in the More Developed Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership area? (ie Birmingham City Council, Bromsgrove District Council, Redditch Borough Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council or Wyre Forest District Council).
  4. You work in a sector where there is significant job replacement demand. (Whilst SSP is open to all business sectors, we particularly welcome applications from the following sectors, HS2, Health and Social Care (particularly adult care), Transport and Logistics, Retail, Hospitality and Tourism, Construction and Infrastructure, Digital and Technology, Food and Drink and Emerging Technologies).
  5. Does your project have a value of at least £1,000? (To obtain the minimum grant of £500, your project costs must be £1,000 or more).
  6. Do you have cash match? Cash funding is the difference between the grant you are seeking and the remaining cost of your project. All applications must provide cash funding which can be sourced from the private sector, but not other Public Funds. Loans, overdrafts, savings or company funds are considered to be eligible cash match and these must be secured and in place prior to approval of an SSP grant.
  7. Can you provide full financial accounts, or if you’ve only been trading for 6 months, robust management accounts?
  8. Can you provide a detailed proposed training plan?
 

If you answered “yes” to all of the above, then you are eligible for consideration. Please complete the contact form at the left of this page to express an interest in the programme and an expert training advisor will be in touch to discuss your training plan. 

Find out more about the programme