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Terms and Conditions

  1. On applying for an innovation voucher you must complete all fields correctly for your application to be considered eligible.
  2. Businesses applying must be a small to medium enterprise (SME)*, must be based in the Northwest i.e. Cheshire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Cumbria.
  3. You must provide your company registration number or HM Revenue & Customs Unique Tax Reference Number, failure to do so will result in your application being rejected.
  4. You must complete the estimated economic impact table on the application form otherwise your application will be rejected.
  5. Priority will be given to companies applying for their first innovation voucher.
  6. In any one round a company can apply for both a £3k and a £7k provided the focus of each knowledge question is completely different and they have not previously had an innovation voucher.
  7. Companies are only allowed two innovation vouchers in the whole programme, 27/10/08 to 31/03/11.
  8. Only one application per company in any one round, which must be completed in full, otherwise they may be classes as ineligible.
  9. A voucher up to the value of £3,000 voucher is a 100% grant from NWDA excluding VAT.
  10. A voucher up to the value of £7,000 is a 70% grant from NWDA and businesses must contribute 30% of cash to make the total value of the voucher up to £10,000.
  11. Companies must pay the VAT on the total project cost of all innovation vouchers.
  12. If your application is successful you will be contacted by the innovation team within 10 working days of the closing date for applications.
  13. Your knowledge question only will then be put to the Knowledge Providers for them to express an interest in helping you with your requirements.
  14. You will then receive an email from the NWDA within 25 working days from the closing date, giving you details of any expressions of interest you have received from our Knowledge Provider Panel.
  15. You can only use the innovation voucher to purchase expertise from one of the registered knowledge providers on the programme. See website for details.
  16. Each voucher is intended to stimulate a 'new collaboration with the knowledge base' and therefore the business must not have worked with a specific department of the Knowledge Provider before.
  17. Only registered small or medium business, social enterprise, not-for-profit organisations can apply. (Charities are not eligible to apply).
  18. The following business activities are ineligible under European Funding Rules:
    a. Production of synthetic fibres, textiles & clothing, motor vehicles, shipbuilding, coal & steel, agriculture and Annex 1 food processing, banks & insurance companies, schools, and the provision of social welfare facilities.
  19. The Innovation Voucher Scheme operates under 'De Minimis' State Aid rules. This means that a private company cannot receive over €500,000 worth of public sector support granted under 'De Minimis' from whatever source in any three year rolling period.


SME Definition:

1. No more than 25% or more of the capital or the voting rights of the Company applying for support, is owned by any other enterprise or jointly by several enterprises, which fall outside the definition of an SME (outlined in point 2 below). However, ownership of more than 25% is allowable for the following:

a) Public investment corporations, venture capital companies and business angels, providing that the total investment is less than €1.25m.
b) Universities or non-profit research centres.
c) Institutional investors, including regional development funds.
d) Autonomous local authorities with an annual budget of less than €10m and less than 5,000 inhabitants.

2. The business satisfies the following criteria:

a) Has either an annual turnover not exceeding €50m(≈£34m*) or an annual balance-sheet total not exceeding €43m(≈£29m*)
b) Is not subject to an EU sector restriction, e.g. agriculture, fisheries, retail, production of synthetic fibres, clothing, manufacture of motor vehicles, shipbuilding, coal and steel.
c) Has fewer than 250 full time equivalent employees (worldwide, including partners and executive directors).

Please contact the Innovation Voucher Team on 01925 400466 or email: innovationvouchers@nwda.co.uk for further guidance or information.