HIE set up the Shared Prosperity Fund Argyll Programme after securing £280,000 in funding through Argyll and Bute Council’s allocation from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).

This fund will prioritise support for innovation in productivity improvements, low carbon goods and environmental services, and climate resilience.

Grants of up to £10,000 are available to cover costs related to equipment and materials, intellectual property, and consultancy services.

Morag Goodfellow, HIE’s area manager for Argyll and the Islands, said: “Innovation is fundamental to business growth. Helping businesses and social enterprises with innovation will increase their chances of attracting follow-on funding and ultimately reaching new market opportunities with new products and services. This is why we have developed this new fund.

“I’m delighted we have secured the support of Argyll and Bute Council’s UK Shared Prosperity Funding in order to launch this new programme and look forward to receiving applications from businesses and social enterprises across the patch.”

In addition to the grant support, the programme offers an additional benefit – subsidised graduate placements. This initiative provides a 50% contribution towards salary costs for graduates to work on specific projects over a 12-month period. The scheme is an attempt to tackle long-term recruitment challenges and support succession planning in the region, both of which are significant issues across the area’s business base.

Graduates must be located in the Argyll and Bute area and have graduated with at least an HNC in the past four years.