The following briefly outlines the kind of assistance we can provide. More detailed information is available when you click on tbe appropriate heading.
Starting Up In Business
We can provide a weekly business start-up allowance to people who are setting up in business. The business can be full or part time or full-time and seasonal. We can pay up to £500 per month (up to a maximum of £2,000) for a full-time business, depending upon the requirements of that business. We can also assist the purchase of equipment needed for the business.
Business Development
We can provide assistance towards the capital costs of setting up or expanding a business. Priority sectors for our assistance are tourism, information technology, food and drink processing and manufacturing and production but other sectors can be assisted provided your business will not be in direct competition with any other if your market is purely local. Developments which create employment are most likely to receive assistance.
Training
We can assist unemployed people to undertake training courses which will help them to gain employment.
We can also help with company training projects, and can provide advice as well as financial support. This type of training should normally be linked to the achievement of certificated qualifications, particularly Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQs), which will help us to ensure that Orkney has a competitive, skilled workforce. Any training should be linked to a company's training plan.
Small businesses, or self-employed people, may also be eligible for assistance where training will help them to add new skills to their business, or become more efficient.
We cannot normally help people already in employment who are looking to change career.
Marketing
We can help local businesses market their products, and occasionally their services, outwith Orkney. This may be by assisting with the production costs of promotional material, or with attendance at trade fairs. Assistance towards wider initiatives, which bring together similar businesses in a joint marketing effort, is also possible. For example, we helped to set up the Orkney Craft Trail where local crafts businesses are open to visitors during the summer months.
Community Projects
We can assist local clubs and associations to undertake various projects. For example: we have assisted sports groups to attend events outwith Orkney; we have helped set up play areas for children in many rural areas; we support the staging of various events throughout Orkney. Our scope is quite wide, and we would advise you to speak to us about any project which would help your club to attract more members or make the club more attractive or viable.
For capital projects, we have a very limited budget, and groups should normally try to access other sources of funding such as Orkney Islands Council, the lottery, Children in Need, etc before applying to HIE Orkney. Our maximum grant for community projects is £5,000.
Property
We have built starter units for new businesses on the Orkney mainland and also on the islands. These buildings are leased to businesses at a reasonable rent. We advertise such properties in the local press as they become available, and, dependent on our own funding, can develop new properties when there is a demand. Further details on our property page.
European funding
We can access European programmes of funding, which supplement our annual funding allocation, and enable us to assist a greater number of projects. Examples are the LEADER II programme, which assisted community projects in remote areas and the PESCA programme which supported fisheries dependent communities. European funding also helped us to establish the Orkney Marketing Scheme and invest a great deal more funding in the marketing of Orkney and its products.
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