The Towns Fund is a £3.6 billion fund for towns across the UK to support local economic growth. Penzance and St Ives are two of 101 towns nationally, and 4 in Cornwall, that have secured Town Deal Funding. Cornwall Council is the Lead Authority for the Town Deals programme in Cornwall. We support the governance of the Town Deal Boards in both towns.
Further information about other Town Deal activity in both St Ives and Penzance can be found on their individual websites
The Town Deal Enterprise Grants will support Small and Medium Sized businesses. It will provide capital grants to encourage business start-ups and scale ups. This growth and development will provide new opportunities, jobs and stronger supply chains.
Each town has a bespoke offering. Please select from the following options to find out more about each specific fund:
Round 4 funding
There remains a small pot of Enterprise Grant Scheme funding with approximately £250,000 available.
The Town Deal Board have agreed that this final round will be open to a wide range of projects as long as they meet the overall aims and objectives of the scheme.
Given the limited budget, we are asking interested organisations and businesses to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) for review. Those successful at the first stage will then be invited to submit a full application.
Expressions of Interest will be scored against the following areas:
- Contribution to strategic objectives
- Impact on the business and the town
- Value for money offered in terms of grant versus outputs/benefits
- Deliverability (e.g timescales, consents in place etc)
Submit an Expression of Interest
Grants range from £2,500 - £150,000 and will be considered under Tier 1, 2 and 3, as outlined below:
| Grant amount range |
Maximum grant intervention rate |
Minimum match funding required by applicant | |
| Tier 1 - Small | £2,500 - £20,000 |
75% |
25% |
| Tier 2 - Medium | £20,001 - £50,000 |
65% |
35% |
|
Tier 3 - Large |
£50,001 - £150,000 (guide) |
55% |
45% |
Round 4 Criteria
To have the strongest chance of success, we are looking for projects that:
- create genuine step change for your business or organisation and demonstrate business growth or development especially in new and emerging sectors in the town.
- support year-round quality employment opportunities for local people.
- do not displace trade from already established businesses.
- deliver the main outputs for the Enterprise Grants:
- Jobs created/ safeguarded
- Sqm of buildings improved (for a variety of uses) - make strong contributions to the Enterprise Grant Scheme objectives.
Enterprise Grant Scheme Objectives
- To support St Ives and its business community to adapt to a changing economic environment caused by global and national issues by awarding capital grants to businesses to enable them to adapt and grow in their operations.
- To support new start-ups, scale ups and businesses who want to diversify their offering into new growth sectors.
- To support individual businesses to develop and grow to achieve sustainable growth and create new employment for local people.
- To support projects that create high value employment, for example year-round, above average salaries and progression opportunities.
- To add value to other TIP projects by supporting the development of individual businesses within the St Ives area which in turn will enable them to engage in opportunities on offer from other TIP projects.
What is eligible?
- Equipment / capital purchases to diversify / expand your business offering.
- Exterior building enhancements to improve the visual impact of the premises on the town and increase footfall to the premises.
- Interior improvements to improve the look and customer flow of premises leading to increased turnover.
What is ineligible?
- Visitor bed space and residential accommodation
- Repairs and maintenance
- Replacement of like for like equipment
- Revenue costs e.g., salaries, training, computer software, marketing and overheads.
- Business as usual e.g., computer hardware to expand your workforce.
Please note capital equipment funded through asset finance is likely to be ineligible so please contact us to discuss this if you are considering it.
Other considerations
Due to the high levels of investment already made in the hospitality sector through the first three rounds; applications from this sector will only be considered where applicants can clearly demonstrate additionality and/or diversifying the offering away from the town.
Due to the short timescales remaining on the scheme it is expected that all projects will have necessary consents (e.g. planning) in place or at least applied for if they are to be prioritised for support. All projects will need to be fully complete and final claims submitted by 31st January 2026.
If a business has already been awarded a grant through the Enterprise Grants scheme you are able to apply again, but please note that each project must deliver stand-alone measurable benefits and a lower intervention rate may be applicable.
Process
| Stage | Date |
| Open date to submit EOIs | Monday 9 June |
| Closing date for EOIs | Sunday 29 June |
| Meeting held to prioritise submissions (sub group of Town Deal Board) | Thursday 10 July |
| Decisions issued to applicants | Week commencing 14 July |
| Deadline for full application submission | Friday 10 September |
Help and assistance
Applicants are reminded that this is likely to be a highly competitive process, in person facilitation support will be available to help applicants at both EOI and full application stage.
Please email grants@cornwall.gov.uk.
Please follow the link below to show the current list of live approved projects.
Due to high levels of uptake the Penzance Town Deal Enterprise Grant Scheme is currently Closed. The full budget allocation has been allocated to 54 live projects.
Please follow the link below to show the current list of live approved projects.
Please follow the link below to show the boundary area for Penzance Town Deal. Your project must be located within the boundary in order to be eligible for support.
Aims of the Enterprise Grant Scheme
- To support Penzance and its business community to adapt to a changing economic environment caused by global and national issues. Awarding capital grants to businesses to enable them to adapt and grow in their operations.
- Investments in high street businesses to improve vibrancy in the town centre
- To support new start-ups, scale ups and businesses who want to diversify their offering into new growth sectors
- To support individual businesses to develop and grow to achieve sustainable growth and create new employment for local people
- Reducing the number of empty / underused premises through investment to enable them to be brought back into use.
- To add value to other Town Improvement Plan projects by supporting businesses which in turn will engage with TIP projects