Advantage West Midlands provides investment to support projects that make a significant and lasting contribution to the economic development and regeneration of our region.
If you have a project idea that you think may qualify for support from us, you need to follow the proposal and appraisal process outlined here.
We’ve produced new advice and guidance to help you develop your project and build the case for our funding. This is set out in our Project Development Pack.
Before you invest a lot of time and effort in developing your project you’ll need to confirm that we are the most appropriate organisation to support your specific project requirements.
Who do I contact first?
Please do not complete a project application form until you have made contact with a named contact as detailed below.
We work with people across the West Midlands Region to agree what should be done to develop and regenerate our region. The framework for the region’s growth is set out in the West Midlands Economic Strategy (WMES). Through our Corporate Plan we set out the contribution we will make to the delivery of the WMES.
We target most of our efforts and investment into three “delivery vehicles”, Regeneration Zones, High Technology Corridors, and Business Clusters. These delivery vehicles are partnerships of councils, public sector organisations (including Advantage West Midlands), higher education, businesses and the community.
To receive our funding support your project must show how it strategically fits with our Corporate Plan, our policies and local plans.
For guidance and advice on the potential for funding your project and to help you through the early stages of project development work you should talk to representatives of our “delivery vehicles”.
If your project is about:
Your proposal will normally be registered and supported by one of these “delivery vehicles” so they will be your first point of contact. Once you have contacted the relevant “delivery vehicle” they will arrange a meeting to discuss your project and provide advice on further developing your application or on seeking other sources of investment for your project .
If you’re not sure whether your project is relevant to any of the delivery vehicles or which delivery vehicle you should contact our Partnerships Team Leaders who will be able to help you.
How does the application process work?
The process of applying for and successfully attaining funding from Advantage West Midlands is a two stage process.
Initially, the relevant delivery vehicle will work with you to review and help develop your initial project idea to ensure that it meets local strategic needs and opportunities as well as the broader regional picture.
When appropriate, and if our funding is to be sought, the delivery vehicle will discuss your project with the relevant project sponsor within Advantage West Midlands about making an Outline Proposal to us for your project. Our Outline Proposal Form and Guidance material is available in the Outline Proposal Pack.
If your project shows the potential to make a viable case for our funding your proposal will be endorsed and your Delivery Vehicle and Project Sponsor will work with you to develop the Full Application. Our Full Application Pack contains Application Forms and Guidance.
Keeping track of your application
Once we have accepted your proposal or application for appraisal your AWM Project Sponsor will keep you updated on progress. You can now also monitor the progress of your project(s) through our processes up to the Contract stage using our new “Project Tracker”. This will show progress to date and forecast dates for future milestones.
Ask your AWM Project Sponsor to allocate a username and password so you can log on to the system. If you are not sure who to contact please see the guidance above for contact details. As certain project information may be confidential it is important that you do not share your password with anyone else.
Your AWM Project Sponsor will work with you to make sure you fully understand the information provided by this facility and additional guidance on individual milestones is available via the ‘Milestone help’ link shown at the bottom of the Milestones panel of the facility. Where you have queries on the data displayed you are advised to contact your Project Sponsor.