What is Selective Finance for Investment in England?
Selective Finance for Investment (SFIE) is a form of financial assistance available to businesses located in Assisted Areas in the UK for investment in capital expenditure and is run by Advantage West Midlands in our region.
SFIE is normally given in the form of a grant payable in installments on the achievement of capital expenditure and job creation or preservation targets appropriate to the project. The amount of assistance which can be provided by Advantage West Midlands ranges from £10,000 to £1,999,999. Applications above this have to be made directly to the DTI.
The Assisted Areas map has been changed with effect from 1 January 2007. At the same time the limits on SFIE as a percentage of eligible capital expenditure have also been changed (see box below). There has been a reduction in the Assisted Areas and the grant limits for large enterprises.
Assisted Areas
The Assisted Areas in the West Midlands fall into two categories, referred to as Tier 2 and Tier 3.
In Tier 2 areas (which comprise parts of Birmingham, the Black Country, Coventry and North Staffordshire) SFIE is available to any size of business, subject to meeting the eligibility criteria (see below). A limited number of wards in Bromsgrove, Solihull and South Staffordshire are also included in Tier 2. A map of the new Tier 2 Area and a list of the wards included is set out in the document 'Assisted Areas'.
In Tier 3 areas (which comprise the whole region excluding the Tier 2 areas) SFIE is only available to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs – for a definition of this term see the document 'Assisted Areas') and cannot exceed £100,000 in aggregate for any one SME.
SFIE eligibility criteria
A project will be considered for SFIE if:
It is located in an Assisted Area
The project requires SFIE to make it happen, or without SFIE the project would only go ahead on a smaller scale or within a longer timeframe
It involves capital expenditure
It creates new jobs or safeguards existing ones which would otherwise be put at risk (note that this requirement can be waived for grants of less than £100,000)
A majority of the jobs created or safeguarded require qualifications of level 2 NVQ (or equivalent) or above
It will secure increased productivity
The business is viable and can become self sustaining within a reasonable timeframe (for example three years)
It generates regional and national benefits, in line with the West Midlands Economic Strategy
The bulk of the finance for the project will come from private sources (such as bank finance or retained earnings). SFIE is the minimum amount required to enable the project to go ahead and cannot exceed certain percentages of capital expenditure (see box below).
Limits on SFIE
Subject to meeting the criteria set out above, SFIE grant is negotiated to the minimum required to enable the project to proceed. In addition:
SFIE grants cannot be less than £10,000
In the Tier 3 areas, the maximum aggregate SFIE grant to any one SME cannot exceed £100,000
% limits on SFIE grant are as follows:
| Large enterprises | Medium sized enterprises | Small enterprises |
| Tier 2 – Birmingham, Black Country and North Staffordshire, some wards in Bromsgrove and South Staffordshire | 15% | 25% | 35% |
| Tier 2 - Coventry and selected wards in Solihull | 10% | 20% | 30% |
| Rest of Region (Tier 3) | n/a | 7.5% | 15% |
Application process
Applications should be submitted on standard forms to:
Phil Baron
Advantage West Midlands
3 Priestley Wharf
Holt Street
Birmingham B7 4BN
The application form and the financial appendices which have to accompany an application are available through this website (see related documents). We aim to give a decision on complete applications within 30 days of receipt, although more complex and larger cases can take longer.