The Business Improvement Scheme (BIS) provides funding for businesses looking to complete a business improvement project.

Benefits

• Grant of 50% towards the cost of improvement projects in a wide range of business areas
• Maximum level of assistance of £5,000 per project.
• The scheme not only provides financial assistance, but enables businesses to engage with a range of technical consultants to deliver the business improvement project
• Includes a Business Advisory Service, fully funded by the Department

Features

The Business Improvement Scheme encompasses the following disciplines:

• Brexit (The Department has a checklist for businesses in preparation for the outcome of Brexit negotiations. The Brexit Business Checklist covers cross border trade, taxation, currency risk, product regulations, intellectual property rights, legal issues, and employment and staffing considerations. You can download the Brexit Business Checklist in the downloads section on the right)
• Business Advisory Service (available to all eligible businesses, regardless of number of employees)
• Digital Marketing/Social Media
• Environmental efficiency and energy audits
• Information communication technology/information systems
• Intellectual Property Protection Support
• Legal Advice Concerning External Investment in Businesses
• Legislation
• Marketing
• Quality Accreditations
• Transactional websites

Eligibility 

The applicant business must:

• Be registered or incorporated on the Isle of Man
• Employ workers resident on the Island for Income Tax purposes
• Have no government debts (NI/Tax/VAT etc)

Important Notes 

1. Please note that grants are not retrospective. This means that any services commenced or paid for before the application form has been submitted are strictly ineligible for support.

2. Grants are only payable towards the technical services and consultancy of external project consultants who are engaged to undertake work under a limited number of project disciplines as defined in the Scheme’s Guidance. Grants cannot be paid towards the purchase of any products, materials, hardware or software etc.

Skanco recently took advantage of the Department's Business Improvement Scheme to obtain an ISO Quality Accreditation. Hear what Operations Manager Andy Gosnell had to say about the experience below. 

You can also read about Skanco's experience here.