The Harborough Rural Grant Scheme opened on 12 September 2025 and will close on 31 October 2025.

Eligible businesses located in rural areas of Harborough District (as identified in the guidance) could benefit from capital grants between £5,000-£20,000 to support their business to diversify, innovate and grow.

The grants are being managed and distributed by Harborough District Council using funding received from the government through the Rural England Prosperity Fund which is an extension of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government's Levelling Up agenda and provides funding for local investment by 31 March 2026. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus

Farm business diversification

• Support for farm businesses to diversify their business activities outside of agricultural activities. Such projects should improve business resilience, development and increase business revenue.
• Agriculture definition: the science or practice of farming, including cultivation of the soil for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food, wool, and other products.

Innovation and growth

• Support micro and small enterprises in rural areas looking to make investment to deliver innovative projects. Funding will support capital projects that change the way businesses operate, to improve efficiencies and to generate more income. Projects will need to demonstrate how they are helping to overcome a rural issue or barrier they face in order to grow.

Green Technology & Infrastructure

• Support for businesses to invest in energy efficient and low carbon technologies. This means businesses can invest in green technology that will improve their carbon footprint. Businesses could also use this funding to develop their own green technology which can be used to improve the carbon footprint of their business and/or other businesses.

Rural Tourism

• Support for businesses to develop local tourism attractions, facilities or infrastructure to enhance the rural visitor economy and increase opportunities to attract visitors to our rural areas.

Arts, Creative, Cultural and Heritage

• Support for capital projects that enhance arts, creative, cultural and heritage assets in rural areas. The aim is to strengthen community identity, attract visitors and contribute to the local rural economy.

• The grant funding must be used on capital projects. This means you must spend grants on lasting assets such as a building or equipment.
• The grants must support new or existing rural businesses to develop new products or facilities that will be of wider benefit to the local economy. This includes farm businesses looking to diversify income streams.
• Grants must be used for business purposes. They cannot be used for domestic property improvements or for private vehicles.
• All projects must consider how the project can work with the natural environment to achieve objectives.
• Grant recipients must have robust business plans which demonstrate the viability and potential success of projects.
• The grants cannot be paid retrospectively. This means you cannot start the project until a grant decision has been made. It must be for a new project.
• All applicants must provide assurances that they have all the necessary permissions, such as Planning approvals, building warrants etc., in place prior to applying.
• The business must be located in a rural area as identified in the guidance.
• A micro/ small/ medium sized enterprise employing between 1 and 249 staff.
• Applications are required to demonstrate that they have match funding from other sources, with the maximum funding from the Harborough Rural Grants Scheme being 75%, other than in exceptional circumstances. Projects which have been able to attract a higher percentage of match funding from their own funds or other sources, maybe more likely to be supported, as they demonstrate that the business has received more support and commitment from elsewhere.