Shop Front Improvement Grant (SFIG)

Businesses in Medway will be able to apply for:

• up to £2,500 for cosmetic improvements such as repairs, window replacement, repaint, signage and lighting
• up to £5,000 for structural works including accessibility enhancements.

Eligibility

To be eligible for this grant, you need to be either:

• an existing business occupying commercial units
• property owners of vacant or eligible units
• tenants with a valid lease with a minimum of 2 years remaining. 

Eligible works

Examples of eligible works include:

• repair or replacement shopfront fixtures
• repainting and masonry cleaning
• brickwork and stonework repairs
• new fascia signage and external lighting
• window display equipment. 

Exclusions

There are business types that are ineligible including:

• betting shops
• national chains and franchises
• adult entertainment venues
• national charities. 

The grant will not fund:

• recurring revenue costs including salaries, stock, rent and utility charges
• repaying existing loans or debts.

How to apply

To apply for the SFIG you'll need to provide:

• 3 months of bank statements
• 2 forms of ID
• schedule of proposed works and 2 competitive quotes
• relevant permissions including planning and licensing if applicable
• use class of property if known and how long it has had the use class
• tenancy or lease agreement and owners consent if applicable
• visuals of proposed alterations including before and after photos with verification visit. 

Download the SFIG application form

Once you have completed your application form, you'll need to email it to businessandskills@medway.gov.uk.

If you're offered a grant

If your application is successful, we'll offer you a grant in writing. This will set out all the conditions that apply to the grant.

You will receive an offer by email or by post if you did not provide an email address.

You must accept our offer within 15 working days of receiving it.

To accept our offer you will need to return a signed copy. You can use an electronic signature or a wet signature for printed letters sent by post.

Planning permission or listed building consent

All grants will be conditional on you securing planning or listed building consent if needed.

You can use the following guidance to help you work out what you might need:

• check if you need planning permission
• Medway Draft Local Plan DM7 Shopfront Design and Security
• conservation area shopfront guidance, applying to properties within conservation areas or listed buildings
• Chatham Design Code boundary including Chatham High Street and immediate surrounding areas. Exact boundary can be found in the Chatham Design Code document
• Arches Neighbourhood Plan. Boundary shown in the Design Code for Arches Chatham Neighbourhood Plan page 9. There's some overlap between this plan and Chatham Design Code. 

We'll then send you a formal offer letter if planning permission or listed building consent is granted.

Payment of the grant

• You should not start work before receiving your offer. The grant will not cover payments or invoices dated before the date on your offer letter.
• We will not increase the grant amount if the project costs more than the grant awarded to you.
• If costs are less than outlined in your application and agreed in our offer, you will only receive payment for this amount.
• We will pay the grant into your (the applicant's) business bank account or trading account via BACS.

Repayment of the grant

We reserve the right to recover all or part of the grant paid to the applicant if the business:

• is sold or stops trading within 6 months of receiving the grant offer
• relocates outside of Medway within 6 months of receiving the grant offer
• provided information in the application form, or other correspondence, that is found to be substantially incorrect, misleading or incomplete
• has committed acts or offences that could bring the council into disrepute
• has committed fraudulent acts or bribing another person.