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 GamesLab West Midlands Fund: Round 4 March 2015: West Midlands Application guidance (revision 4) 1
Creative England GamesLab West Midlands Creative England operates with the core purpose of supporting the sustainable growth of independent creative businesses and the talent that feeds them, in every part of England outside of London. Creative England’s GamesLab is a programme of investment and support, designed to aid and sustain the growth of the region’s burgeoning games industry through the development of innovative games and IP. Working with emerging and established companies, the GamesLab programme aims to create the conditions necessary for the region’s most innovative and commercially astute games companies to flourish. The GamesLab development fund is intended to stimulate the development and growth of the games industry in the West Midlands, by supporting companies with demonstrable high-­‐growth potential. Coupling investments with business support in the form of dedicated expert business advice, we endeavour to offer our grant recipients the best possible chance of success. Our definition of a game is: An interactive form of entertainment, educational, or narrative play delivered through a digital platform with a commercial route to market. Key Points • The purpose of the GamesLab West Midlands Fund is to nurture economic growth through the development of new IP; leading to the creation and safeguarding of jobs within the West Midlands games industry. Evidence of your capacity to support growth as a company will be crucial to the success of your application • Grants are awarded to assist games companies with the cost of: Ø employing contractors ( eg: artists & programmers ) Ø employing consultants ( eg: a PR & Marketing agency ) Ø purchasing hardware or software that is essential to the development of the project named in the application • The grants will be paid out in the form of grants from £20,000 -­‐ £50,000 All funds are subject to the availability of funding and are discretionary. There is no guarantee that an applicant will be offered a grant, even if the business and project is eligible • The fund offers grants to assist companies with the costs of producing a specific, named project. The game should constitute new IP, the rights remaining with the applicant company once the game is completed. The game should be at public alpha or beta stage by the end of August 2015 at latest • Companies can suggest more than one project for funding; however, only one project will be funded per company. A company must submit a separate application for each project. • Grants can be used to fund up to 60% of the development costs of your project. So for example if your total project budget is £50,000 you should request a grant of £30,000 and be able to provide at least £20,000 of cash match funding 2
• Both grant and match funding can only be used to pay for external development invoices, (e.g. consultancy, contractors, hardware, other related services, etc.) Grants cannot be used to pay internal costs (e.g. salaries, overheads, etc.) • You must be able to demonstrate that activity funded by a GamesLab grant will safeguard or create full-­‐time equivalent job roles at your company by December 2016, (see page 8 for definitions) As a guide Creative England looks for 1 job to be created and / or safeguarded for every £7,000 of grant it awards Eligibility The fund is open to companies who satisfy the following criteria: • Are a company based in the following areas: Birmingham and the Black Country, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Herefordshire, and Shropshire. • Qualify as an SME -­‐ For advice on business types, please visit the European Commission Website and an online “SME Checker” paying particular attention to the thresholds for number of employees, turnover, and permissible amount of ownership by a parent company. http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/facts-­‐figures-­‐analysis/sme-­‐
definition/index_en.htm • Have game development experience, or similar • Be registered at Companies House or be prepared to register by the point any formal offer of funding is made by Creative England • Companies who aspire to grow through their proposed activity and can provide evidence of their capacity to support, nurture, and exploit this growth potential. Applicants will need to demonstrate both a clear route to market and an ability to realise the growth potential of their proposed activity, in terms of the safeguarding and creation of jobs • Companies who will retain the rights of the IP created (i.e not working on a “work for hire” basis). • The Creative England GamesLab programme operates under ‘De Minimis’ State Aid rules. This means a private company cannot receive over €200,000 worth of public sector support granted under ‘De Minimis’, from whatever source in any three year rolling period. As part of the application process, applicants will be asked to list any state aid received so we can check it does not exceed the ‘De Minimis’ threshold. For the avoidance of doubt SEIS investment does contribute to your overall state aid allowance 3
Project Budget • You may request between £20,000 and £50,000 from this fund. • You are required to match any grant requested, and subsequently awarded, with your own funds. Match funding should make up at least 40% of the overall development budget. Please note that match cannot pre-­‐date the point any formal offer of funding is made by Creative England • Match funding must be available to draw down by the time your funding agreement is issued. • You will be required to pay 5% programme fees which will cover the project management of the programme and all related costs (including legal and financial due diligence). These fees can contribute to your overall match requirement • Below is an example of a project budget Total Project Budget: £50,000 Grant Awarded: £30,000 Project Grant Expenditure Consultancy £10,000 Hardware/Software £15,000 Marketing £5,000 £30,000 Project Expenditure as Match Consultancy £10,000 Hardware/Software £10,000 £20,000 Claim Process • As a requirement of the GamesLab programme, grant recipients are requested to evidence project expenditure as agreed in their budget. This is collected through a claims process and comes in two forms: Ø recipients are required to evidence spend allocated against their grant funding. This is to verify that the funding has been allocated against the costs that have been agreed in the budget. Ø recipients are also required to evidence the expenditure for their match funding in the same way. • The evidence needs to relate to any expenditure that has been defrayed in the specified claim period. The date of defrayal is the date the payment left the bank account of the company as evidenced on a bank statement. This is not always the date the payment was made, for example, if a cheque was raised then the defrayal date would be when the cheque cleared the account, not when the cheque was sent. 4
• The main type of evidence connected with the project will be invoices for goods and services provided in connection with the project. A full audit trail is needed containing all original source documentation. • Claims must be submitted at the end of each quarter during the development period. The quarter periods are January-­‐March, April-­‐June, July-­‐September and October-­‐December. We require all evidence to be submitted to Creative England by 6th day of the last month in the claim period. For example, if the claim period is October-­‐December then the evidence will need to be submitted by the 6th of December at the latest. • All expenditure (Creative England grant and company match) must be defrayed and evidenced to Creative England by end of August 2015 at latest. Financial penalties may apply if this deadline is not met Eligible Project Expenditure Project expenditure must relate to the project named in the application and not to support other areas of your business. The budget will be approved as part of the contracting process and project expenditure must correspond to the budget. Any expenditure not included in the budget will be deemed ineligible We anticipate the project costs will be made up of the following: • Hardware/ software purchases • Marketing costs • Fees (e.g. consultants, freelancers, events) Salaries and overheads cannot be used as part of your project budget. Ineligible Project Expenditure If project expenditure is deemed ineligible it cannot be paid for with our grant or counted towards your company match. Ineligible expenditure includes: • Expenditure which is not forecast in your budget or subsequent approved revisions • Expenses exceeding the thresholds set in the expenses guidance • Salaries • Goods and services purchased outside of the procurement guidelines • Alcohol and entertainment • Overheads (e.g. heating, lighting, broadband, phone) • Expenditure undertaken outside of the project lifetime • Contingencies • Match claims that pre-­‐date the point any formal offer of funding is made by Creative England 5
Application Process and Deadlines The first stage of application is to complete an online eligibility checker and application form available at http://applications.creativeengland.co.uk/application/126 As part of your application process you will be asked to submit a proposal and a project budget, outlining, exactly what expenditure a successful grant will support This selection process will be undertaken internally by Creative England and, where appropriate, externally by appropriately qualified independent professional advisors. The assessors will consider, amongst other things: • The idea • Cost efficiency • The viability of your business model • The likelihood of growth and jobs creation and the timeliness of these outcomes • The likely long-­‐term economic impact of the project should it proceed to production • The fit with the strategic aims of the Fund • The viability of the development budget and development plan Shortlisted companies will be invited to pitch their ideas before a panel of industry experts after the initial review. A Q&A session will follow the pitch, where the panel will question your proposed idea further. In the event your pitch is unsuccessful there is no appeal against the decision itself. However, if you have concerns about any aspect of the application process, Creative England has a detailed Complaints and Appeals Procedure in place. Details are available on request. Offer If your application is successful you will be made a formal offer in writing. The offer is subject to further due diligence and shall set out the level of financial assistance agreed and the conditions under which it will be made. If successful in your application, throughout the life of the project you will have regular meetings with a specially appointed Business Development Consultant. This consultant will offer support and advice and ensure your project is kept on track. Funding Agreement Following successful completion of due diligence checks, a final funding agreement will be issued. This funding agreement will set out the terms of the delivery of your game. Monitoring and Evaluation If your application is successful, we will appoint a Contracts Manager who will liaise with you for the duration of your development activity. The Contracts Manager will agree with you a reporting, 6
delivery, and evaluation schedule for the project. This will allow us to measure the effectiveness of the fund in meeting its strategic aims. You will be required to complete quarterly reports and financial returns, in which you will evidence the project expenditure undertaken. You are required to partake in an annual survey on the progress of your company for up to 5 years following the end of the funding programme. This report may require you to provide evidence related to increases in staff and product creation to satisfy the needs of the funding programme. Marketing As the recipient of a Creative England GamesLab Development Fund grant, you will be required to co-­‐operate with reasonable requests for promoting the support of Creative England’s GamesLab programme; including the inclusion of the funding logo suite on press releases related to the product launch and participation on potential showcase events. You may also be contacted for press interviews; however participation in these is at your discretion. We will never publicly release information about your project or product without asking your permission first. Timeline: Please note that these dates are a guide and may be subject to change • Deadline for applications: Until Funding Pot Allocated • If application approved, funding agreement issued: 2 weeks after successful application • First tranche of funding (50% of total grant amount) issued: On Creative England receiving an approved and signed funding agreement from company • Second tranche of funding (50% of the total grant amount) issued: To Be Agreed in Contract • All grant and match expenditure to be defrayed and evidenced to Creative England by the end of August 2015 • Game to be at alpha / beta stage August 2015 Definitions For the purpose of GamesLab West Midlands: Round 4, below are definitions of the key-­‐terms in the document. Full-­‐Time Job A full-­‐time job is defined as a member of staff on a 12 month + contract, working 30 hours+ per week, and paid from the company via PAYE. Part-­‐Time Job A part-­‐time job is defined as a member of staff on a 12 month + contract, less than 30 hours per week, and paid from the company via PAYE. Job Created A job created must be: • New -­‐ must not have existed in the company before receipt of Creative England GamesLab funding. • Permanent -­‐ must have a life expectancy of at least 12 months from the point at which it was created. • Full Time Equivalent -­‐ Must be a contract of 30 hours or more per week ( convert part time jobs to FTE either on a pro rata basis based on hours worked or 2 part time jobs=1FTE). 7
Job Safeguarded Match Grant Eligible Expenditure A job safeguarded is defined as a permanent, paid, full-­‐time / full-­‐time equivalent job which was at risk (forecast to be lost within 12 months) prior to GamesLab funding, but is no longer at risk as a result of the intervention. Match funding is money which the applicant company puts into the project themselves. In the case of GamesLab West Midlands: Round 4 the rate of funding is minimum of 40% of the overall project budget of grant money awarded. Match funding cannot pre-­‐date the point any formal offer of funding is made by Creative England. Match cannot be spent on ineligible expenditure. Match funding must be ready to draw down at the point the funding agreement is signed. Match funding must be cash, not in-­‐kind Grant funding is money which the applicant company receives from GamesLab. Grant funding cannot be spent on ineligible expenditure. Includes: • Hardware/ software purchases • Marketing costs (e.g. marketing the game to potential investors) • Fees (e.g. consultants, freelancers, marketing, events, paying private testing groups) Ineligible Expenditure Includes: • Employee salaries. • Expenditure which is not forecast in your budget or subsequent approved revisions • Expenses exceeding the thresholds set in the expenses guidance • Salaries • Goods and services purchased outside of the procurement guidelines • Alcohol and entertainment • Overheads (e.g. heating, lighting, broadband, phone) • Expenditure undertaken outside of the project lifetime • Contingencies • Match claims predating the funding agreement. 8
Further information about Creative England and GamesLab funders Creative England Creative England is a national agency that invests in and supports creative ideas, talent and businesses in film, TV, games and digital media. We aim to grow the brightest, the best, and those with the most promise so that individuals and businesses can achieve their full creative and commercial potential. We help identify future opportunities to grow the economy and generate jobs. With offices in Salford, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Nottingham, Pinewood and Elstree, we are a national agency with strong local and regional links. European Regional Development Fund Creative England’s GamesLab West Midlands project is part-­‐financed by the West Midlands Competitiveness & Employment Programme which forms a part of the European Regional Development Fund Programme 2007 to 2013. The Department for Communities and Local Government is the managing authority for the European Regional Development Fund Programme, which is one of the funds established by the European Commission to help local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support local businesses and create jobs. For more information visit www.gov.uk/browse/business/funding-­‐debt/european-­‐regional-­‐
development-­‐funding Regional Growth Fund The Regional Growth Fund (RGF) is a flexible and competitive £3.2 billion fund operating across England from 2011 to 2017. It supports projects and programmes that are using private sector investment to create economic growth and sustainable employment. For more information, please go to www.bis.gov.uk/rgf Creative England’s business development programme, providing development funding and market expertise to small creative and digital businesses, is supported by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF). ____________________________________________________________________________ Contact Details For further guidance please visit http://gameslab.creativeengland.co.uk If you have any questions please contact [email protected] 9