Brackley Town Centre Grant for Existing Businesses
Partnership with Brackley Town Council
We are offering grant funding in partnership with Brackley Town Council to help tackle visible signs of urban decay in Brackley.
This will be through enhancing the visual appeal, historical integrity and economic vitality of the Town Centre, and supporting the growth of local businesses within Brackley Town Centre.
Our longer-term aim is to boost footfall, strengthen the local economy and create a more vibrant and attractive high street.
The grant is funded by West Northamptonshire Council through the Section 106 Brackley Town Fund. We welcome applications from all eligible organisations and are committed to providing support throughout the application process.
Grant awards are paid in arrears once invoices have been provided.
If you would like any further help, please email [email protected].
Eligibility criteria
You must be an existing business with a shop front in Brackley Town Centre with a minimum of 12 months left on your lease once the grant has been awarded.
Applicants must be an independent retailer with full control over all business decisions and have permission from the landlord to carry out any works. Franchise holders are not eligible to receive this funding.
To be eligible, your organisation must meet all 3 of the following criteria:
- Employ less than 50 people.
- Have a turnover of £10.2million or less.
- Have £5.1million or less on your balance sheet.
Your business must be within the town centre of Brackley.
The town centre of Brackley is defined as:
- Banbury Road
- Bridge Street
- Drayman’s Walk
- Market House Courtyard
- Market Place
- High Street from Market Place to St Peters Road
The applying organisation must be the sole party named on the lease or rental agreement.
The grant can only be used to fund the trading address detailed on your application form.
Organisations who apply also need to be in good standing with the council, including being fully paid up on any money owed to the council, such as business rates.
Applicants or organisations that are in administration, insolvent or where a striking-off notice has been made are not eligible for the grant.
If you are unsure whether your organisation could be considered eligible, please email [email protected] for guidance.
Some types of organisations will not be eligible to receive funding, including:
- any organisation subject to a franchise agreement where business decisions are governed by a franchisor
- shops or venues wholly or mainly offering material of an adult or sexual nature
- businesses or activities for political purposes or gain
- activities promoting religious beliefs or to proscribed organisations or organisations that support radicalisation or terrorism
This is not an exhaustive list. We retain the right to add to it at any time.
Organisations who apply also need to be in good standing with the council, including being fully paid up on any money owed to the council, such as business rates.
Applicants or organisations that are in administration, insolvent or where a striking-off notice has been made are not eligible for the grant.
If you are unsure whether your organisation could be considered eligible, please email [email protected] for guidance.
Funding available
The maximum grant award is up to £10,000 match funded by 50%. On the application form please state the total cost of your project and the grant amount you require, as the total amount of your project will need to be part funded by 50%.
For example, if your project requires a total of £15,000, we will grant you £7,500 excluding VAT (50%). Please refer to our FAQs for further clarity.
Grant awards are paid in arrears once invoices have been provided. If your application is successful, you must be able to spend up to a maximum of what you are applying for.
Please send us a copy of a financial statement proving you can match the funding you are requesting by 50%, along with a copy of your company’s most recent filed accounts.
What the grant can be used for
This grant can be used to fund structural works to your property and/or equipment your business needs to trade and provide the services from the property.
Applicants must be able to explain how each item of works or equipment they are requesting supports their organisation to trade more efficiently and provide services. Equipment can be either new or second hand/refurbished.
If planning permission is required, this must be in place before applying for a grant.
You must not start any works or purchase any requested equipment until you have received and signed your Grant Offer Letter. We cannot pay for any works already started or equipment already purchased before our grant offer is confirmed.
The council, as a public authority, is subject to the UK State Subsidy scheme, which applies limits on the level of funding a recipient can receive. When completing the Grant Application Form, applicants will be asked to list the sources and amounts of funding they have received. This may limit the amount of grant we can award.
Shop front and exterior improvements
- refurbishing or modernising shop fronts
- replacing or adding window canopies and awnings
- cleaning or restoring external brickwork, stonework, or rendering
- installing or upgrading windows, doors, roofing, or external lighting
- enhancing exterior areas such as seating, planters, or usable outdoor spaces
Internal improvements to enhance business operations
- upgrading floors, ceilings, electrical systems, fixtures, or internal layout
- improving accessibility (wider aisles, ramps, circulation space, assistance bells, disabled toilets)
New equipment to support trading
- display units, shelving, racks, counters, and storage solutions
- food storage or refrigeration equipment
- food preparation equipment (ovens, preparation stations)
- business specific equipment essential to delivering services
- second hand or refurbished equipment where appropriate
Business expansion and service improvements
- converting unused areas into functional customer or service spaces
- adding new facilities or equipment that enable a new service or product line
- interior redesigns that improve customer flow, visibility, or service quality
This is not an exhaustive list. We retain the right to add to it at any time.
- purchase of existing stocked items such as computers, phones and tablets
- rental or lease deposit or costs, business rates, insurance costs
- staffing costs, promotional and marketing materials or activities not relating to a new service you are proposing
- new equipment that is not integral to your business services at the property, such as cleaning products, day-to-day consumables, vacuum cleaners and staff room equipment
This is not an exhaustive list. We retain the right to add to it at any time.
If you are unsure if your requested works, equipment or service are eligible, please email [email protected] for guidance.
Application timescales
Please refer to the application form for specific timescales. However, after you have submitted your Grant Application Form and supporting information and providing, they meet the criteria, this will then go to the Grant Decision Panel.
The Grant Decision Panel will meet on a quarterly basis to assess the applications, after which you will be told if your application has been successful.
The panel is made up of West Northamptonshire Council officers and Brackley Town Council. Decisions made by the panel are final. There is no appeals process.
Grants are discretionary, merit-based, and subject to the availability of funds. There is no automatic entitlement to funding based solely on the location of a property.
If any information you provide leads the council to believe your organisation is not eligible to receive funding from this grant for your chosen project, your application will not progress further. You will be given an explanation on why your application has been rejected.
The Grant Decision Panel will consider several factors when deciding the amount of grant that maybe offered to an applicant, which include:
- location of the property address, for example, in the designated town centre area
- the items that will be purchased or service provided, for example, will funding help improve the outside of the property and/or have a positive impact on the area
- is this an existing or expanding business
- permanency of the business
- length of lease
The council reserves the right to change the terms, conditions, and nature of the Town Centre Grant at any time without notice.
If your grant application is successful, you will receive an offer letter which will set out specific and general terms and conditions. The agreement will be between you and West Northamptonshire Council.
There is no possibility of an applicant negotiating or changing the terms of the grant agreement.
We will continue to work with successful applicants to monitor how the grant has been spent and offer further support to their organisation for up to six months from the date of their Grant Award Letter.
Application form
Register your expression of interest
Interested in applying? Please let us know by emailing [email protected] and we will send you an application form.
Closing date
For this round of grant applications:
- the closing date is 3pm on Thursday 30 April 2026
- applications after this date will not be considered
- if you have missed this date, grant funding is available on a quarterly basis. Please contact us for the dates of the next round of funding
All applicants are encouraged to read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) prior to applying.
Why do you need a copy of your company’s most recent filed accounts (and draft if beyond mid-year)?
To understand the size of your business. Plus, to ensure you are financially stable to support the payment of the grant until you are re-imbursed post works on submission of invoices. Therefore, to ensure you can complete your project within six months of the grant being awarded.
Why do you need to know the number of employees at time of application?
This allows us to understand the size of your business but also to ensure you have under 50 employees to fall within the application guidelines.
Why can we not include links to Pinterest?
West Northamptonshire Council has limited access to certain online sites.
Why do we need to limit the size of photographs if insetting into the application form?
We need to understand what your property looks like from both the outside (customer approach) and inside (retail/customer area). We also need to understand specifically the location/area within your property that you are requiring the grant for. Photographs/images achieve this much better than a written description.
This is to ensure your total application file size does not exceed 30 MB and that your application form can be uploaded successfully.
Can you explain how much Grant I can apply for?
You can apply for up to £10,000 but you will be required to match fund this grant by 50%. Therefore, if your total project is £20,000, we will grant you £10,000 and you will fund the remaining £10,000. Likewise, if your total project costs are £5,000 we will grant you £2,500.
Will the Grant Funding include or exclude VAT?
The Grant funding will exclude VAT. West Northamptonshire Council does not pay the VAT on your receipts.
Regardless if your business is VAT registered or not, we will pay the amounts for the eligible items on your submitted invoices or receipts minus the VAT element (where these items are Vatable).
Further guidance will be provided on your grant award letter.
Why do you require 3 quotes for items over the value of £500 excluding VAT?
This is for us to understand the market value of the items you are purchasing as part of this grant application.
If you have reason to use a supplier of a higher quote value, please explain your rationale on the application form in the designated area.
For example, it may be that your chosen supplier has a number of added value items within their quote which a more competitive supplier will not provide.
Why do you require the quote to be input excluding VAT when I am not VAT registered?
This will ensure we are comparing all your quotes fairly.
What if I receive a quote from a non-VAT registered company or a zero-rated VAT quote?
If you receive a quote from a non-VAT registered company or with zero rated VAT please state this next to the quote.
Why do you need a copy of the quotes for items we will be purchasing?
We are keen to support local trades and businesses which includes the supply chain. Therefore, please ensure that you do reach out to local trades businesses where possible to obtain quotes.
We also want to ensure the quotes supplied are not out of date or will become out of date by the time you receive the award. Therefore, quotes you may have received in the past, for example when researching other service improvement opportunities, cannot be submitted.
We also want to ensure your quotes match the details you have completed on the form.
Conflict of interest: examples of conflict
Applicants should ensure that there is no conflict of interest when selecting potential suppliers of goods and services that are to be part of this West Northamptonshire Council funded project.
Conflict of interest refers to situations in which personal interests (which may include financial interests) may compromise, or have the appearance of, or potential for, compromising the selection of a supplier
Examples of conflicts of interest include: (This is not an exhaustive list)
- having a financial interest (e.g. holding shares or options) in a potential tenderer or any entity involved in any tendering consortium
- being employed by (as staff member or volunteer) or providing services to any potential tenderer
- being a member of a potential tenderer’s management/executive board
- receiving any kind of monetary payment or non-monetary gift or incentive (including hospitality) from any tenderer or its representatives
- having a partner or spouse or family member who falls into any of the categories outlined above
This applies to individuals or members of a consortium, or any subcontractors proposed.
Why do you want to celebrate the success of the project?
We are keen to publicise your business in addition to what the grant funding has enabled you to do, plus provide tools for you to use for your own marketing and promotion activity.
As a recipient of a grant, we would encourage you to allow to the council team to potentially take photographs, video and / or record audio of an informal interview with you. Where possible, a case study will be produced and made publicly available on the council’s website. In addition, this will be licenced to you for your own promotion.
If you do not want to be photographed or be the subject of a case study, please make us aware on the application form. You can designate someone to speak on your behalf if this forms part of a necessary reasonable adjustment.
Why do you need a copy of our rental or lease agreement?
We need to understand the details of your agreement to ensure you have the ability to change the trading business as in your proposal or are able to deliver the new service you are proposing.
Submitting your application
If you have problems submitting your application form, please contact [email protected].
Can I apply if my business falls just outside of the designated area?
Please email us before you start your application, with your trading business address including postcode, as we will need to assess how far out of the designated area your business falls.
However, if your business is located significantly out of the designated area, we can not consider your application.
If my application is successful, what happens after I accept my grant award?
You will receive an offer letter which will set out specific and general terms and conditions of the grant. Once you have accepted the terms, you will be required to keep in touch with the Town Centre Manager within six months of receiving the grant.
This contact will be in the form of completing a short survey on the benefits you have experienced following the improvements made. This could be in person.
How is the grant paid to successful applicants?
This grant is paid in arrears, either in full, or in batches of £2,500 or more, within 30 days of us receiving an eligible invoice or batch of invoices.
Invoices must clearly relate to item(s) detailed in the agreed item list outlined in our grant offer, where we will also explain how these are to be sent to us.
Further questions
If your questions are still not answered, please feel free to email us at [email protected] where we will be happy to answer all your queries.
Contact details
For initial enquires, please email [email protected], where we will endeavour to respond within 3 days.
Last updated 19 March 2026