The following is a non-exhaustive guide to businesses that may be ineligible for support under the programmes because of the sector in which they operate. Where any further guidance is required, the programme team will be pleased to provide further clarification either generally or on a case-by-case basis.

Agriculture

There are a number of national and EU-wide support schemes and initiatives available for businesses operating in the agricultural sector and support for them is not provided for under these programmes.

Businesses that would be ineligible include:-

• Livestock farming
• Crop production
• Fodder crops
• Arable crops
• Horticultural
• Industrial (energy, fibres and non-food)

Service providers to the sector may be eligible for support under the programmes where the main activity of the business does not encompass any of the above.

Synthetic Fibres

Neither of the programmes provides support for businesses directly involved in the production of synthetic fibres and/or the manufacture of textiles and clothing from them.

A business that utilises man-made fibres to produce non-clothing products for either industrial, commercial or consumer use may be eligible if that business is not reliant on their own production of the underlying material. The value in the product, in these cases, should come from the design and/or the innovative use of the material rather than from the production of the synthetic fibre itself.

Equally, designers of clothing that utilise synthetic fibres amongst other materials in the course of their business will be able to receive free advice and support under the programmes.

Shipbuilding

Shipbuilding has been specifically excluded from the remit of these programmes. This encompasses businesses whose primary activity is the manufacture of sea-going vessels aimed at industrial and commercial use such as trawler fishing, refrigeration and cargo transport, and those producing mass personnel transports such as ferries and cruise liners.

Boatbuilding, where this involves vessels designed mainly for leisure and personal use, may be eligible where the business concerned has developed or is going to develop its own range of products for those markets. The concept of “original art”, innovative engineering or mechanical design may give such businesses the necessary high growth potential.

Businesses providing services to the Shipbuilding sector are not specifically excluded from participation in the programmes and would be eligible where they meet other criteria.

Coal and Steel

Firms operating in the coal and steel sector are not provided for under either programme. This would include those involved in the mining of the raw materials, smelter operations, specialised transportation and the processing of the raw material into alternative forms.

Retail

This is perhaps the sector where there is the greatest scope for questions as to eligibility to arise as the heading would seem to encompass a wide range of businesses.

The exclusion under retail is mostly concerned with businesses that buy-in stock and sell this on at a mark-up, and those providing “high street” services. This would include shop-owners, market traders and other retail outlet operators, as well as hairdressers, tanning salons, estate agents, travel agents, dry cleaners and opticians.

Companies that operate a retail operation as an outlet for their own products or services may be eligible where these products are available for distribution to other retailers as stock items and where the retail operation is, therefore, subsidiary to the main activities of the business.

The assessment of eligibility for online web-based retailers can be undertaken utilising similar criteria; those buying-in stock and selling-on without any added-value element most closely resembling businesses not eligible for these programmes.

Where an online retailer is developing a portal or bringing together a group of suppliers or products not already available from one source, this may be eligible for the programmes, especially where the supporting enabling technology is innovative in either design or operation.

Banking and Insurance

Firms operating in the financial services sectors of banking and insurance are not eligible for either of the programmes.

In the main this ineligibility relates to those businesses directly developing, designing, marketing and selling banking or insurance products and to those businesses offering advisory services on them. These products would include cheque accounts, lending products, asset finance, savings accounts, life policies, pensions, mortgages and general insurance policies.

Businesses involved with the marketing and sale of retail investment products, credit unions and underwriting operations will also generally be ineligible, as will those providing products derived from any of these.

Firms offering services to the sector will be eligible if their main business activity is not as described. This would cover, for example, software companies providing market analysis, trade execution or rules based automated advice systems, or to those providing and interpreting time-critical market data.

Education

Businesses directly involved in the provision of generalised school age education fall outside the scope of both support programmes. This exclusion extends to colleges of further education where these are also offering generalised education to a local or regional community.

Firms that offer, or intend to offer, specialised activities involving technical education or vocational training, on a commercial basis, may be eligible and further guidance should be sought from the programmes team.

In most instances, a business that is owned, wholly or in significant part, by a public sector organisation will not be eligible to receive assistance under the programmes.

Raw Materials for Food

Businesses producing raw materials for the food sector are excluded from receiving support under both of these programmes. The exclusions under this category would include agricultural producers of food crops, livestock farmers, fisheries and fishing, harvesters of naturally growing plants, herbs and wild fauna.

Child Minding and Nurseries, Local Leisure Facilities, Hospitals and Care Homes

Firms directly involved in the provision of local social welfare facilities are excluded from these programmes. The type of service or facility excluded would include operators and managers of nursing homes, fire stations, day nurseries, sports facilities, parks and public libraries.

The exclusion relates to those operating or managing local facilities directly as a primary activity but does not exclude businesses that establish or have established these services as secondary to their main activity for, as an example, the benefit of their employees, customers or clients.

Where a business has established or is planning to establish facilities that offer specialised services to a target client base that extends beyond the immediate geographic area, the exclusion may not apply. For example, a private clinic that offers specialist treatment to a national or global patient base, on a commercial basis, may not be subject to the sector eligibility exclusion.