Governance models we support

We support a wide range of governance structures, including Community Interest Companies (CICs), Community Benefit Societies (CBS), cooperatives, and Companies Limited by Guarantee (CLGs). Please note the programme cannot support sole traders, partnerships or Companies Limited by Shares (CLS), but we can work with you to consider your governance model and convert to one of the above. Please let us know what governance model you use when you register your interest, and what your plans are.

How the application process works

1. Register your interest
2. We will review and if it looks like you meet our criteria, we will invite you to make a full application.
3. We will review your application and present a summary of it to the investment committee, who will decide whether to take you forward to the next round. If successful, we will then develop an investment readiness plan with you, and allocate a budget for delivering that.
4. We will support you to deliver that plan either directly, or with the help of external consultants.
5. Once the plan has been successfully completed, we will complete the formal due diligence and submit it to the committee for final approval.
6. The process from application to approval takes a minimum of 3 months.

Find out more

Read our FAQs for more information.