LEAP: Funding real food and farming businesses

The next round of LEAP funding is expected to launch in April 2023, so please register your interest and check back here for more about what we offer.

Affordable loans

  • Unsecured loans for a 5-year term
  • Loans between £20,000 and £100,000
  • Can be used for capital or revenue costs

We offer one of the lowest interest rates in the social investment marketplace, currently 5%. This is calculated on a declining balance, equal instalments basis. To help cover the costs of running the programme, we charge a one-off fee. This will be taken from your loan when drawn down. This is currently set at 2% of the loan amount.

Grants

Side by side with your loan, you will be offered a grant at 18% of the loan amount. So, for a £50,000 loan, you will be awarded a £9,000 grant. By providing a grant with the loan we hope to alleviate the administrative burden on you, freeing you up to concentrate on impact delivery and long-term sustainability.

Business advice and support

We offer a tailored and structured mentoring package to ensure that you are ready to take on a loan. We call this ‘investment readiness’. The structure and focus of this support will vary from one organisation to another, but could be in areas such as business planning, financial modelling, governance, social impact delivery, community finance or marketing.

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