Shop front improvement grants

We believe that the appearance of shop fronts, and the buildings of which they are a part, has a big impact and influence on the character of the town centre. A shop front that has been designed to reflect the character of the building and its surrounding area can add charm and vitality, making it attractive to shoppers and visitors alike.

Our grant scheme is to help shop owners, tenants, and landlords improve the public-facing appearance of their premises. The premises will need to be in Aldershot, Farnborough or North Camp town centre.

The maximum grant is £2,000 per project, or up to 50% match funding (whichever is less), so that we can support as many businesses as possible.

An example of match funding would be:

• If your business was looking to purchase a new shop front sign at a cost of £4,000, the Shop Front Improvement Grant would fund £2,000 (50%) and you would need to pay for the remaining £2,000 (50%)
• If the value of your purchase is more than £4,000, the Shop Front Improvement Grant would fund a maximum of £2,000 and the remaining balance would need to be paid by you. So for a purchase of £5,000 the Shop Front Improvement Grant would fund £2,000 of the purchase and the remaining balance of £3,000 would need to be paid for by your business

How to apply

Please download and complete our shop front improvement grant application form (Word) and email it to us at: towncentremanager@rushmoor.gov.uk, along with any supporting documents.

Before you begin with your application you must make sure:

• You are the freehold owner, or do you have permission from the owner to make your proposed improvements
• Your project is fully planned, all relevant permissions/licences are in place (if applicable)
• You can provide written quotes for the works
• The improvements will be completed by 31 March 2025

You can find our more about our requirements in our guidance notes for our shop front improvements grant.

Deadline for your application

We are offering the grants on a first-come-first-served basis. The deadline for your application is 29 November, or when we have allocated all the grant funds.

We have a maximum budget of £20,000, to help fund a minimum of 10 shop front grants of up to £2,000. We may be able to help more businesses with their shop fronts, if we receive some applications that are of less than £2,000.

Funding for these grants

This grant is funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.