Projects must have an impact on employment in Scotland and specifically create or safeguard jobs within your business. These jobs can either be full-time or part-time but they must be permanent posts. Only jobs directly employed by your business are eligible.
You must be able to demonstrate that the project's employment impact within your business will not be offset by job losses elsewhere in Scotland. For safeguarded jobs, there must be a real threat to these posts if you did not carry out the project.
We focus firmly on jobs created and located at the project establishment, so RSA rarely assists jobs that include a mobile element. As a guide, any post that involves the holder being away from the project premises for more than one day a week is unlikely to be eligible. However, all cases are looked at on an individual basis.
Through RSA, we aim for overall gains in net employment in Scotland, and therefore are more likely to assist projects that service markets wider than Scotland only, or where competitors are largely based outside Scotland. Many firms operate in a local market, such as:
- Retail
- Catering
- Household services
- Personal services
The use of RSA in such instances will not result in an overall increase in employment in that activity. Other examples of markets that are, generally, well served include:
- Double glazing
- General printing
- Locally-focused recycling plants
- General joinery
- Small-scale customer service/order fulfillment operations
- Locally-focused food production
However, it is important to consider the project and not just the existing business. If you are targeting a new market, this may qualify even if your existing activities would not be eligible.