MORE than 1,500 companies which were offered financial support by Invest NI later had their payments declined, The Irish News can reveal.
In the last five years, a total of 1,528 firms had their expenditure claims rejected by the investment and enterprise body.
Reasons for the rejection of claims fell into three main categories:
:: Administrative error on behalf of the client when filling out the claim form.
:: The client not providing sufficient not providing sufficient documentary evidence to Invest NI.
:: The client failing to comply with the relevant terms and conditions of the financial support offered.
But following the rejection of claims, many companies revised their documentation and resubmitted their expenditure documents successfully.
Invest NI was set up more than a decade ago as a non-departmental public body of Stormont’s department for the economy and is the cornerstone of the north’s regional economic development plan.
There are no fewer than eight stages a firm must go through from the point of submitting an application for funding, to actually receiving the full amount of money initially offered.
Once a funding bid is received, it is carefully assessed before being approved internally for investment.
Next, an offer of assistance is issued by Invest NI to the client outlining the time frame of the investment – usually between three and five years. Once accepted, expenditure claims are submitted by the company under the terms of their offer.
Following this, claims are verified and payments made to the client. Claims are submitted and paid out until the full amount of the offer is fulfilled, or the duration of the deal expires without the full amount being drawn down.
This, however, is not the final stage of dealings between Invest NI their client, as there is an ongoing monitoring period for each company following the investment being claimed.
During this time, if a firm fails to fulfil the terms of their offer, a request to pay back the original funding can be made by Invest NI.
Among the 1,528 clients who have had their expenditure claims rejected, there are hundreds of small firms listed alongside huge, multi-national businesses.
One of the largest firms who have had their documentation rejected is aerospace giant Bombardier. Also included in the list are several borough councils and universities.
Since its inception, Invest NI has been responsible for hundreds of millions of pounds in funding and has provided assistance to thousands of clients across the north.
