Lichfield Energy Grants: All 11 Awards From the £75,000

Lichfield District Council announced last week that five hospitality businesses had finished energy-saving work paid for with government money. It named Blackbrook Barns, the Cathedral Hotel, Aspire Design, the George Hotel and The Hub at St Mary’s, and said the five had shared almost £40,000.

The council’s own decision record goes further. It names eleven organisations, not five, and it prints what each one was given. The awards run from £11,210.50 to £470, and together they account for the whole £75,000 the district had to hand out.

Who got what

The Cabinet Member decision report, signed off by Councillor Janice Silvester-Hall as Cabinet Member for Visitor Economy, Ecology and Climate Change, lists every award and the score the officer panel gave it.

The eleven awards come to exactly £75,000. Blackbrook Barns scored highest at 10 and Lichfield Bowling Club lowest at 4, but every one of the eleven was funded (Cabinet Member decision report, 28 October 2025).

Two things the press release leaves out are worth saying plainly. The scheme was not only for businesses: a village hall, a bowling club and a community hub are among the eleven. And it was not only for hospitality. The report says priority was given to hospitality “due to their high energy use”, but a riding school and a design firm are in the list too.

How the money was rationed

The scheme opened for expressions of interest on 18 July 2025 and closed at 10am on Monday 1 September 2025. What happened next is set out in the decision report:

• 23 expressions of interest were received.
• 15 organisations were invited to submit a full application, and did.
• 11 were awarded funding by a moderation panel of officers.

So four in ten of the organisations that came forward got nothing. Applications were scored on estimated carbon savings, the type of business and the project details.

Grants covered up to 50% of project costs, so every award had to be matched pound for pound by the organisation itself. The projects paid for solar panels and battery storage, new heating and refrigeration systems, and LED lighting (Lichfield District Council, scheme launch, 18 August 2025).

The report is blunt about why the money had to go out of the door. Its stated alternative option was to award nothing, which “would lead to the council having to return the money to government if not spent by the 31st of March 2026 deadline”. The council did not raise this money itself. It was a UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocation with an expiry date on it.

What the council says it delivered

The five completed projects the council publicised last week are expected to save more than 22 tonnes of carbon a year between them. Those five received almost £40,000 of the £75,000, and the council’s August statement puts the total awarded across the scheme at “more than £72,000” (Lichfield District Council, 26 August 2026).

The council has not published what the other six projects delivered, or a carbon figure for the scheme as a whole. Nor has it said whether all eleven grants were drawn down in full before the March deadline.

The report names the seven wards where successful applicants are based: Bourne Vale, Chadsmead, Chase Terrace, Hammerwich with Wall, Leomansley, St John’s and Stowe. It does not say which wards the four unsuccessful applicants came from.

What it means for you

If you run a business here and you were hoping to apply, you cannot. The Energy Saving Scheme was a one-off 2025/26 allocation, the money is committed, and the spending deadline passed in March. It does not appear among the council’s current list of open funds.

What is still open, according to the council’s own funding page:

• Heritage shopfront grants, up to £30,000. Our guide to who qualifies and at what rate.
• Voluntary and community sector funding, the £1.17 million programme for local organisations.
• Councillor community fund, small grants up to £300, from each ward councillor.
• Community event grant, from a total fund of £10,000 a year.

The HS2 Business and Local Economy Fund also runs in this district, with awards from £10,000 to £250,000. Read the eligibility before you spend time on it: HS2 will not fund a private business, a limited liability partnership or an individual. It is aimed at not-for-profit organisations that support local business or tourism (Lichfield District Council, community and business funding).

One practical point for community groups. Two of the eleven Energy Saving Scheme awards, Wall Village Hall at £8,992.50 and Lichfield Bowling Club at £470, went to volunteer-run organisations rather than companies. Village halls, clubs and charities were eligible for this scheme and are eligible for several of the ones still open. It is worth checking before assuming a fund is for businesses only.

Sources

• Lichfield District Council, Cabinet Member decision report: Allocation of UK Shared Prosperity Fund Energy Saving Scheme Grants, 28 October 2025 for the eleven organisations, the amounts, the panel scores, the 23 expressions of interest, the 15 applications, the seven wards and the March 2026 clawback deadline.
• Lichfield District Council, Five hospitality businesses complete energy-saving improvements with council funding, 26 August 2026 for the five completed projects, the “more than £72,000” figure and the 22 tonnes of carbon a year.
• Lichfield District Council, Funding available to help small businesses cut energy bills, 18 August 2025 for the £75,000 pot, the 50% match rate, the eligible measures and the 1 September 2025 deadline.
• Lichfield District Council, Community and business funding for the funds that are open now and their values.