My dream eatery would serve freshly made lasagna balls: rolled, breadcrumbed, covered in Parmesan and fried.

There’d be crafted espresso, cold San Pellegrino and enormous photographs of Calabrian nonnas behind the counter, silently judging your lunch choices.

I may have developed this idea further than necessary.

But Swansea Council has just launched two new grants for people with high-street ideas of their own, possibly even ideas more sensible than mine.

The High Street Helper grant

The High Street Helper grant offers up to £30,000 to help locally owned retail and hospitality businesses open in Swansea city centre and its district centres.

Up to £25,000 can be used towards start-up costs, including:

  • Equipment and tools
  • Initial stock
  • Website development and software
  • Marketing
  • Training
  • Accountancy fees

A further £5,000 is available towards early overheads during the first three months of trading, including rent, business rates, energy bills and internal fit-out costs.

Eligible locations include Swansea city centre, Clydach, Gorseinon, Pontarddulais, Morriston, Mumbles, Sketty and Uplands.

Test the idea first

There’s also a Business Launchpad Bursary for people who want to test an idea before formally setting up a company or committing to permanent premises.

The funding can help with equipment, initial stock, market-stall or temporary trading-space fees and marketing during a short period of real-world trading.

That’s quite a good approach, actually.

Find out whether Swansea wants lasagne balls before ordering 40 tables, importing an Italian coffee machine and commissioning a twelve-foot portrait of Nonna Maria.

How to apply

You can read the official Swansea Council grant announcement or view its wider financial support for businesses.

The council currently asks interested applicants to request further information and application details by emailing StartupGrant@swansea.gov.uk.

Both schemes are only available to applicants within the Swansea area.

Does your application need a website quote?

Website development is specifically included among the eligible High Street Helper start-up costs.

If you’re putting together an application, I can help turn your idea into a clear website plan and provide a proper proposal and quotation to include with it. If the funding comes through, Refresh Creative can then design and build the website.

That could be a straightforward brochure site, an online shop, a booking system – or the digital home of Swansea’s first fried-lasagne-ball empire.

Now, who actually wants to run Nonna’s?