Small business grants team roles: eight roles, few people

What to take away

Start from the task, not the job title

A small business does not need eight separate employees to run a grant. It does need every responsibility assigned to a named person, with conflicts and incompatible approvals separated where practical. One person may hold several roles, but one task should not disappear between them.

Write this table out for your own project with one name beside each row. A row with no name is a task that nobody owns.

The two roles that carry the accountability

The project owner owns delivery of the approved purpose, scope, milestones and outcomes. They chair project reviews, resolve priorities and escalate material change. They should understand the agreement rather than relying entirely on an adviser, so pick someone with the authority to change priorities.

The signatory accepts formal commitments and signs claims or declarations within their authority. A signature is not a ceremonial final step: the signatory must receive enough evidence to make an honest statement. If the owner also signs, make sure the evidence still comes from other people.

Actual authority and signing rules come from the business and the live award, so check both before you name a signatory.

The pairing to avoid: preparer and reviewer

Keep the reviewer apart from the person who prepared the claim. Before submission, award acceptance and each claim, the reviewer tests the record against the source documents, so a reviewer who prepared the claim is marking their own work.

Independence is proportionate. In a very small company, use a director who did not prepare the claim, or an external accountant where risk justifies it. Record the review and any unresolved exceptions. The quality gates show where those reviews fall between application and close-out.

Pairings that can work

Roles whose records overlap can sit with one person. The delivery lead collects delivery evidence as activity occurs and the evidence owner organises it, so one person can hold both in a small project.

The finance lead maintains the project ledger, reconciles accounts and bank evidence, checks VAT treatment, forecasts cash and reports committed as well as paid costs. That role needs access to supplier and delivery records, because an invoice alone cannot show that work met the funded purpose.

For several work packages, appoint a lead for each and keep one accountable owner above them. The table below is an illustration for a small firm, not a prescribed structure.

Give security its own owner

Where the project handles personal or sensitive information, the data and security owner sets access, sharing and retention and incident procedures. The role confirms that suppliers use approved systems and that access ends when work finishes.

The NCSC offers expert advice to help protect UK businesses, charities, clubs and schools with up to 250 employees from cyber threats online. Start there when choosing practical measures for a small team.

Keep cover and limits in place

Add a deputy, an approval limit, due dates and expected evidence to each role. State who contacts the funder and who may approve a change. Review assignments after staff movement or project expansion.

The government's grants standard says a full performance review and financial reconciliation should take place at the end of the delivery period for all schemes. Name who owns each one before the project starts.

Keep the current map with the controlled project record and notify partners when a contact changes. For day-to-day control of the funded project, see how it is run with one accountable owner, and write approval limits into the team's service standards.

Before you act

Common questions

Can one person hold several roles?

Yes. One person may hold several roles, but one task should not disappear between them. Keep conflicting approvals separate where practical.

Who can review a claim in a very small company?

A director who did not prepare the claim, or an external accountant where risk justifies it. Independence is proportionate, and the review and any unresolved exceptions should be recorded.

Does the signatory need to see the evidence?

Yes. The signatory must receive enough evidence to make an honest statement, because a signature is not a ceremonial final step.