Millions of pounds earmarked to help the 259,225 businesses in Yorkshire and Humberside are going begging because of lack of awareness and red tape.

More than £100m in grants money is unclaimed across the UK because businesses that could benefit from the money simply don't know they can claim it or are put off by the confusion, complexity and time involved in finding out what is available.

Now a new sophisticated website is promising to revolutionise the process and close the 'grants gap' - offering a free grant search service that gives results in seconds.

The site, www.j4.co.uk, is the brainchild of Nick Jaspan, who set up the successful Newsco publishing group, and former Financial Times journalist Ian Hamilton Fazey.