Business Development

The School for Social Entrepreneurs has announced that its Community Business Trade Up programme is open. The programme is open to community businesses in England that exists to improve their local neighbourhood, village or town and who want to start or build their income from trading and sales, and become more sustainable. The programme will provide businesses with mentoring support and a Match Trading grant worth up to £5,000 which is desig...

Sky, in partnership with the Black Equity Organisation, is making £1 million in funding available over three years to support Black entrepreneurs to launch and grow their own businesses in the UK. The Future 100 Growth Fund will support young entrepreneurs aged 18 to 30 of Black African, Black Caribbean, Black British and/or Mixed-race descent who are looking to bring a business concept to life, scale up a fledgling business, or have the be...

To encourage a new culture of entrepreneurship among young people in Wales, the Welsh Government is making £5 million in funding available over the next three years to support 1,200 young people to start their own business. The Young Person’s Start Up Grant will award grants of up to £2,000 to enable young people under the age of 25 who are not in education, employment or training to start their own business, create a social enterprise, be...

Environmental organisations and organisations led by those from Black and Minoritised communities can apply for grants and other business support measures to help build their financial resilience by developing and exploring new models of generating income through trading. The funding is being made available through the Social Investment Business Enterprise Fund.  As well as the grant, applicants who successfully apply to the programme can rec...

Community businesses in England that are looking to launch or in the early stage of launching a community share issue can apply for grants and equity match funding of up to £25,000. The funding is being made available through the Power to Change Community Shares Booster Fund. Two funding streams are available. Development grants – averaging £5,000 are available to prepare a community share offer and Equity match investment of up to £25...

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has launched the second phase of the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund. The aim of the fund is to provide grant funding for feasibility and engineering studies, and for the deployment of industrial energy efficiency and deep decarbonisation projects. A total of £70 million is available for feasibility and engineering studies to enable companies to investigate identified energy...

Farmers in England can now apply for funding of between £25,000 and £300,000 to help them boost their businesses and add extra value to their produce. The funding is being made available through the new £30 million Farming Investment Fund (FIF) . Funded by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs the grants can be used to purchase equipment to process, diversify and add value to their products after they have been harvested...

A new multi-million pound social investment fund focused on tackling inequality and promoting racial justice in the UK, has opened to applications from diverse-led social enterprises looking to grow their impact. The Growth Impact Fund, managed by Big Issue Invest, will invest between £50,000 and £1.5 million in social businesses to support early-stage founders from underrepresented groups who have previously been excluded from investment. I...

Creative England has reopened their New Ideas Fund to applications from individuals and small to medium sized enterprises working on screen-based storytelling including film, television, animation, games, immersive media or technology that supports these industries. Grants of between £1,000 and £25,000 are available to support the development of new and innovative ideas to help business growth in the English regions outside of London. Applic...

Tree seed and sapling suppliers - as well as new entrants looking to diversify into the sector - can apply for a share of £8.8 million in funding to support domestic tree production in England. The Forestry Commission's Tree Production Capital Grant aims to help tree nurseries and suppliers invest in facilities and equipment which improve, expand or automate their operations. This might include investing in machinery such as transplanting sys...

More than £25 million in funding is available over the next four years to support the Scottish manufacturing industry to reduce emissions and cut waste. The funding will support businesses that wish to pursue business growth by developing low carbon products, processes, technologies or services. Grants of over £150,000 are available, with amounts varying depending on the type of proposal – whether it is a research and development, a capita...

£14 million in funding is available to support fishing businesses and wider marine organisations in Scottish coastal communities. The funding, which is made available through the Scottish Government’s Marine Fund Scotland, will support projects that improve the marine environment, reduce carbon emissions and support coastal communities. Key aims will include helping to improve safety standards and upskilling the safety training of individua...

Grants of up to £15,000 plus business support are available to social entrepreneurs that are looking to start or grow an existing social venture. The funding is being made available through the UnLtd the leading provider of support to social entrepreneurs in and around the UK. UnLtd are committed to providing 50% of their awards to Black, Asian and minority ethnic social entrepreneurs, and/or disabled social entrepreneurs. To be eligible ap...

The UK government is making funding available to support the commercial deployment of new low carbon hydrogen production projects to ensure the country has a diverse and secure decarbonised energy system. Delivered by Innovate UK, strand 2 of the Net Zero Hydrogen Fund will provide capital expenditure to support low carbon hydrogen projects that are able to start construction rapidly. UK registered businesses of any size, working alone or in c...

To help support the long-term sustainability, resilience and prosperity of England’s seafood sector, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has relaunched the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme, with at least £6 million in funding available every year until April 2025. The scheme, which is open to individuals, businesses, local authorities, universities, research institutes or new entrants to the industry, will continue to provide financial ass...

Community Businesses in England that are crowdfunding new initiatives and projects can receive match funding from Power to Change up to a maximum of £10,000. The funding which is being made available through the Community Business Crowdmatch programme can be used to help launch new ideas to help local neighbourhoods, help meet increased demand, save community spaces or help bridge a funding gap. The match funding will be on a £ for £ basi...

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has announced a new competition to provide support for small tech firms and digital start-ups. The Digital Growth Grant scheme will award one successful bidder with up to £12.09 million in funding to deliver skills training and support services to the digital and tech sector, particularly in transformative/emerging technologies, over two years and help grow regional support networks across...

As part of a scheme to reinvigorate the city centre, Bristol City Council is making £1.3 million in funding available for small or micro businesses that wish to open new premises in vacant commercial buildings. The Vacant Commercial Property Grant Scheme will award grants of up to £10,000 to small businesses, sole traders, charities, CICs, and arts and culture groups looking to lease or rent a vacant commercial property located within the ci...

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities has launched the £2.6 billion UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which aims to level up all parts of the United Kingdom. A total of £2.6 billion is available through the Fund to replace the old EU structural Funds. All areas of the UK will be receiving an allocation from the Fund via a funding formula rather than a competition. The spending of the Fund at a local level will be planned and deli...

The Women’s Organisation, in partnership with Power to Change, is offering business mentoring and a financial contribution of up to £1,000 to help strengthen community businesses in the Liverpool City Region. The support is being made available through the Financial Capability Improvement Academy, which aims to help organisations to maximise their impact within the community, build their financial capabilities and develop strong support net...

To help provide certainty to the seafood sector, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is to relaunch the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme (FaSS), with funding available up to April 2025. The fund will deliver investment to safeguard the long-term sustainability, resilience and prosperity of England’s seafood sector, coastal communities and marine environment. The relaunched FaSS will replace the existing scheme, which will no longer be consi...

A new £400,000 green innovation fund is offering small to medium sized enterprises up to 60% funding towards projects worth up to £25,000 to help them deliver sustainable products, processes or services which aid the transition to a low carbon economy. The Eco-I North West Capital Grant Scheme will give businesses, charities, and social enterprises based in the North West of England the opportunity to collaborate with the regions leading uni...

Power to Change has teamed up with Crowdfunder to launch Community Business Crowdmatch to support new or existing community businesses that are providing services or activities that benefit their local community. This could include launching new business ideas to help their local neighbourhood; to help meet increased demand; save a community space; or help bridge a funding gap. Power to Change will match fund up to 50% raised through crowdfund...

The UK Government has launched a new digital scheme to support small and medium sized businesses in adopting digital technologies so they can grow. Under the Help to Grow: Digital scheme, businesses can receive discounts of up to £5,000 off the costs of buying approved Digital Accounting and Customer Relationship Management software that will help them to effectively manage their finances and build customer relationships, enabling them to sca...

One-off payments of up to £55,000 are available to support nightclubs in Scotland that were required to close due to coronavirus restrictions in December 2021 and January 2022. Local authorities will contact venues which have previously received Covid-19 funding and invite them to complete an application for the Scottish Government’s Nightclub Closure Fund. Businesses which are registered as a nightclub but have never received Covid-19 fund...

£1 million in funding is available to help the Welsh fishing industry mitigate the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and adapt to the changes in the market for seafood products. The European Maritime Fisheries Fund, funded by the Welsh Government and the European Commission, will support investments in the small-scale coastal fleet and aquaculture, together with improvements to the marketing and processing of fishery and aquaculture pro...

Food companies in the UK can apply for funding of up to £50,000 to offset the cost of sending surplus food to good causes and thereby helping people in need. The funding is part of the FareShare £3million Surplus with Purpose Fund and can be used to cover the additional staff costs needed for packing and sorting edible surplus food, or in building, implementing and managing new processes. It could also cover packaging and transportation cos...

Community businesses in disadvantaged and under-represented communities in England that want to issue shares to their community to support their recovery from COVID-19 can apply for financial support through the Community Shares ReBoost fund; and the Community Shares Booster Programme. Both programmes provide development grants to prepare a community share offer as well as match equity investment. The funding is delivered by Co-operatives UK...

Small to medium-sized UK businesses (SMEs) exporting, or thinking about exporting, can apply for support to attend and exhibit at approved overseas trade shows and conferences. The UK Government’s UK Tradeshow Programme aims to educate SMEs about the benefits of exhibiting, by providing both general and event-specific training on how to make the most of trade shows, with some businesses also receiving a grant of either £2,000 or £4,000 to...

Zero Waste Scotland, in partnership with Social Investment Scotland, has launched a £5 million fund to help social enterprises and the wider third sector make the transition to carbon net zero. The Social Enterprise Net Zero Transition Fund will support social enterprises, charities, and community organisations to become carbon neutral through activities including waste reduction, reducing energy consumption, transitioning to sustainable tran...

Power to Change has teamed up with Crowdfunder to launch Community Business Crowdmatch to support new or existing community businesses. Crowdmatch will match fund each £1 raised by community businesses to a maximum of £10,000. This could include launching new business ideas to help their local area; to help meet increased demand; save a community space; or help bridge a funding gap. Through this fund Power to Change are particularly keen t...

Grants of up to £5,000 are available to support registered sole traders and small to medium sized enterprises working in moving image for storytelling, including film, television, games and immersive media, to build meaningful connections and create opportunities for business growth. Creative England’s Business Planning Grants can be used to subsidise the cost of working with an expert to support companies in the English regions outside of...

Grants of up to £5,000 are available to small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) in Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire to help them invest in low carbon technologies and energy-saving upgrades. The purpose of the grant funding is to help businesses reduce their energy bills and overheads, cut their carbon emissions, and boost their eco-credentials; as part of the UK goal to achieve carbon-neutrality...

Creative England has reopened their New Ideas Fund to applications from individuals and small to medium sized enterprises working on screen-based storytelling including film, television, animation, games, immersive media or technology that supports these industries. Grants of between £1,000 and £25,000 are available to support the development of new and innovative ideas to help business growth in the English regions outside of London. Applic...

To help the Scottish tourism sector recover from the Coronavirus pandemic, the Scottish Government has made £3 million in funding available to promote key visitor destinations in a responsible and sustainable way. The Destination and Sector Marketing Fund will help destination and sector groups promote visitor experiences to the UK and Irish markets year-round, while also working with communities to rebuild local visitor economies. The fund i...

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, in partnership with the British Film Institute, has launched a £7 million one-year pilot fund to boost international development and distribution opportunities for the UK’s independent screen sector. The UK Global Screen Fund will support the sector including film, TV, animation, documentary and interactive narrative games to become more competitive internationally by funding business de...

In response to the limitations imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, The Scottish Government has launched a new £1 million digital support programme to help Scotland’s creative and cultural sector develop digital capabilities. The Creative Digital Initiative will provide financial support to help small and medium-sized creative and cultural businesses improve digital marketing skills and explore new ways to reach out to and engage with people....

In response to the Covid-19 restrictions, the UK Government has launched a support scheme to help businesses in the retail and hospitality sectors in England to reopen safely. The Restart Grant scheme will provide eligible businesses in the non-essential retail sector with a one-off grant of up to £6,000, and businesses in the hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gym sectors with a one-off grant of up to £18,000. Local coun...

The Welsh Government has announced a further £30 million in funding for hospitality, leisure and tourism businesses affected by the ongoing Coronavirus restrictions. The latest round of the Economic Resilience Fund will support small, medium and large businesses employing ten or more staff in the hospitality, leisure and tourism sectors as well as related supply chain businesses. This targeted support has been made available in recognition of...

Catching and shellfish aquaculture businesses across the UK previously omitted from the Seafood Disruption Support Scheme can now apply for financial support after the government extended the scheme. The eligibility criteria will now include catching and shellfish aquaculture businesses which have been affected by a reduction in demand from the hospitality sector in the UK and abroad, as well as disruption of exports to the EU. The scheme will...

Up to £22 million in funding is available for research into supply chain development for power electronics, electric machines and drives (PEMD) to support the UK’s drive towards net zero. The Innovation Funding Service, working with Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will invest in business-led, supply chain focused, innovation projects that enable future improvements in productivity, capacity, quality and efficiency. UK regis...

Businesses and Organisations in Scotland can apply for grants of up to £25,000 to encourage cycling as a healthy, sustainable and accessible way to commute. The funding is available for capital projects that encourage staff and visitors to travel by bike. The type of projects that can be supported includes the installation of secure and sheltered cycle parking; upgrades to shower, changing and drying facilities; the purchase of office pool bi...