Business Development

Funding is still available from the £3million Community Shares Booster programme which is being managed by Power to Change. This is an independent charitable trust that supports and develops community businesses in England. The programme provides existing community businesses that are either planning to make or have recently launched community shares offers with match funding of up to £100,000 in equity investment made on equal terms with o...

Businesses across the UK are being invited to collaborate with an academic or research organisation and a graduate on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), a scheme that helps businesses to innovate and grow. Up to £40 million in total is available for part funding of KTPs that will offer businesses the opportunity to access new skills and the latest academic thinking to help them deliver a specific, strategic innovation project. KTPs can l...

Community Businesses in England can apply for grants of up to £10,000 to improve their income from trading and to improve their impact and sustainability. The funding which is being provided through the Community Business Trade Up Programme aims to enhance the skills of those who run Community businesses. In addition to the grants, the scheme includes a learning programme of 12 days spread over nine months. The closing date for application...

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...

Visit Scotland has announced that it is accepting expressions of interest from groups of tourism businesses for the next round of the VisitScotland Growth Fund. Grant awards from £10,000 to a maximum of £40,000 are available. Of particular interest are applications that have a strong focus on digital content creation that is created for online use i.e. that is high quality and sharable on digital channels. Any legally constituted group forme...

A new government £16 million fund is now available to help businesses train staff in making customs declarations, and to help businesses who support others to trade goods to invest in IT. This is to ensure that trade with the EU continues as smoothly as possible after Brexit on 31 October 2019. Customs agents currently help businesses who trade outside the EU. This funding will help increase the capacity of the sector as businesses trading wi...

Disadvantaged and under-represented communities that want to develop successful community businesses by issuing community shares, can apply for development grants of up to £10,000 and equity investments of up to £100,000. The funding is available to both new and existing community businesses. The funding is however not suitable for newly formed community groups that are in the early stages of developing a community business proposal. The fun...

Grants are available to SMEs to undertake a particular project with a focus on raw materials savings, carbon savings and the movement of waste material up the waste hierarchy. To be eligible to apply for funding the applicant organisation must have a base in Scotland and be a small or medium sized enterprise with fewer than 250 employees and a turnover below €50m. Currently there is no maximum limit and each application is assessed on a case...

Rural and urbarn communities that wish to take over the ownership of their failing local pub can apply for loan and grant funding of up to £100,000 as well as business development support through the More than a Pub programme. This is the 2nd phase of the programme which supported 190 communities and saw 28 pubs open their doors under community ownership from 2016 to 2019. The programme is run by the Plunkett Foundation and supported by Power...

A new fund for Scotland has been announced that will enable social enterprises, charities and voluntary groups to deliver community projects that make a social impact while also contributing to the wider economy. Organisations will be able to access affordable and flexible loans of between £100,000 and £1.7 million from this £17million Fund. The loans take the form of ‘Patient Capital’, a repayable form of investment that can be used fo...

Social Enterprises, charities and community groups in Scotland that create jobs and protect the environment can now benefit from a new £17 million investment fund to expand and grow their activities. The Scottish Social Growth Fund will be open to new applications and it will provide affordable and flexible loans of between £100,000 and £1.7 million to charities and social enterprises. The fund will be delivered by Social Investment Scotla...

A new round of an investment initiative that enables independent games developers from the English Regions (outside Greater London) to kick-start the development and release of a new game launches on the 21st May 2019. The Greenshoots Fund supports games companies in early stage development and helps to stimulate the wider games industry. Previous recipients include Nottingham-based Pixel Squad, whose game Crime Coast, featured prominently acr...

The City Bridge Trust (CBT) has relaunched its Stepping Stones Fund, an award-winning social-investment readiness grants programme delivered in partnership with UBS. Since its inception in 2014, the Stepping Stones Fund has distributed over £3m in grant funding to 77 organisations in Greater London who wish to test out ideas for trading, for property purchase and for redevelopment. The aim is to make organisations more robust, encouraging res...

Small and medium sized businesses in Scotland can apply for a share of £2 million to help them to prepare for Brexit. Grants of up to £4,000 are available to businesses employing up to 250 staff and can be used for activities including consultancy support, professional fees, external training, and international market research. The funding is being made available through Scottish Enterprise and applications can be submitted at any time.

A £10 million fund aiming to support tidal energy generation development in Scottish waters is now open for applications. Aiming to drive innovation and achieve a reduction in the cost of electricity generated, funding is available in the form of a grant, loan or other form of repayable assistance of up to £5 million per award. Individual organisations or consortia of organisations and groups are eligible to apply. Projects must be able to d...

The Better Broadband Scheme has been extended for a further year until 31st December 2019. The scheme offers a subsidised basic broadband connection to businesses and private dwellings where occupiers are unable to access download speeds of at least 2 mbps, and who will not benefit from the superfast broadband rollout within the next 12 months. The subsidy can be used to fund a variety of technology solutions, including satellite, 4G and fixed...

Applications are now open for UK businesses to apply for grants of up to £2,500 to attend international trade shows. The financial support is for UK SMEs to participate in overseas exhibitions and conferences that cover a range of sectors, from education to aerospace and creative to maritime. Successful businesses can use the grants to fund direct exhibiting costs, including stand costs and conference fees. The funding is being made available...