Business Development

Deutsche Bank has announced that its Awards for Creative Entrepreneurs (DBACE) is open for applications. The Awards will provide a cash prize fund of £60,000 and business support for a year to aspiring individuals who want to go into business in the creative industries. Applicants must be 18-30 years old and have a strong idea or an existing business in the creative industries. They must have a desire to create positive social impact throug...

The Welsh Government has launched a £1 million fund to help economically inactive and unemployed individuals to start up a business in Wales. The Barriers to Start Up Grant will award grants of up to £2,000 to enable people not in education, employment or training to overcome barriers to starting their own business. The grant will come as a part of a package of support that will include one-to-one advice and webinars to build confidence in b...

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...

VisitBritain has announced a new fund to help destination management companies and inbound tour operators promote tourism to Britain. The £300,000 Destination Management Company (DMC) and Inbound Tour Operator Amplification and Distribution Fund will award grants of between £20,000 and £40,000 to DMCs and inbound tour operators to cover the cost of sales and marketing activity for the promotion of Britain in the target markets of France, Ge...

To support the UK beauty industry following the Covid-19 pandemic, the Beauty Backed Trust is due to re-launch its Grant Programme for those that need extra support and guidance while they get back on their feet. Two types of grants are available through the programme which will award funding of up to £5,000 along with training and mentoring support. Start-up Grants will support individuals whose plans to enter or continue a career in the bea...

Businesses across the UK are being invited to collaborate with an academic or research organisation on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), a scheme that helps businesses and not for profit organisations 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 p...

To help drive Wales’s economic recovery, the Welsh Government has announced a £45 million funding package to help small businesses to grow, and support thousands of people to train to work in key sectors. As part of the package, £35 million will create and safeguard jobs by helping more than 1,000 small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) relaunch, develop, decarbonise and grow. Funding will be administered by local authorities and match-fu...

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...

UK registered businesses will be able to apply for a share of up to £1 billion for capital investment and R&D projects that help industrialise the electrified automotive supply chain at scale in the UK. Funded by the UK Government, the Automotive Transformation Fund aims to establish a competitive and sustainable UK supply chain by providing support for projects involving the latest technology in batteries, electric motors and drives, power e...

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...

HSBC UK has announced a new £500 million funding initiative to help small and medium-sized UK businesses (SMEs) transition to net-zero. The Green SME Fund is available for businesses with a turnover of less than £25 million and will offer 1% cashback on loans, starting from £1,000, to help SMEs reduce their carbon emissions and invest in a range of green solutions and initiatives. To further help SMEs in the transition to a low-carbon econo...

To support businesses to recover from the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Invest Northern Ireland has launched a £4 million innovation grant to support local businesses to develop and implement innovative projects. The Economic Recovery Innovation Grant will award funding of up to £5,000 towards eligible costs for the development, testing and introduction of an innovative idea into a business. Small and medium sized businesses can...

The Scottish Government is making £25 million in funding available to improve ventilation and air quality in business premises and reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission. Small and medium-sized businesses where people come into close proximity, such as in the hospitality and leisure sectors, will be able to claim back costs of up to £2,500 to undertake work. This could include the installation of carbon dioxide monitors and remedial improv...

National and international start-up companies working on ideas affecting global energy transition and climate change are invited to apply to the Start Up Energy Transition Awards 2022. The aim of the competition is to recognise global start-up companies that have developed innovative products and/or services that contribute to energy system transformation. Applicants can apply to one of five categories, all with the aim of clean energy promoti...

A new £1 million fund is being launched by the Welsh Government to back local businesses offering goods and services to communities in Wales. The Backing Local Firms Fund will support businesses in parts of the local everyday economy, such as care and health services, food, housing, energy, tourism, construction and retail services, helping to create more and better jobs and strengthening local economies. The fund will be used to help tackle...

UK registered businesses and organisations can apply for a share of up to £20 million in funding for digital innovation projects that will improve the sustainability of manufacturing processes. Funding from the Made Smarter Innovation: Sustainable Smart Factory competition, delivered by UK Research and Innovation, will support the development of digital innovations to improve the sustainability of manufacturing processes, resulting in either...

The £3million Community Shares Booster programme has reopened for applications. Funded in partnership by Power to Change and the Architectural Heritage Fund, 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. Development grants of up to £10,000 are also available to help societies get investment ready and meet standa...

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...

A £3 million fund piloted by the Welsh Government to encourage entrepreneurs and businesses to start and grow their businesses in Bangor, Colwyn Bay, Rhyl and Wrexham is now open for expressions of interest. The Town Centre Entrepreneurship Fund will provide discretionary grants of between £2,500 and £10,000 to support businesses with the revenue costs of starting up or relocating to a town centre location, as well as loans of between £1,0...

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...

£8 million in government funding is available for small and medium sized enterprises to help them modernise, go digital and create new jobs. This additional funding, part of the governments Made Smarter Adoption programme, will support up to 1,000 small and medium sized manufacturers across the North West, North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, and the West Midlands regions, in adopting digital technology, such as robotics and automation, or t...

The UK Government has announced a £20 million SME Brexit Support Fund to help small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) adjust to new customs, rules of origin, and VAT rules when trading with the European Union (EU). SMEs who trade only with the EU will be encouraged to apply for grants of up to £2,000 for each trader to pay for practical support including training and professional advice to help them to prepare for the implementation of impo...

Funding of £1 million has been made available by the Scottish Government for childminding businesses which have been financially impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions that have been placed on them. Grants of up to £1,000 will be made available to eligible childminding providers based on their level of need, to support their sustainability and recovery from the crisis. Further detail on the funding is still to be developed an...

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...

From late January 2021, adventure and marine tourism businesses in Scotland will be able to apply for grants of up to £15,000 through the Marine and Outdoor Tourism Re-start Fund. Administered by VisitScotland on behalf of the Scottish Government, the fund will support essential re-commissioning and re-start costs for businesses, aimed at those who have been significantly affected by the pandemic due to their seasonality and high set up cost...

Power to Change has teamed up with Crowdfunder to launch Community Business Crowdmatch to support new or existing community businesses responding to the Covid-19 crisis. The scheme will help community businesses, providing services or activities which help local people experiencing disproportionate challenge and difficulty as a result of the crisis, by match-funding each £1 raised, to a maximum of £10,000. Power to Change are keen to suppor...

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...