Business Development

UK businesses are being invited to apply for a share of £5 million to work with Canadian partners on highly-innovative productivity projects that target global markets. Grants of up to £200,000 (where the eligible project costs are up to £1 million) are available to support collaborative research and development projects that will result in a new product, industrial process or service. Projects must be innovative, involve a technological ri...

UK-based businesses of any size, public sector, university or research and technology organisations, charities and not-for-profit companies can apply for a grant of up to £10,000 to prove and test ideas that enable small businesses to become more productive. Projects must start by 1st September 2019 and can last up to 12 months. The deadline for applications to the Business Basics Fund is at midday on 17th April 2019.

A new funding programme has been launched that will provide community groups and organisations with grants of up to £15,000 to develop or start a new community business. Over the next three years, the fund will give community groups the early stage finance they need to carry out consultations with local people to develop a community business idea the community wants and needs and will also give them support and tools to start setting up thei...

Communities across the country can bid for up to £50,000 to help make town and city centres more attractive for business. The latest round of the British Improvement Districts Loan Fund will support business owners and local leaders in coming together to deliver additional local services and upgrade commercial areas for the benefit of business. The funds can only be used for the development of new BID Proposals. In previous rounds, the averag...

A grant programme that supports locally-based, existing community-led businesses is due to re-open on the 24th April 2019. Awarding grants of between £50,000 and £300,000, the programme aims to help businesses such as shops, farms, community hubs, transport and energy schemes to progress towards self-sufficiency. This could be through increasing trading income, securing an asset or significantly reducing revenue costs. Offered by Power to...

Start-up businesses using location or land and property data in their products and services can now apply to receive funding, business support and the strategic backing of Ordnance Survey and HM Land Registry. The Geovation Programmes GeoTech and PropTech will take award winners through four phases over the course of 12 months and offer at least six months of focussed support including a grant of up to £20,000 grant funding (in two phases) an...

The Scottish Funding Council has announced that the next deadline for applications under its Follow on Innovation Voucher Scheme is the 8th March 2019. The awards are specifically intended to encourage existing partnerships that have previously collaborated and jointly received funding. This can include the Scottish Funding Council Innovation Voucher awards scheme or any other funded activity. Businesses in partnership with Higher Education In...

Applications are now invited for the Community Business Trade Up Programme, an initiative that helps the leaders of community businesses in England by offering a learning programme and matched trading grant of up to £10,000. The aim is to help 80 social businesses to grow their income from trading and to improve their impact and sustainability in 2019. Run by the School for Social Entrepreneurs, in partnership with Power to Change the deadlin...

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...

Grants of up to £30,000 are available to early stage charities, social enterprises and community interest groups to help with their development and growth. To qualify applicant organisations will need to have a turnover of less than £500,000 per year. To apply, applicants must register at the start of each funding round. Numbers for each round are capped and registration are accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. Once the cap is reache...

The Government has announced that it is inviting applications to a new £675 million “Future High Streets Fund”. Local Authorities can bid for grants of up to £25 million to transform their town centres and local high streets into modern vibrant community hubs. Up to £55 million of the Fund has also been allocated to support the regeneration of 'heritage high streets'. Bids will help to restore historic high street properties for new wor...

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...

Charities and social enterprises in England working in either the homelessness or youth sector to develop or grow their enterprising activity can apply for grants of up to £50,000. The grants are available through the Enterprise Development Programme, a five year, £40 million programme funded by Access - The Foundation for Social Investment and managed by a coalition of partners. The first stage of the application process is to complete the...

Customs intermediaries, traders and small to medium sized businesses completing customs declarations can now apply for grants to support training and IT improvements thanks to new investment from the UK Government. Following extensive consultation with providers, an £8 million one-off investment will support broker training and increase automation which will help increase capacity of the sector ahead of March 2019. This call will allocate £5...

A new fund worth £1million has been made available to Welsh SMEs to help them to prepare for and navigate the challenges of Brexit. Open for applications from Wednesday 28 November 2018, small to medium sized businesses registered to trade in Wales that have been trading for over 12 months will have the opportunity to bid for between £10,000 and £100,000 from the Welsh Government.

Manufacturing businesses in the North East of England are now able to apply to the Collaborative Projects Fund following the launch of a £5.1million project by the University of Sunderland. The Sustainable Advanced Manufacturing (SAM) project is a multi-million pound scheme to support small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) across the North East LEP region, aiming to create jobs and unlock growth. Applications from SME consor...

Businesses and not-for-profit organisation of any size can apply for a share of up to £40 million to take part in a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP). The aim of the programme is to help businesses turn academic research into viable products and services that will lead to growth and future development. KTPs can either build on an existing relationship with an academic partner, or be a completely new collaboration with a university, colleg...

The government has committed £30 million for further rounds of the Countryside Productivity Small Grants scheme (CPSGS), which helps farmers buy the equipment they need to boost productivity and increase yields. The first round of funding for small grants was launched in February and the government is on course to grant more than £15 million to farmers who applied to buy new kit. This will include equipment specific to cattle, sheep and pi...

UnLtd, the charity for Social Entrepreneurs is seeking applications to its Impact Fund. The fund aims to address one the key challenges for early stage social ventures: getting to access to capital. The Impact Fund will invest in around 35 social ventures over the next three-years. Initially, the UnLtd Impact Fund is looking to support social ventures tackling challenges related to training and employment - including school leavers and apprent...

A new loan funding opportunity is available to community sports organisations that need investment to enable them to grow and become more sustainable by generating more or new income. Unsecured loans of £50,000 to £150,000, repayable over 3 to 5 years, are available to help the development of new projects, operations and revenue streams. Loans will not cover capital costs but could be an investment to support, for example, a community café...

Small and medium size businesses in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland interested in investing in Gigabit connectivity are being encouraged to take advantage of a UK wide voucher programme. Offered by the UK Government, individual business can claim up to £3,000 towards the cost of full fibre connection or join together with nearby businesses to make a group application with each member able to claim a £500 voucher. The scheme is open unt...

To enable small and medium sized business to overcome barriers to implement waste prevention measures a new fund has been launched. 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...

A combination of business support as well as potential access to finance are available to social enterprises that improve access to employment for those excluded from the labour market. Designed to give social enterprises the chance to grow their business and deliver greater social impact, up to 20 ventures will be supported in 2018. The support is being made available through Unltd’s new social accelerator programme, Thrive. . Eligible a...

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...