Business Development

£600,000 is being made available by the Scottish Government and European Regional Development Fund to encourage shops on Scottish islands to ditch single-use packaging and move to reusable options. The Islands Green Recovery Programme Refillery Fund will allow small and medium sized enterprises to gain funding of up to £100,000 to offer groceries to customers in packaging-free refill dispensers. This includes dispensers for dry goods such as...

Local authorities in England are invited to bid for up to £20,000 of match funding for projects which enhance digital connectivity to ensure that all residents, local businesses and their workforce have access to reliable broadband. With access to fast and reliable digital connectivity becoming even more necessary due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Digital Connectivity Programme will help co...

Community businesses in England affected by the Covid-19 crisis will shortly be able to apply for grants of between £10,000 and £20,000 to adapt and evolve to the changing circumstances, and to remain financially viable. There are no restrictions on the grants; and they can be used to cover core staffing costs, contribute to meeting capital costs of adapting community businesses and ensuring that they can continue to provide the vital suppo...

Grants of between £3,000 and £12,000 are available to help boost the productivity of the farming sector in England. The UK Government has made £25 million available for the final round of the Countryside Productivity Small Grants (CPSG) scheme to help farmers become more productive, efficient and resilient, and to benefit the environment. Farmers can use funding to invest in the latest technology and equipment – from livestock monitoring...

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 programme is open for applic...

Black-led social enterprises, as well as charities with ethnic minority beneficiaries can apply for grants of between £2,000 and £25,000 for projects which help to build an inclusive culture and tackle racial inequality. The size of the grants will depend on their scale, activity and impact of the social enterprise. The funding is being made available through the PwC Foundation’s ColourBrave Charity Committee and the closing date for app...

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 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 last between 12...

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...

Power to Change, the independent trust that supports community businesses in England, is launching a new £5 million package of support to enable community businesses affected by the Covid-19 crisis to adapt, renew and rebuild their businesses so they can remain financially viable and best serve their local communities during the pandemic’s ‘new normal’. The Community Business Renewal scheme is the second part of Power to Change’s £12...

Businesses in England that are required to shut because of local Covid-19 lockdowns or targeted restrictions will now be able to claim up to £1,500 per property every three weeks. Payments will be triggered by a national decision to close businesses in a high incidence area. The largest businesses will receive £1,500 every three weeks they are required to close. Smaller businesses that have an annual rent or mortgage bill below £51,000, and...

Funding is once again available from the £3 million 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...

In response to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Scottish Government has announced two new funding packages worth £15 million to support the tourism sector. A £14 million Hotel Recovery Programme will help to secure up to 3,000 jobs at Scotland’s larger hotels until the start of the summer 2021 tourism season. Grants of up to £250,000 will be available to eligible businesses in addition to a suite of wrap-around business support and advice. A...

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 latest phase of the programme which helped 58 pubs open their doors under community ownership from 2016 to 2020.  The programme is run by the Plunkett Foundation and supported by Power to Change. A total...

The Arts Council of Wales are making grants of between £100,000 and £3 million available to support arts organisations which have been affected by COVID-19 and are trying to sustain themselves until they can resume publicly accessible activity in 2021 and beyond. The Wales Cultural Recovery Fund (Revenue) for the Arts will support activities until March 2021, and will pay particular attention to those who are experiencing significant financi...

Funding of over £4million is being made available to support childcare providers in Wales which have been affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. Through the Childcare Provider Grant, childcare settings who have been unable to access other business support schemes offered by the UK and Welsh Governments will be eligible for a one-off grant of either £2,500 or £5,000. Funding can be used for costs such as rent, utilities and unmet wages to hel...

The new fund will provide funding of up to £730,0000 to zoos and aquariums which need additional support in caring for their animals and essential maintenance following a drop in income caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The fund also offers grants to support rehoming costs in the event that zoos need to downsize or potentially close, and is open to those zoos which have already received support through the £14 million Zoo Support Fund. The...

UK-registered businesses can apply for a share of £8 million in grant funding for projects supporting the recovery and growth of foundation industries such as cement, glass, ceramics, paper, metals and bulk chemicals. Grants of between £100,000 and £1 million are available through Innovate UK to invest in innovative research and development projects that address resource or energy efficiency of foundation industries. UK businesses of any s...

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has launched a new £20 million fund to help smaller businesses in England recover from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic Small and medium sized businesses will have access to grants of between £1,000 - £5,000 to help them access new technology and other equipment as well as professional, legal, financial or other advice to help them get back on track. The support will be fully...

Leicestershire County Council has launched a £750,000 fund to help rural businesses and independent retail businesses recover from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Through the Leicestershire Business Recovery Fund small businesses from every sector within the county with fifty employees or less can apply for grants of between £2,000 and £10,000 to help them survive the downturn by, for instance, developing online sales and diversify...

Grants of up to £5,000 will be made available to small businesses in tourist destinations across England to help them adapt their businesses following the coronavirus pandemic. As part of the government’s drive to boost the recovery of the economy, funding will be distributed immediately from its new £10 million Kick-starting Tourism Package to help kick start tourism in time for the summer. Funding will be allocated to Local Growth Hubs b...

More than 50,000 rural Welsh homes and businesses will have access to more funding for better broadband through the UK Governments Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. The Welsh Government has added funding to the existing Voucher Scheme to provide vouchers worth £7,000 for SMEs and £3,000 for residential premises to help cover the upfront costs of installing new gigabit-capable internet connections. The vouchers subsidise the cost of building...

Small B&Bs and other small serviced accommodation businesses adversely affected by the covid-19 crisis can apply for financial support from the Scottish Government’s £3 million Business Support Fund. B&Bs who have not been able to access support through other schemes, and have been operating from a personal bank account due to not having a business bank account can apply for a one-off payment of £3,000. Businesses must have been trading fo...

In response to the coronavirus, Social Investment Business have launched a Resilience and Recovery Loan Fund for social enterprises and charities which have been adversely impacted by the pandemic. The new £25 million fund will provide emergency loans of between £100,000 to £500,000 without requiring personal guarantees and charging no interest fees or interest for twelve months. The Fund is intended to provide working capital until normal...

In response to the coronavirus, Power to Change has suspended all current funding programmes to focus on supporting community businesses affected by the crisis. The Trust has now made small grants of up to £2,000 available to support community pubs in England who have experienced a reduction in income due to the Covid-19 restrictions. The aim of the Fund is to help them to adjust their activities, and provide redesigned services and community...

The UK Government has announced that they are doubling investment in the Fast Start Competition to encourage innovative technology and research-focussed businesses and start-ups to develop new ways of working and help build resilience across industries and communities. The additional £20 million funding, which is managed by Innovate UK, comes from a £211 million government investment package to encourage businesses developing new technologie...

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs has announced a new £14 million fund to support Zoos and Aquariums in England in response to financial losses incurred due to Covid-19. Establishments covered by the Zoo Licensing Act will be able to bid for grants of up to £100,000 through the Zoo Support Fund. The grant can be used to cover animal care costs that can not be lowered such as keepers’ wages, animal feed and bedding, vete...

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Power to Change have launched a £12 million crisis support package to provide immediate and medium-term support for community businesses supporting the vulnerable and isolated in England. The emergency package includes £7 million in rescue funding, which offers grants of up to £25,000 to contribute to trading incomes losses incurred between April and June 2020. This will initially be available to cur...

The Welsh Government has announced that the second phase of the £200 million Economic Resilience Fund is open for applications. This phase is targeted at microbusinesses, SMEs and large businesses of critical social or economic importance to Wales. Micro businesses with a reduction of over 40% in turnover since the 1st March 2020 to apply for grants of up to £10,000. Grants of up to £100,000 are available to small and medium sized firms wi...

Charities and, social enterprises in disadvantaged areas facing financial hardship and disruption to their trading due to the coronavirus will be able to apply for emergency funding from a £100 million programme of loans and investment. The emergency package is made up of a £25 million Resilience and Recovery Loan Fund to provide emergency loans with no fees or interest for the first twelve months; £29 million for smaller, emergency loans t...

The Prince’s Trust and NatWest have launched a £5million grant fund for young entrepreneurs affected by coronavirus. The Fund is available to entrepreneurs aged 18-30, who can apply for grants and tailored support from today. Grants can be used to maintain core business operations during the crisis, as well as meet any existing financial commitments, such as paying for essential equipment or settling invoices from suppliers. In conjunction...

More than 90,000 ratepayers across Scotland will be able to benefit from one-off grants to help them deal with the impact of the coronavirus. Retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with a rateable value of between £18,001 up to and including £50,999 will be able to apply for a one-off grant of £25,000. £10,000 is also available as a one-off grant to small businesses in receipt of the small business scheme or rural relief. The aim of th...

Funding of £500,000 is being made available to find and support the UK’s most promising female innovators, helping them develop their ideas and expand their businesses. Grants of £50,000 each and a bespoke package of mentoring, coaching and business support are offered to female inventors to develop solutions that tackle major economic and societal change, such as climate change, developing new treatments and services for healthcare patien...

Innovate UK has announced the launch of its £2.2 million Young Innovators Programme in partnership with The Prince’s Trust. Through the programme, grants of £5,000, as well as one-on-one coaching and an allowance to cover living costs, will be available to 18-30 year olds with a creative and ground-breaking business idea. Studies from Innovate UK, the UK government’s innovation support organisation, shows that half of young people in th...

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has extended the deadline for businesses to apply for customs support funding to the 31st January 2021.  This is to ensure that trade with the EU continues as smoothly as possible after Brexit. Customs agents currently help businesses who trade outside the EU. Businesses based in, or with a branch in, the UK can apply for funding to support training costs for businesses who complete customs declarations, or who i...

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...

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...

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...