A non-repayable funding opportunity for businesses is available through local councils in the form of business grants. Typically, these grants are aimed at start-ups, as well as businesses looking to make environmentally-friendly improvements. In the past, many of these grant schemes were funded by the EU’s European Regional Development Fund, but most of them will cease to exist by early 2023. However, various grants are still available through local councils, with a list of business grant schemes offered by possibly the council in your area provided below.
The Low Carbon Workspaces scheme offers match-funded grants ranging from £1,000 to £6,750 for SMEs in Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Milton Keynes that want to reduce their carbon emissions, covering up to one-third of low-carbon project costs. The Coventry Duplex Investment Fund offers a combination of grant and loan for SMEs based in Coventry and Warwickshire for at least two years, with eligible businesses being able to apply for between £30,000 to £100,000, of which up to 40% can be a grant.
The Eden Tourism Grant offers a £500 tourism grant for tourism-related projects in the Eden district. The DRIVEN – ESF high-level skills programme provides funding and support to eligible small and medium-sized businesses to help recruit graduates and students, with funding of £1,000 per graduate for 400 hours or more, and/or approximately £1,000 for a fully funded 80-hour internship.
The Mobile Boost Scheme is available for businesses in Devon, Somerset, Torbay, and Plymouth seeking improved outdoor mobile coverage and connectivity, offering a voucher of up to £1,200 towards the cost of various mobile signal booster options. The Invest to Grow programme provides grants and loans of between £15,000 and £250,000 to support private-sector businesses across the East Midlands to innovate, grow, and create jobs. The Marches Business Growth Programme offers grants of £2,500 to £1,000,000 to strengthen supply chains, stimulate innovation, and help businesses grow, and is available to start-up B2B SMEs as well as existing B2B SMEs located in The Marches Local Enterprise Partnership area.
Hertfordshire offers various grants, including the Get Growing 2 grants of up to £3,000 for SMEs based in Hertfordshire that have five or more full-time equivalent employees. The Hertfordshire Start-up Programme and South East Midlands Start-up Programme offer match-funded grants of between £500 and £3,000 for Hertfordshire residents and residents of Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire, Luton, Milton Keynes, and Northamptonshire looking to start a business, respectively. Lastly, the North of Tyne Growth Fund offers SME growth support in Newcastle, North Tyneside, and Northumberland through a £4.6 million investment programme, with grants covering up to 30% of eligible expenditure.
