Every programme in detail
Read the exclusions before the eligibility. It is faster to find out you are ruled out than to find out you qualify.
Innovate UK grant funding and innovation loans
RollingInnovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation · Federal
Grants of GBP 25,000 to GBP 10 million. Innovation loans of GBP 100,000 to GBP 1 million, for UK SMEs carrying out late-stage research and development. Awarded through themed and open competitions, not a standing application.
Competitions open and close continuously. Check the Innovation Funding Service for the one open today.
Who qualifies
- UK-based business of any size for grants; UK SMEs only for innovation loans
- An innovation or research and development project, not day-to-day trading
- A project that fits a competition that is currently open, themed or open-scope
Who does not qualify
- Businesses with no innovation or research and development project
- Businesses based outside the UK
- Day-to-day running costs, which no Innovate UK competition funds
- Large businesses applying for an innovation loan, which is SME-only
The GOV.UK entry these figures come from says "Last updated: 7 September 2018". It is the government’s own page and the figures are the published ones, but treat an eight-year-old page with care and check the live Innovation Funding Service for the competition actually open now.
Growth Guarantee Scheme
RollingBritish Business Bank, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business and Trade · Federal
Up to GBP 2 million per business group. This is not money from the government. It guarantees a lender so your business can qualify for finance it would otherwise be refused: term loans, overdrafts, asset finance, invoice finance and asset-based lending. You still borrow it and you still repay it.
Rolling, through an accredited lender rather than the British Business Bank directly.
Who qualifies
- Trading in the UK
- Turnover not exceeding GBP 45 million
- More than 50% of turnover from trading activity
- A viable business
Who does not qualify
- Anyone looking for a grant: this is debt finance
- A business in difficulty, including any in relevant insolvency proceedings
- Turnover above GBP 45 million
- Businesses generating 50% or less of turnover from trading
Appears on grant round-ups constantly because of the GBP 2 million headline. It is a lender guarantee, not a grant, and the money is debt.
Sunderland Business Support Fund
RollingNBSL, funded by North East Mayoral Strategic Authority · Municipal
Covers up to 40% of eligible spend on projects costing between GBP 3,000 and GBP 6,000 excluding VAT. Those figures describe the PROJECT, not the grant: on a GBP 6,000 project the grant is up to GBP 2,400.
What you put in
You fund at least 60% of the project.
Who qualifies
- Trading businesses and social enterprises
- Located in the North East of England
- Planning to grow, with preference for job creation or safeguarding existing jobs
- Project falls in a supported category: marketing, strategy, web design, video, social media, systems, product development, process improvement, quality management, succession planning, growth planning, financial restructuring or change management
Who does not qualify
- Businesses outside the North East of England
- Projects costing less than GBP 3,000 or more than GBP 6,000 excluding VAT
- Project types outside the supported list
- Anyone unable to fund the other 60%
Included as a representative example of what a UK small business grant actually looks like: regional, capped, matched, and tied to a named list of project types.
Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme
RollingDCMS · Federal
Up to GBP 3,500 as part of a group application.
Who qualifies
- Rural SMEs in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland
- Applying as part of a group
Who does not qualify
- Urban businesses
- Businesses applying alone where the scheme requires a group
- Any cost other than a gigabit-capable connection
Pays towards a gigabit-capable broadband connection, not towards the business generally. Genuinely UK-wide, which makes it unusual on this page.
Business Incentive Grant (Test Valley)
RollingTest Valley Borough Council · Municipal
Up to GBP 750 to get a new business up and running. Paid after council visits, the first of which confirms eligibility.
Must be applied for before the business starts trading, and no later than eight weeks after starting.
Who qualifies
- A new start-up located within the borough of Test Valley
- The owner works for the business full-time, minimum 30 hours a week, as their only job
- Not yet trading at the point of application
Who does not qualify
- Any business outside Test Valley borough, despite the "South East" label on GOV.UK
- Businesses already trading for more than eight weeks
- Owners who have another job
- Anyone working fewer than 30 hours a week on the business
GOV.UK files this under "Region: South East" with a name that sounds national. It is one borough of Hampshire. If you are reading this anywhere else in the South East, you do not qualify. It is the clearest single illustration of how UK business grants actually work.
Finding the grant for your area
Most UK business grants are not national, so the list above cannot be complete for you specifically and no list on any site can be. Schemes are opened and withdrawn by individual councils on their own timetables. Two places answer it properly:
- GOV.UK’s business finance support finder, filtered to grants and your business size. Add your region to cut it to the schemes you can actually apply for.
- Your local growth hub, which will know about schemes that reach GOV.UK late or never.
One warning when you use the finder: its region labels describe the council’s region, not your eligibility. The Business Incentive Grant above is listed under “South East” and is open only in one Hampshire borough. Open the entry and find the administering council before you spend any time on an application.
