Small business grants available in the UK

There are numerous grants available for small businesses throughout the UK. Grants are non-repayable loans intended to help with essential start-up and growth expenses, and are typically issued by the government or private organisations.

Grants can come in various forms, like fund matching, competitions, and cash rewards. However, they tend to contribute to a business’ expenses instead of covering them completely, so you’ll generally need to provide some of the funding yourself.  

If you’re looking for finance options, this article highlights the main business grants available across the UK for micro businesses and SMEs.

England

Made Smarter Grant

Location: Bath, Somerset, North East Somerset, Bristol, South Gloucestershire

Local SMEs in the west of England can apply for a Made Smarter grant of up to £20,000, which needs to be 50% match funded. The scheme also offers a one-to-one session with a sector expert, to establish a bespoke growth package for your organisation. For instance, you could get help with implementing new software, training staff, or introducing internships.

Eligible applicants must be SMEs in the above locations with less than 250 employees, operating in-house physical products to a sufficient scale.

Key Fund

Location: North of England and the Midlands

Key Fund offers social enterprises, charitable organisations, and small businesses between £5,000 and £300,000. If you’ve previously applied for a mainstream bank loan but have been unsuccessful, this grant could help your organisation with a range of activities, such as:

• Paying for IT maintenance and upgrades
• Building new websites
• Installing energy-efficient solutions
• Marketing and promotions
• Refurbishment and repairs
• Buying a property
• Paying the bills and salaries

There are nine types of funding on offer. Find out more and apply on the Key Fund website.

Green LEAP Scheme

Location: Horsham, West Sussex

Horsham District Council offers the Green LEAP grant to local small businesses that want to become greener. You could secure up to £5,000 to help with your climate-friendly project, which needs to be match funded with 25% of the project costs. 

To be considered for this grant, your business must:

• Have a climate-friendly project idea, with evidence of how it will help your business achieve its climate ambitions
• Be registered with Companies House or HMRC
• Have no more than 20 employees
• Be located in the Horsham District
• Be able to provide 25% of the project cost
• Provide a three-year business plan

Energy Efficient Grant

Location: Manchester

Manchester-based SMEs could benefit from an Energy Efficiency Grant of up to £5,000. The grant covers 50% of the cost of making energy-efficient improvements, such as upgrading heating equipment, or replacing motors, drives, and compressors.  

Eligibility is subject to individual circumstances and the projected carbon emission savings that your project will generate. 

West Midlands SME Grant Programme

Location: Birmingham, Cannock Chase, Solihull

The West Midlands SME Grant Programme is open to all new companies and existing SMEs in the West Midlands. 

Brand new start-ups could claim up to £7,500 (if based in Birmingham, Cannock Chase, or Solihull) to aid their launch, and existing SMEs could claim up to £100,000 (if based in Birmingham, Cannock Chase, Solihull, or Shropshire) to help them expand. 

Companies from all sectors are welcome to apply for this small business grant, with a few distinct exceptions. Additional funding is also available for specific business projects, such as digital, innovation, and apprenticeships.

Norfolk and Suffolk small business grants

Whether you want to launch a new venture, or own an ambitious start-up that’s ready to take its next step, you might be able to access substantial funding through various grants from the New Anglia Growth Hub. Here are the main ones available for companies based in Norfolk and Suffolk:  

• Business Transition to Net Zero Grants: Get between £25,000 and £100k to help your company reduce carbon emissions.

• Small Grant Scheme: Grow your business with up to £25,000 worth of funding, typically covering up to 25% of your total project costs (available in Norwich City, King’s Lynn, and West Norfolk and North Norfolk District Council only). 
• Growth Through Innovation Fund: Receive up to £25,000 to cover up to 45% of your innovation, research, and development projects. 

Find out more and apply on the New Anglia website.

Scotland

Glasgow City Council Green Business Grant

Glasgow-based SMEs could benefit from a maximum of £10,000 worth of government funding, covering up to 50% of the total cost of a sustainability project. The Glasgow City Council Green Business Grant can be used for anything that helps reduce their energy bills and works towards achieving net zero carbon emissions. 

To qualify for this fund, you must:

• Employ no more than 250 people
• Have been trading for at least six months
• Own your own business premises in Glasgow (or have planning and the landlord’s permission to make changes to the building)
• Have a Glasgow postcode
• Pay non-domestic rates in Glasgow
• Have a HQ in Glasgow

Dundee SME Development Grant

SMEs located in Dundee can apply for the Dundee SME Development Grant of up to £3,000, to help pay for growth projects, such as:

• Research and development
• Infrastructure improvements
• Digital transformation
• The introduction of new and improved products, services, or processes

The expenses for which the funding cannot be used include essential running costs (like rent or utilities), office furnishings, and training and recruitment. To be eligible, your company must:

• Be a registered business
• Have no more than 250 employees
• Be based in the Dundee City Council area
• Have been trading for at least 18 months
• Be actively trading at the time of application
• Have a business bank account
• Not be connected to a tax haven
• Have no outstanding debts to Dundee City Council

Inverclyde Council Staff Wellbeing Grant

SMEs that need financial assistance to improve their employees’ well-being could receive £250 from the Inverclyde Council Staff Wellbeing Grant. You could put the fund towards healthcare cover for your team, counselling services, or office-based improvements to help improve your staff’s general wellbeing. 

To qualify, you must:

• Be trading from an address in Inverclyde
• Have been trading for at least 12 months
• Operate in a sector where there is unlikely to be a significant impact on other local businesses
• Submit evidence that you own your business premises (if you operate from a commercial property) 

To browse all small business grants in Scotland, visit the Find Business Support page.

Wales

Swansea grants

The Swansea Council runs numerous funding schemes for new and growing organisations. Here are some of the programmes that could be available to you, if you are based in Swansea: 

• Pre-start Grant: If you haven’t yet launched your company, you could get up to £10,000 to help you get started. The funding covers up to 95% of your project costs for the first £1,000, followed by 50% of expenses between £1,000 and £10,000. 

• Website Development Grant: This scheme offers up to £1,500 to cover 50% of existing website upgrades. 

• Business Growth Grant: Get up to £50,000 to support the launch of a new product or service. 

• Business Innovation Grant: This programme is intended for the development of new products and the innovation of processes. Eligible companies can receive up to £10,000 worth of funding, covering 50% of costs. 
• Carbon Reduction Grant: Receive up to £10,000 to help with your sustainability strategies. You’ll need to submit your forecast carbon savings along with your application.

All applicants must provide a business plan and a 12-month cash flow forecast for the above schemes.

Newport Business Grant

The Newport Business Grant scheme offers financial assistance between £25,000 and £75,000 to Newport-based organisations. The programme offers match funding to new companies and existing SMEs, helping them accelerate their growth plans substantially. The scheme is due to run until early 2025.

There are other small business grants available for various industries and projects in Wales. Explore them all on the Business Wales website.

Northern Ireland

Vacant to Vibrant

Location: Belfast

The Vacant to Vibrant scheme has allocated £1 million to support start-ups that take over vacant spaces in Belfast city centre and bring them back to life. The grant is designed to improve properties, create and sustain jobs, and improve the city’s general quality. 

If you’re looking to repurpose an empty unit in Belfast, you could get between £2,500 and £25,000 to help with the cost of renovation, building works, and improvements. 

Techstart Proof of Concept & Concept Plus

Location: All Northern Ireland

Entrepreneurs in Northern Ireland looking to launch an innovative concept could get funding of up to £10,000 with Techstart Proof of Concept and up to £35,000 with Concept Plus. 

Eligible applicants must be sole traders, or have a partnership or limited company. In the case of a limited company, a portion of the fund may also cover the cost of employment to promote your innovative project. 

To browse all small business grants in Northern Ireland, visit the Invest Northern Ireland website. 

Nationwide small business grants

Innovation Vouchers

In partnership with UK Research and Innovation, the government offers tech, science, and research organisations a choice of two grants up to the value of £15,000, through Innovation Vouchers. As well as crucial funding, you’ll also access assistance from world-leading technical experts, to help transform and evolve your company. 

The first option is a £5,000 grant alongside up to 10 days with your assigned industry expert. They’ll help you with activities like AI integration and data review. 

The second option is a £15,000 grant plus up to 31 days of technical support in data science and AI technologies, assisting with proof-of-concept projects and digital roadmap development. 

Innovation vouchers are open to businesses of all sizes across the UK in the agriculture, construction, creative, and transport sectors. In the application process, you’ll be asked to express the problems your business is experiencing, how you’ll use the grants to solve them, and the new innovations you expect as a result of the funding. 

Horizon Europe

Organised by the European Commission, Horizon Europe provides funding for groundbreaking research and innovation with a budget of €95.5 billion, 70% of which is earmarked for SMEs. The grant focuses on helping to improve European research standards and tackling issues like climate change and food security. 

Horizon Europe is based on three core pillars:

1. Excellent Science
2. Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness
3. Innovative Europe

You can apply as a single organisation. However, some of the funding calls require you to partner up with at least three other companies from different countries to form a ‘consortium’. Find out more about the programme and how to apply on the European Commission website.

Heritage Enterprise

If you run a not-for-profit organisation that is looking to care for and sustain heritage in the UK, you could receive up to £10 million worth of funding to assist your projects. Eligible projects include the preservation of nature and habitats, historic buildings and environments, or cultures and traditions. 

For grants under £1 million, you will need to contribute at least 5% of the project costs, and for grants over £1 million, you’ll need to contribute at least 10%. 

• A guide to Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) schemes
• 13 allowable expenses for limited companies to claim
• What is crowdfunding and how does it work?

You will also need to take into account and demonstrate that your business values saving heritage, protecting the environment, organisational sustainability, and inclusion, access, and participation. 

If you’d like to apply for this grant, you must first submit an Expression of Interest, after which your business will be considered. If you’re successful, the organiser will invite you to apply. 

Visit the Heritage Fund website for details on grants of £10,000 to £250,000 and £250,000 to £10 million.

Innovate UK Business Growth Grant

It’s not just direct funding that can help your business grow. Perhaps you’d benefit from bespoke support in areas like innovation, entering new markets, or how to access investments. Innovate UK Business Growth offers fully funded expert guidance for small businesses looking to scale up, but lacking the resources to do so. 

Your dedicated expert will help you identify the most effective strategy to accelerate your company’s growth and achieve its maximum potential, whilst connecting you with investors and international partnerships. 

To qualify for this support, your company must have no more than 500 employees, or no more than 250 if you’re based in Northern Ireland. Find out more on the UKRI website.

Women in Innovation Award

While the funding gap has been showing some signs of improvement, it remains the case that male founders receive more business funding than women – more than six times more in 2023, according to Startups data. 

If you’re a female business owner, you might find the government-backed Women in Innovation Award useful. There are 50 awards available, each one offering a £75,000 grant, as well as bespoke business support to female entrepreneurs within SMEs across the UK. 

90% of the grant is paid upfront at the end of the year, and the remainder is paid post-project end. To qualify for this grant, you must:

• Be a female founder, co-founder, or senior decision maker within a UK-registered micro business or SME, that has been registered on Companies House for at least 12 months by the competition closing date
• Be a UK resident
• Attend two development days in 2025
• Be fully committed to volunteering as a role model for at least five days over the duration of the award

Your project must also:

• Have a grant funding request of up to £75,000
• Last for 12 months
• Carry out all of its project work in the UK
• Intend to exploit the results from or in the UK
• Start on 1 December 2024
• End of 30 November 2025

Browse all grants and support available in the UK by industry, business size and region on the government website.

Thanks for reading

Whether you’re already up and running and need help with your next project, or you’d like to start your new company but require a finance boost, we hope you’ve found some suitable funding opportunities from the above list. 

Thanks for reading. Please leave us any comments or questions below.