What is a Government Business Grant?

A government grant is essentially an incentive package made available by various government bodies and organisations to individuals as well as businesses. Government grants (barring the finance grants) are usually non-repayable.

Depending upon the nature of the grant body and the grant objective, these grants can come in a variety of sizes and formats. As far as small businesses are concerned, such grants range from £1,000 to £500,000. Some of the bigger and more prized grants can go even higher.

Why Are Grants Given to SMEs?

Government grants have been there for a long, long time. The names and forms they have taken may have changed over time – from business subsidies to business support – but the objectives haven’t. If you were to analyse government grants across business sectors and districts, two things become very clear:

Most government grants have a singular objective – to keep the economy growing. This objective takes many avatars such as employment generation, sectoral development, regional development and so on. Grants that have these objectives are more or less permanent fixtures.
Other grants aim to follow, aid and complement ongoing policies of the government. Such grants typically reflect the incumbent government’s views in regard with trade, environment, social welfare, technology etc.

To put things in a more sweeping perspective, we can say that government grants have three clear objectives:

Boost economy through regional and local development
Generate employment by supporting businesses
Create an economic environment that encourages innovation, entrepreneurship and ‘home-grown’ research

Why SMEs Should Take Government Grants More Seriously

Even though government grants are incredibly appealing, very few SMEs actually realise the potential of such grants. Here are some features of government grants that SMEs can’t afford to overlook:

Government grants are diverse: Very specific grants are available across all business sectors. This allows SMEs to compete more fairly for similar grants.

Grants are more than just money: As we will discuss in the next part of this post, government grants offer much more than just money.

Winning a grant validates your business idea: A large number of SMEs are stuck in the validation loop that stops them from expanding or trading more confidently. Inadequate funding makes matters even worse. A grant can be a good way to turn the corner in such times and receive external recognition and validation.

Kent County Council/Kent and Medway Growth Hub

New support..

is offering robust support for businesses that are keen to deliver measurable and sustainable improvements to their business.

Whether you're looking to streamline your operations, explore new market opportunities, or develop a strategy for growth, The Enhanced Business Support, Recover, Pivot, and Scale programme will offer you valuable insights and guidance to help you achieve your goals.

Restricted to 40 high-potential businesses the year long programme will include 12 months of 1-2-1 support with a business advisor, as well as peer-to-peer networking. 10 of these spaces will be reserved for organisations in the VCSE sector. The programme has 3 to 4 places for each local authority so act now to ensure your place.

Eligible businesses will need to:

be located in Kent and Medway
have been trading for at least 3 years
employ 5+ staff
a turnover of at least £100,000
have the capacity and ambition to grow.
In return you will receive up to 24 hours of intensive business coaching over a 12 month period plus 6 peer group sessions.

Previous programme participants benefited from increased growth including:

Creation of 218 Jobs
Helping them access 83 new local supply chain providers
Creating a total of £9,094,846 of turnover growth
Assisting access to £2,011,381 of investment

Would do get with the programme?

The Opportunity to take your business from good to great with the support of an experienced highly successfully growth coach.

Unlimited access to a localised team of expertsspecifically chosen to help you address and overcome the key barriers to growth including international trade, finance, HR, property and legal.

Grant funding application support to enable you to access the appropriate local, regional and national government funding schemes.

Exclusive membership to a network of like-minded business owners enabling you to share common challenges, best practices and collaboration opportunities.

A unique platform to promote, showcase and celebrate your business success locally, regionally and internationally.

Interested? What to do next:

Simply complete the Expression of Interest form by the 24th September 2024 and an appointed consultant can clarify the details of the programme and the expectations of both Kent County Council and yourself, prior to joining the programme.

The programme is scheduled to start In October 2024.

* A contribution of £50 (plus VAT) per month is payable quarterly in advance. Please note that you are ineligible to take part if your received support from the previous KCC funded Enhanced Business Support programme.

Learn More

Other Grants in the Kent Area

Sevenoaks - Business Improvement Grant

Folkestone & Hythe Bespoke Skills Grant Scheme

Sevenoaks - Business Improvement Grant

Businesses based in the Sevenoaks District can apply for grants of between £2,000 and £8,000 for capital expenditure projects.

The grant can be used to purchase of fixed assets for long-term use and can include equipment and machinery, upgrades and improvements to buildings.

For businesses that can demonstrate three years of trading as:

A Company registered at Companies House (including social enterprises)
A sole trader
A charity registered with the Charity Commission

Learn More

Sevenoaks Workboost Grant

Folkestone & Hythe Bespoke Skills Grant Scheme

Sevenoaks - Business Improvement Grant

Sevenoaks District Council has designed WorkBoost as a programme to support employment, helping businesses to take on new staff and helping those out of work to gain employment and experience.

Businesses will only be eligible for this Grant if:

They are registered in and trading from the Sevenoaks District.
Must not have started or entered any form of administration or Insolvency process.
Have a business bank account and be able to provide two months of bank statements
Have a job description and person specification for the proposed role, which should be provided with the application form

Learn More

Folkestone & Hythe Bespoke Skills Grant Scheme

Grant funding of up to £5000 for employers who are seeking to upskill their employees in the retrofit, green and construction sector.

The aim is to:

Support Growth of employment, turnover and productivity in our key local sectors.
Enable businesses to access the skilled employees they need.
Support both new and niche sectors to establish and grow in our local area.

Grants are revenue only, and do not cover any VAT that may be applicable to training courses.

Learn More

Rural Swale Small Business Grant Scheme

Kent and Medway Business Fund - Small Business Boost

Folkestone & Hythe Bespoke Skills Grant Scheme

Grants of between £1,000 and £7,000 will be awarded to successful applicants, to cover no more
than 50% of the costs of the project

To support small rural businesses to:

make small capital investments to support growth and carbon reduction measures
or support capital projects which help develop the local visitor economy

Match funding secured may enhance the value for money assessment made against applications.

Learn More

Medway Partners for Green Growth Grant Scheme

Kent and Medway Business Fund - Small Business Boost

Financial support of up to £2,500 is available for Medway SMEs.

The funding is to help businesses in the:

implementation of their decarbonisation plans
adoption of new processes that contribute to their net-zero journey.

The grant aims to offset some of the costs associated with sustainable initiatives and allow businesses to make meaningful progress towards their environmental goals.

Learn More

Kent and Medway Business Fund - Small Business Boost

Loan Offer – £26k – £99k
0% Interest (10% Admin Fee applied)
20-30% Match-funding required

Applications are invited from start ups and established businesses in all sectors

Excluding:
Franchises
Organisations with a political or religious nature
Primary production (partial exclusion)

Criteria must include:
Growth, Innovation, Increased Productivity, Supply Chain, Contribution to Net Zero

Employment:
Job Creation – essential

Read the SBB Guidance here

Learn More

New Government Grants in 2024

In 2024, the UK government has introduced several new grants to support various sectors, including energy efficiency, innovation, and farming.

Energy Efficiency Grants:
- Boiler Upgrade Scheme: Increased grants of up to £7,500 are available to help households install heat pumps and biomass boilers. This scheme aims to reduce the cost of heating homes and contribute to net-zero targets (GOV.UK) (HomeOwners Alliance).
- Great British Insulation Scheme: This scheme extends support to homeowners, landlords, and tenants for various insulation measures, helping to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy bills (HomeOwners Alliance).
- Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) Phase 2: Targeted at low-income households in poorly performing homes, this grant provides energy efficiency measures and low carbon heating solutions (GOV.UK).

Innovation and Business Grants:
- Innovate UK Smart Grants: These grants provide funding for groundbreaking R&D projects that have the potential to deliver significant economic impact. Funding levels vary depending on the size of the organization and the stage of the project (Innovate UK).
- Heat Pump Ready Programme: Aimed at supporting innovation in the heat pump sector, this programme provides £10 million to reduce installation costs and improve the efficiency of heat pumps (GOV.UK).

Farming Grants:
- Environmental Land Management Schemes: These grants support various environmental initiatives, such as improving land productivity and managing water resources (Gov UK).
- Flood Recovery Grants: Available for farmers affected by severe weather events, these grants help cover losses and restore soil health and crop production (Gov UK).

Additionally, the UK government has launched a new digital platform, Find a Grant, which simplifies the process of searching and applying for government grants by offering personalized recommendations and a user-friendly interface (Grants Community).

For more details on eligibility and application processes, you can visit the respective grant pages on the UK government's official websites.

Start-Up Loans

A Start Up Loan is a government-backed personal loan available to individuals looking to start or grow a business in the UK.

In addition to finance, successful applicants receive 12 months of free mentoring and exclusive business offers to help them succeed.

The loan is unsecured, so there’s no need to put forward any assets or guarantors to support an application.

All owners or partners in a business can individually apply for up to £25,000 each, with a maximum of £100,000 available per business.

Find out more

Prince's Trust

A good source for help with funding is the Prince’s Trust, which offers development awards to help younger people kickstart their business or access training courses.

At present the Trust offers development awards of up to £500 for UK residents aged between 16 and 30 who are looking for funds to help with training. They must fit the following criteria:

Aged 16 to 30 and living in the UK
Studying less than 14 hours a week or not in compulsory education
Unemployed or working less than 16 hours a week

Furthermore, development awards can support:

Accredited course fees up to Level 3 (A level equivalent)
Tools, equipment or uniforms for a job or qualification
Job licence fees
Transport to a new job until your first pay slip

Development awards can’t support:

Living expenses e.g. rent or bills
Business start-up costs
Costs for items that have already been paid for
Gap year or overseas projects
Level 4 course fees and beyond (i.e. Higher National Certificate or Diploma)

FIND OUT MORE

CURRENT GOVERNMENT GRANTS

Adoption support fund
The adoption support fund (ASF) provides funds to local authorities and regional adoption agencies (RAAs) to pay for essential therapeutic services for eligible adoptive and special guardianship order (SGO) families. The ASF will continue to offer support to adoptive and eligible special guardianship families up to March 2025.hjg
Location England
Funding organisation Department of Education
Who can apply Personal / Individual
How much you can get From £1 to £5000
Total size of grant scheme N/A
Opening date 1 April 2022, 12:00am
Closing date 31 March 2025, 12:00am

Healthy Start
If you’re more than 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under 4, you may be entitled to get help to buy healthy food and milk. If you’re eligible, you’ll be sent a Healthy Start card with money on it that you can use in some UK shops. We’ll add your benefit onto this card every 4 weeks.
Location England, Wales, Northern Ireland
Funding organisation Department for Work and Pension and the NHS
Who can apply Personal / Individual
How much you can get From undefined to undefined
Total size of grant scheme
Opening date 1 April 2022, 12:00am
Closing date 31 March 2025, 12:00am

Workplace Charging Scheme

The Workplace Charging Scheme provides support for organisations towards the cost of installing up to 40 electric vehicle chargepoint sockets at their sites.

The scheme covers up to 75% of the total costs of the purchase and installation of EV chargepoints (including VAT), capped at a maximum of:

£350 per socket
40 sockets across all sites per applicant – for instance, if you want to install them at 40 sites, you will have 1 socket available per site

It is open to eligible:

businesses
charities
public sector organisations
small accommodation businesses

There is a separate scheme with a different grant amount for state-funded education institutions.

All chargepoints must be installed by an OZEV authorised installer.

The scheme is available in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is not available in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.

Funding is confirmed until 31 March 2025. 

Electric vehicle infrastructure grant for staff and fleets
The grant provides small and medium-sized businesses money off the cost of installing electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints and supporting infrastructure for their staff and fleet vehicles.
Location National
Funding organisation Office for Zero Emission Vehicles
Who can apply Public Sector, Non-profit, Private Sector
How much you can get From £350 to £30,000
Total size of grant scheme £5 million
Opening date 1 April 2022, 12:01am
Closing date 31 March 2025, 11:59pm

Electric vehicle chargepoint and infrastructure grants for landlords
Grants for landlords to install electric vehicle chargepoints and supporting infrastructure in rental and leasehold properties.
Location National
Funding organisation Office for Zero Emission Vehicles
Who can apply Personal / Individual, Public Sector, Non-profit, Private Sector
How much you can get From £350 to £30,000
Total size of grant scheme £500,000
Opening date 1 April 2022, 12:01am
Closing date 31 March 2025, 11:59pm

Electric vehicle chargepoint grant for renters and flat owners
The grant provides electric vehicle (EV) drivers who are renters or own a flat with support towards the costs of the purchase and installation of EV charge points.
Location National
Funding organisation Office for Zero Emission Vehicles
Who can apply Personal / Individual
How much you can get From £300 to £350
Total size of grant scheme £5 million
Opening date 1 April 2022, 12:01am
Closing date 31 March 2025, 11:59pm

Apply for Funding for Community Projects
Find out information from your Local Authority about community-based funding and grants for projects like activities for young people, volunteer programmes and development of communal facilities.
Location England, Wales
Funding organisation Local Authorities
Who can apply Personal / Individual, Public Sector, Non-profit, Private Sector
How much you can get From Various to Various
Total size of grant scheme Various
Opening date 1 April 2022, 12:00pm
Closing date 31 December 2025, 11:59pm

Fisheries and Seafood Scheme (FaSS)
The Fisheries and Seafood Scheme (FaSS) delivers investment to safeguard the long-term sustainability, resilience and prosperity of the seafood sector across England.
Location England
Funding organisation Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Who can apply Personal / Individual, Public Sector, Non-profit, Private Sector
How much you can get From £500 to £250,000
Total size of grant scheme £20.3 million
Opening date 13 April 2022, 12:01am
Closing date 28 February 2025, 11:59pm

Boiler Upgrade Scheme
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) supports the decarbonisation of homes and small non-domestic buildings in England and Wales. The scheme provides upfront capital grants of £5000 or £6000 to encourage property owners to replace existing fossil fuel heating with more efficient, low carbon heating systems including heat pumps and biomass boilers.
Location England, Wales
Funding organisation Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Who can apply Personal / Individual, Non-profit, Private Sector
How much you can get From £5,000 to £6,000
Total size of grant scheme £450 million over 3 years
Opening date 23 May 2022, 12:01am
Closing date 31 December 2024, 11:59pm

Business Support for Scotland
FindBusinessSupport.gov.scot gives an overview of grants, loans, funding, advice and other support available to businesses in Scotland, offered by over 100 Scottish public sector organisations, conveniently in one place. Information is available for businesses of all sizes and sectors, from start-ups and sole traders to large enterprises and includes support for social enterprises.
Location Scotland
Funding organisation Scottish Government
Who can apply Personal / Individual, Non-profit, Private Sector
How much you can get From Various to Various
Total size of grant scheme Various
Opening date 23 September 2022, 12:01am
Closing date 30 September 2030, 11:59pm

Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Capability Fund
Grant to local authorities to support capacity in delivering local electric vehicle chargepoints.
Location England
Funding organisation Department for Transport
Who can apply Public Sector
How much you can get From £279,000 to £3 million
Total size of grant scheme £45.8 million
Opening date 21 February 2023, 12:01am
Closing date 31 March 2025, 11:59pm

National Highways Lorry Parking Facilities Improvements Scheme
This grant provides lorry parking operators with support to improve HGV driver facilities through the provision of welfare facilities, parking and improved security.
Location England
Funding organisation National Highways
Who can apply Public Sector, Non-profit, Private Sector
How much you can get From £1 to £20 million
Total size of grant scheme £20 million
Opening date 6 March 2023, 12:01am
Closing date 30 March 2025, 11:59pm

Plug-in Van and Truck Grant
The plug-in van grant (PIVG) was launched in 2012 to help bridge the price gap between the cost of ultra-low emission vans and diesel vans. It was extended to trucks, also referred to as heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) in 2016.
Location National
Funding organisation Department for Transport
Who can apply Personal / Individual, Public Sector, Non-profit, Private Sector
How much you can get From £2,500 to £25,000
Total size of grant scheme N/A
Opening date 1 April 2023, 12:01am
Closing date 31 March 2025, 11:59pm

Good Growth Community Levelling Up Programme
This programme puts communities at the heart of delivery. Funding is available to enable locally based projects and skills investments that tackle deprivation and level up communities across Cornwall and Isles of Scilly.
Location South West England
Funding organisation Cornwall Council
Who can apply Personal / Individual, Public Sector, Non-profit, Private Sector
How much you can get From £5,000 to £200,000
Total size of grant scheme £7.6 million
Opening date 27 June 2023, 12:01am
Closing date 1 December 2024, 11:59pm

UK Seafood Fund: Fleet modernisation – engine replacement & engine modifications
This round will trial replacement engines and the modification of engines in commercial fishing vessels, to support the modernisation of the UK fleet.
Location National
Funding organisation Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Who can apply Personal / Individual, Private Sector
How much you can get From £1 to £160,000
Total size of grant scheme £2 million
Opening date 17 July 2023, 12:01am
Closing date 13 December 2024, 11:59pm

Teacher Mentoring Programme (TMP)
On 28 March 2023, the Department for Education (DfE) announced the next phase of government support for FE teacher mentoring through the Teacher Mentoring Programme. Following a competitive procurement, DfE has signed a two-year contract with Cognition Learning Group for delivery of the programme which will run until 31 March 2025.
Location England
Funding organisation Department for Education
Who can apply Public Sector, Non-profit, Private Sector
How much you can get From £5,000 to £25,000
Total size of grant scheme £3 million
Opening date 31 August 2023, 12:01am
Closing date 30 March 2025, 11:59pm

What is a Government Business Grant?

Why Are Grants Given to SMEs?

Why SMEs Should Take Government Grants More Seriously

Kent County Council/Kent and Medway Growth Hub

New support..

Interested? What to do next:

Other Grants in the Kent Area

Sevenoaks - Business Improvement Grant

Folkestone & Hythe Bespoke Skills Grant Scheme

Sevenoaks - Business Improvement Grant

Sevenoaks Workboost Grant

Folkestone & Hythe Bespoke Skills Grant Scheme

Sevenoaks - Business Improvement Grant

Folkestone & Hythe Bespoke Skills Grant Scheme

Folkestone & Hythe Bespoke Skills Grant Scheme

Folkestone & Hythe Bespoke Skills Grant Scheme

Rural Swale Small Business Grant Scheme

Kent and Medway Business Fund - Small Business Boost

Folkestone & Hythe Bespoke Skills Grant Scheme

Medway Partners for Green Growth Grant Scheme

Kent and Medway Business Fund - Small Business Boost

Kent and Medway Business Fund - Small Business Boost

Kent and Medway Business Fund - Small Business Boost

Kent and Medway Business Fund - Small Business Boost

Kent and Medway Business Fund - Small Business Boost

New Government Grants in 2024

Start-Up Loans

Prince's Trust

CURRENT GOVERNMENT GRANTS

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