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.
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:
To put things in a more sweeping perspective, we can say that government grants have three clear objectives:
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.
While the features associated with government grants are certainly attractive, there exist shortcomings and drawbacks you should be aware of:
The competition is fierce: The competition for government grants is fierce to say the least. Since young businesses, start-ups and established businesses all tend to spill over into the space that’s reserved for SMEs, the competition can become entirely off-putting.
It can take months before you see the money: Applying for a government grant isn’t always the smoothest of processes. It can take many months for the assessment process to conclude, making grants irrelevant for businesses that require urgent funding.
Grants can never replace external funding: Given their limitations in size and scope, government grants cannot replace external, third-party funding channels – not in the long run, anyway.
The EIC Accelerator supports individual small and medium enterprises (SMEs), in particular startups and spinout companies to develop and scaleup game-changing innovations. In some cases small mid-caps (up to 500 employees) are supported.
The EIC Accelerator provides substantial financial support with:
If your organisation supports people in Copeland, Allerdale or Warrington you may be eligible to apply for a grant/reusable equipment.
Location North West England
Funding organisation Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
Who can apply Private Sector
How much you can get From Various to £200,000
Total size of grant scheme N/A
Opening date 4 August 2017, 12:00pm
Closing date 31 December 2023, 11:59pm
Small charities, schools and community interest groups with innovative ideas that benefit their community can apply for funding of up to £50,000 for projects that build more connected, more resilient communities; and give people the tools to become more financially independent.
The funding is being made available through the newly re-launched Aviva Community Fund. Every three months from January onwards, £250,000 will be split equally among Aviva’s UK employees to donate to the projects that matter to them most.
Applications are open on a continuous basis and are reviewed every three months.
Aviva have teamed up with the fundraising platform Crowdfunder and applicants can add to any donations they get from the Aviva Community Fund with public donations.
This funding is targeted for:
• Development costs (i.e. revenue costs, such as, feasibility studies, design, planning, specialist advice) • Delivery phase (i.e. capital costs, such as, construction, enabling works or infrastructure).
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 £20,000 to £5 million
Total size of grant scheme £18.7 million
Opening date 5 August 2022, 12:01am
Closing date 4 August 2023, 11:59pm
Disabled Facilities Grants can help meet the cost of making changes to your home so you or someone you live with can live safely and independently. People of all ages and tenures can apply to their local council for a grant.
Location England, Wales, Northern Ireland
Funding organisation Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities
Who can apply Personal / Individual
How much you can get From £1 to £36,000
Total size of grant scheme N/A
Opening date 1 January 2022, 12:01am
Closing date 31 March 2024, 11:59pm
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
The Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF) is a 3 year, £288 million capital grant fund that will support the commercialisation and construction of new low and zero carbon (LZC) heat networks (including the supply of cooling) and the retrofitting and expansion of existing heat networks. It aims to develop and grow the heat network market and to address some of the challenges of decarbonising the UK’s heat sector.
Location England
Funding organisation Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
Who can apply Personal / Individual, Non-profit, Private Sector, Public Sector
How much you can get From £1 to £1 million (applications above £1 million can be made, should an applicant have assessed that support in excess of this amount is required, and all other application gated metrics are met, however BEIS reserves the right to decline such an application)
Total size of grant scheme £288m across 3 years in quarterly funding rounds
Opening date 13 March 2022, 11:01pm
Closing date 29 November 2024, 10:59pm
The Chargepoint Grant for people renting and living in flats is open to Electric Vehicle (EV) drivers who live in a flat or rent a property.
The grant will cover up to 75% of the total costs of the purchase and installation of EV chargepoints (inclusive of VAT) and enabling infrastructure for future chargepoints.
This grant is a continuation of the current Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme but with a reduced scope of who can apply.
Location National
Funding organisation Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV)
Who can apply Personal / Individual
How much can you get From £350 to £350
Total size of grant scheme £50 million
Opening date 1 September 2014, 12:01am
Closing date 31 March 2024, 11:59pm
Workplace Charging Scheme
The Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) is a voucher-based scheme that provides eligible businesses with support towards the upfront costs of the purchase and installation of electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints. All businesses can use it to help provision chargepoints for their staff or fleets.
Charities and small accommodation businesses can further use it to provision chargepoints for their guests or visitors.
Location National
Funding organisation Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV)
Who can apply Public Sector, Non-profit, Private Sector
How much can you get From £350 to £14,000
Total size of grant scheme £50 million
Opening date 1 September 2016, 12:01am
Closing date 31 March 2024, 11:59pm
The grant provides residential and commercial landlords, social housing providers or property factors funding to install electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints in rental and leasehold properties.
Location National
Funding organisation Department for Transport
Who can apply Non-profit, Public Sector, Private Sector
How much can you get From £350 to £30,000
Total size of grant scheme N/A
Opening date 1 April 2022, 12:00am
Closing date 31 March 2024, 11:59pm
If customers can’t find it, it doesn’t exist. Clearly list and describe the services you offer. Also, be sure to showcase a premium service.
The Community Ownership Fund is a £150 million fund over 4 years to support community groups across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland to take ownership of assets which are at risk of being lost to the community.
Location National
Funding organisation The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Who can apply Public Sector, Non-profit
How much you can get From £1 to £1 million
Total size of grant scheme £150 million
Opening date 12 July 2021, 12:01am
Closing date 31 March 2025, 11:59pm
You may be entitled to get a one-off payment of £500 to help towards the costs of having a child. This is known as a Sure Start Maternity Grant.
Location England, Wales
Funding organisation Department of Work and Pensions
Who can apply Personal / Individual
How much you can get From £500 to £500
Total size of grant scheme £50 million
Opening date 1 April 2022, 12:00am
Closing date 31 March 2030, 12:00am
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
The Knowledge Assets Grant Fund supports organisations across the public sector in the UK to explore exciting new uses of datasets, technology, intellectual property, ideas and expertise. Funding is available for use in supporting the development, re-purposing, commercialisation or expanded use of public sector knowledge assets.
Location National
Funding organisation The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Who can apply Public Sector
How much you can get From £1 to £250,000
Total size of grant scheme £5 million
Opening date 17 March 2023, 12:01am
Closing date 14 December 2023, 11:59pm
UK registered businesses can apply for funding for capital centric investment projects that help industrialise the electrified automotive supply chain at scale in the UK.
Location National
Funding organisation The Department for Business and Trade
Who can apply Non-profit, Private Sector
How much you can get From £1 million to No upper limit specified
Total size of grant scheme £850 million
Opening date 27 March 2023, 12:01am
Closing date 29 November 2023, 11:59pm
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.
The Business Events Growth Programme forms part of Government’s commitment to grow the business events sector. The programme supports the attraction of international business events, which align with the Government's priority industry sectors, the growth of the international profile of business events in the UK, as well as the creation of new business events. Through the programme, VisitBritain supports all organizations in hosting international business events in the UK. Whether you would like to win international events or to develop, grow and internationalise your events, the Business Events Growth Programme can support.
Location England, Wales, Scotland
Funding organisation British Tourist Authority t/a VisitBritain
Who can apply Public Sector, Non-profit, Private Sector
How much you can get From £2,000 to £20,000
Total size of grant scheme £350,000
Opening date 5 May 2023, 12:01am
Closing date 31 December 2023, 11:59pm
The Waking Watch Replacement Fund 2023, launched in May 2023, is a new £18.6 million fund to install alarms and replace costly Waking Watch measures in all residential buildings in England where a Waking Watch is currently in place. The new fund builds on the progress made by the initial Waking Watch Relief Fund and the Waking Watch Replacement Fund 2022. The additional funding will incentivise the installation of alarms and protect more residents in more buildings pending their full remediation or the provision of long-term mitigation measures.
Location England
Funding organisation Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Who can apply Public Sector, Non-profit, Private Sector
How much you can get From £1 to £18.6 million
Total size of grant scheme £18.6 million
Opening date 25 May 2023, 12:01am
Closing date 24 November 2023, 11:59pm
Copyright © 2022 Perception Accounting Ltd- All Rights Reserved.
Company Number 11998548 VAT Number 332107546
Registered Office: The Cobalt Building, 1600 Eureka Park, Lower Pemberton, Ashford, Kent TN25 4BF.
Powered by TB
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data. Privacy Policy