Introduction Most people are aware that a large proportion of support to businesses in the UK comes in the form of direct financial aid, such as grants and loans. However, there is also on offer non-financial support where the UK Government, local authorities and other organisations fund business support packages and vouchers to access specific … Read more
Introduction As of 1 April 2024 the functions of funding bodies Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) have been transferred back over to local authorities in England. This means that a large amount of local development activity funding that was previously provided by central government to local areas via the LEPs is now being distributed via local … Read more
What Funding Is Available To UK Businesses From The EU? Since Brexit, the funding agreements between the UK and the EU have changed. The UK has lost access to key funds such as the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which was previously responsible for a large number of improvement projects across the UK. However, agreements … Read more
What Is The Catapult Network? The Catapult Network is part of Innovate UK and is a Government backed set of 9 leading innovation centres covering high-tech sectors in 65 locations across the UK. Each Catapult has an industry speciality with a central research hub and supporting local hubs in various strategic locations. Catapults contain cutting … Read more
What Opportunities Can UK Universities Provide for Businesses? According to recent research, it is estimated that UK universities will provide over £11.6bn worth of support, funding and services to start-ups and SMEs over the next 5 years. This includes specialist one-to-one advice, providing access to the latest research equipment and facilities to help push cutting … Read more
Although the announcement of the halt in funding for LEPs was made in the 2023 budget it only came into effect on April 1 this year. Since then central government funding has stopped but LEPs still continue to exist (government money only accounted for 10-20% of their overall funding). However, the handing over of core … Read more
What Opportunities Does Innovate UK Provide for UK Businesses? Innovate UK is the UK’s innovation agency and part of the Government’s UK Research and Innovation department. It provides funding and support for the development and commercialisation of new products and services for businesses in the most cutting edge industries. Their current priority areas for grant … Read more
What is the Rural England Prosperity Fund? The Rural England Prosperity Fund is a complementary funding pot to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund that was launched by the last UK Government as part of their Levelling Up agenda. A total of £110m in funding has been made available across financial years 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 in … Read more
Refresher – What is the UK Shared Prosperity Fund? The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the former Conservative Government’s Levelling Up agenda and aims to provide £2.6 billion of funding for investment within local authority areas by March 2025. The fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances … Read more
What Is The Growth Guarantee Scheme? The Growth Guarantee Scheme is the direct successor to the Recovery Loan Scheme from the British Business Bank and is designed to support smaller UK businesses looking to invest and grow. The funding provides a series of accredited lenders, such as banks and financial institutes with a 70% government-backed … Read more
