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 Digital Transformation? Digital transformation is when businesses take advantage of new digital technology and innovation in order to improve efficiency or gain a competitive advantage. It is becoming increasingly important for small businesses in the UK to modernise their operations by improving their technical infrastructure and taking older tried and tested methods and … 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
As our understanding of AI improves, its scope of application increases and the world of business grants is no exception. Finding grants and then applying can be a time consuming exercise, whether it’s the business owner themselves doing it or a professional grant writer. Also, it requires a level of knowledge as well as a … Read more
According to the latest statistics, there were a total of 1,797 active high growth AI start-ups in the UK, with investments totalling £3.21bn in equity funding in 2022 alone. Another report puts the total number of UK AI start-ups that received funding of $1.5m and over between 2013-2023 at 727. This second metric is important … Read more
