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It is an ongoing topic worldwide with many countries struggling to find growth and productivity improvements and the UK is no exception. Poor historic GDP growth and no improvement in sight means that the new Chancellor is under increasing pressure to produce the goods. A May 2024 government report outlining the decline in innovation will have provided food for thought for the incoming government and ongoing changes in the grants landscape will not have helped improve matters. Another more recent report in January 2025 based on a survey of 200 businesses shone more light on this issue with 56% of businesses saying they were relying on self-funding for R&D, only 39% using innovation grants and 37% complaining that they were being held back by strict eligibility requirements.
Constant Change is a Barrier
From the closure of LEPs and movement of grant schemes into Local Authority tenure and the rumoured end of the UK Shared Prosperity Funds (UKSPF), there is uncertainty allied to constant change in the grants landscape that means it is difficult to keep track of who the grant scheme providers are and where to get support. It’s also a challenge to plan ahead and know that a particular type of funding will be available in the future – innovation strategies for many businesses increasingly tend to be long term and have multiple rounds, so consistency of fund availability over time is key. Knowing what sectors and type of projects will get ongoing publicly funded support will also encourage additional private investment.
Stability and Drive to Promote
So it’s not yet getting any easier for business owners to access the grant funding that will help develop their businesses and increase UK growth and productivity. However, the new(ish) government has an Industrial Strategy and has for example indicated that certain sectors e.g. green technology will receive more support but it is now time to come out with further details. How will this translate into grant schemes and how will they be promoted to the business community so that there is greater awareness of scheme availability as well as the support to get the funding allocated to the right places. A government backed drive to promote grant availability and support and increase interest and positivity across a wider cross section of businesses could be a huge step forward on the path to renewed growth.
For the full set of UK business grants currently available, please visit https://getbusinessgrants.com/
