Where can I find business grants in the UK?

Are you searching for business grants in the UK? You wouldn’t be the only one as winning a business grant can give your business a considerable boost. However, they can be highly competitive, so you want your grant to stand out from the crowd.

Luckily for you, we’re grant writing experts. We thought we would put together a helpful blog covering where to find business grants in the UK. We will also advise on what to include in your grant proposal.

What type of business grants in the UK are available?

 There is a whole range of business grants in the UK available for companies. For example:

Business grants in the UK can come from either public or private funders. They can be multi-million-pound grants for research and development or a couple of hundred pounds. These business grants can be used to help train employees or used to aid the loss of business.

Before you start to apply for a business grant in the UK, you will need to be sure that you:

  • Understand the needs and requirements of the contract awarding body
  • Know your business including its strengths and weaknesses
  • Be clear about why and who you’re writing the proposal for and what you intend to spend the money on.

Where can I find business grants in the UK?

Tracking down business grants can take a while, sometimes hours. You often don’t have this time spare while running your business. You have enough on your plate already!

There are hundreds of funders awarding business grants in the UK. Searching for them on hundreds of websites can take a lot of time. Luckily for you, we have a solution – our Discover Grants Tracker.

Here you can find all business grants in the UK on one, central platform. All you need to do to gain access is sign up for free. You’ll then be able to search over 1,700 live business grants. You can filter the results by keyword, location and more helping you find the right grant for your business.

So now that you know how to search for business grants, you’re likely wondering how to win them. Keep reading for our expert tips!

  1. Apply for the right grant for your business

Reading the grant specification and objective properly is an important step when applying for business grants in the UK. You should be taking the time to understand why this fund is being awarded and what it aims to achieve. This could range from hiring staff to tackle unemployment, to developing environmentally friendly, innovative solutions or training equipment. If a grant is suitable for your business, both its objectives and yours should align well.

When applying for a business grant, you should be referencing the objectives closely throughout. This can help strengthen your proposal and increase your chance of success. Clearly signposting each objective will enable a funder to see you’re addressing each objective.

Reading the specification thoroughly can also help you check your eligibility. There may be certain qualifications or criteria that you need to have to be eligible to apply for the grant. You must establish this early on before you start applying or planning your response if you’re eligible to apply.

  1. Start planning and applying early

It is crucial when applying for grants that you have impeccable time management and planning. Completing your proposal may take weeks or even months depending on the size of the grant you’re competing for. You should take note of what grants are suitable for your business. Some are only open at certain times of the year, so it’s best to put the date in your diary. You could plan backwards to ensure you have enough time to formulate a winning bid for funding.

You should be realistic when planning and set achievable internal deadlines when applying for business grants in the UK. Breaking down the grant specification can help with this. Give plenty of time and allow extra time for any unexpected delays or issues to arise. Make sure you give enough time for your co-workers to gather any information they may need. Especially for data and statistics. Having facts and stats will strengthen your response.

A helpful way to formulate a response is through the use of P.E.E:

  • Point
  • Evidence
  • Explain.

It is always better to be over-prepared, than underprepared! You could make a checklist of requirements of what’s needed for the application. For example, you could make a note of:

  • Submission deadline date and time
  • Format of the proposal
  • The number of questions that need to be addressed and their word or page count
  • What additional documents need to be attached
  • The number of copies required
  • How to submit (via a portal, email, hardcopy etc).

  1. Focus on grant use – what will the grant be spent on?

There’s a wide array of grants available across an extensive range of sectors. For example, there are grants for fisheries and seafood, green funding for trucks and buses and research and development. Additionally, there are small business grants that will only contribute to some equipment expenses or broadband installations, for example. You should clearly detail within your application how you will use the funding, providing breakdown costs. You should also demonstrate how it will help grow your business and benefit others.

Justify your expenses

Provide a full justification for all expenses, but don’t take advantage or overcharge. For example, don’t say you need 20 Apple Macs when a computer of a cheaper make and model will suffice. Do the research and back it up with evidence. When you apply for business grants in the UK, having a high quote can lose you the grant. It can be seen as profiteering. It would be a shame to lose out on funding because you thought you could ‘get away with it’.

In the same light, don’t underquote your needs. It may result in a win, but you might not be able to deliver your proposal. Depending on why and what grant you’re applying for, this could have a knock-on effect on your project or business. Although underquoting may appeal to a funder, asking for additional funding at a later stage might not go down well. This could affect your businesses’ reputation and your relationship with the funder.

Ensure that the grant benefits are tangible, measurable, and benefit a wide spectrum of your community. Moreover, how they will benefit your business and the positive knock-on effects from that as a result.

In summary

So now you have a better idea of how to apply for business grants in the UK. Using our Grant tracking service can help you find the perfect grant for your business. There are thousands of grants available for businesses across the UK. Our Grant Tracker can help take the headache out of searching them, saving you time.

Our advice to help you win your next business grant includes applying for the right grant for your business. You should be finding a grant that fits your business and its aims – not the other way around. Ask yourself if you’re eligible and whether it meets what you’re trying to achieve.

Early planning can make all the difference with your grant application. Depending on the size of the grant, it can save you time in the long run. Setting internal deadlines can help you keep on top of everything, making sure you submit on time.

Lastly, in order to win business grants in the UK, specify what the grant will be spent on. How will it benefit and aid long-term goals? Funders are interested in longevity. Make sure you demonstrate capable money-handling experience, too.

Need help applying for your next business grant?

You may not have the time or resources in house to write a winning response, and that’s ok. We can help…

Our Services 

Grant Writing

Our Grant Writing Service is for businesses who want to start applying for grants, but don’t know where to begin. They can also help businesses who have been applying for grants but aren’t seeing success.

Our Grant Writing Consultants have over 60 years of experience in bidding for funding and grants. From start-up business grants to self-employed business grants. They can take care of the whole thing for you – they’ll even submit it on your behalf.

Get in touch to find out how we can help your business grow!

Grant Tracker

You can find this grant and others like it on our Business Grant Tracker. Currently, we have over 1,700 live business grant and funding opportunities. Our team have manually tracked 1,500+ data streams searching for business grant opportunities. Each one is then uploaded to one central system, streamlining the process.

All you need to do to gain access is sign up for free.

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

 

Join the newsletter.

Keep up to date with all the latest information around Grants in the UK.

Thank you for your message. It has been sent.
There was an error trying to send your message. Please try again later.

Get a Grant Writing consultation.

Call us today on 02030512217

Request a Quote