Find finance and support across the UK

These support schemes and networks are available across the UK:

• Apprenticeships – explore the different funding opportunities available to support you when hiring apprentices.
• Business rates relief – some businesses in England are eligible for a reduction in their business rates bill. This is called ‘business rates relief’. The rules for business rates relief are different if your property is in Scotland, your property is in Wales or your property is in Northern Ireland.
• Capital allowances – businesses who are eligible can fully expense their plant and machinery costs and access 50% first-year allowances for special rate expenditure from April 2023 until 31 March 2026.
• Electric vehicle chargepoint and infrastructure grant guidance provides information on grants to help with the costs of purchase and installation for businesses, commercial and residential landlords, and in residential carparks and on-street parking.
• Energy Saving Trust’s ‘Transport for funding for businesses and local authorities’ for information on low carbon transport grants and loans available in the UK and Scotland.
• Gigabit vouchers give up to £1,500 for homes and £3,500 for businesses to install high speed internet in rural areas
• Green Economy allows SMEs to buy and sell low carbon products and services to other businesses.
• VAT will no longer be charged from 2022 to 2027 on some domestic energy saving measures in England, Scotland and Wales. Eligible measures include insulation, heat pumps, solar panels, wind turbines and more. In Northern Ireland, the list of qualifying goods and rate of VAT due on installations will remain unchanged. The Northern Ireland Executive will receive a Barnett share of the value of the relief until it can be introduced UK-wide.
• Workplace Charging Scheme gives businesses up to £350 per socket (up to a total of 40) to install electric vehicle chargepoints (apply before 31 March 2026)
• Wrap supports a voluntary agreement on food waste – the Courtauld Commitment 2030 – which enables collaborative action across the entire UK food chain to deliver farm-to-fork reductions in food waste, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and water stress that will help the UK food and drink sector achieve global environmental goals

You can also:

• use British Business Bank’s regions and nations funding guide for smaller businesses
• search GOV.UK’s list of active funds that help businesses become greener
• use the UK Research and Innovation’s list of business competitions that award grants for green projects
• ask the Federation of Small Businesses or your local chamber for advice

These support schemes and networks are available in England:

• The Boiler Upgrade Scheme gives £7,500 grants towards the cost of an air source heat pump or a ground source heat pump (including water source heat pumps and those on shared ground loops), or £5,000 towards a biomass boiler
• Environmental Land Management GOV.UK schemes provide funds for sustainable farming practices and land recovery
• Local growth hubs in the Business Board Network’s supported Growth Hub Network provide advice on funding, growth and sustainability in 38 regions across England

These support schemes and networks are available in Northern Ireland:

Invest Northern Ireland offers advice on how to operate more efficiently. Support includes:

• consultancy for energy and waste management strategies and recommendations
• resource matching service to manage waste and reduce costs
• investment funding for energy saving equipment

These support schemes and networks are available in Scotland:

• Business Energy Scotland gives SMEs access to consulting, loans (up to £100,000) and grants (up to £20,000) for energy efficiency and renewable heat measures.
• Energy Investment Fund offers loans and investments for commercial and community-based low carbon energy projects.
• Find Business Support gives customers an overview of all funding and services offered by public sector organisations across Scotland.
• NESTRANS Sustainable Travel Scheme gives SMEs and community organizations up to £10,000 in matching funds for sustainable transport initiatives – must be based in Aberdeen or Aberdeenshire.
• Private Rented Sector Landlord Loans lets property management businesses borrow up to £15,000 for energy efficiency and £17,000 for renewable systems – interest and fees apply.
• SME Loan Scheme – Business Energy Scotland offers interest-free loans from £1,000 to £100,000 to pay for energy efficiency and carbon reducing upgrades – up to £30,000 can be provided as a grant if installing eligible equipment.
• Vehicle retrofits and safe disposal of non-compliant vehicles funds are available from Energy Saving Trust – must be a SME with 9 employees or less and located within 20km of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen or Dundee.

These support schemes and networks are available in Wales:

• The Boiler Upgrade Scheme gives £7,500 grants towards the cost of an air source heat pump or a ground source heat pump (including water source heat pumps and those on shared ground loops), or £5,000 towards a biomass boiler.
• Business Wales is a government-funded organisation that offers specialist sustainability support in regional centres.
• The Green Business Loan Scheme is delivered through the Development Bank of Wales. It offers incentivised funding packages to support to businesses in Wales looking to invest in going green. There is also consultancy support offered through Business Wales.

These support schemes and networks are available in the East of England:

• East Suffolk UK Shared Prosperity Fund aims to provide small grants to local SME businesses to become more environmentally sustainable and energy efficiency grants.
• Net Zero Business Advisor Service – free advice for Suffolk-based businesses is provided by a team of expert and impartial advisors. Support matches the business needs and covers everything from carbon reduction plans to accessing funding, and is highlighted alongside Suffolk County Council’s Climate Change Commercial Ask.

These support schemes and networks are available in East Midlands:

• Grants4Growth for the South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership area, consisting of the 3 districts of Boston, East Lindsey and South Holland, has secured over £2m of UKSPF funding to deliver practical business support to local companies. The Grants4Growth project, launched in early July 2023, will support local businesses to invest in their future, awarding both capital and revenue grants to Small & Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) looking to growth.
• UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) Business Sustainability Grant for North Lincolnshire supports businesses in reducing their energy related overheads while also seeking to reduce the regions CO2 emissions as a direct result. Businesses must be based within North Lincolnshire. The maximum grant per business is £5,000 and the minimum grant per business is £500.
• University of Derby’s Invest to Grow programme gives grants and loans from £15,000 to £250,000 to B2B companies in the East Midlands that create jobs in different sectors, including low carbon.
• Visit Peak District and Derbyshire has links to grants from local authorities and UK Shared Prosperity Fund Business Grants.

These support schemes and networks are available in Greater London:

• Better Futures+ provides up to £1,000 in free business support for London-based businesses with at least two full-time employees and turnover between £100,000 and £43 million.
• Brent Business Climate Charter – as part of the Brent Business Climate Charter, participating organisations can gain 6 month’s free access to Climate Essentials’ online tool to measure your energy usage and carbon emissions (first come first served).
• Greater London Investment Fund offers loans from £100,000 to £1M to limited company SMEs – repayment term is 3 to 5 years and interest rates vary.
• Heart of the City helps SMEs with the fundamentals of net zero, measuring carbon footprints, setting targets and disclosing progress. They have a free climate action toolkit, and in-depth course that’s free if you have less than 250 based in, or with more than 50% of your operations in the Square Mile, or you’re an SME supplier or tenant of the City of London Corporation.

These support schemes and networks are available in North East England:

• Durham’s North East Business Support Fund gives SMEs up to £3,200 in matching funds for business improvements.
• Northumberland’s North East Business Support Fund gives SMEs up to £2,800 in matching funds for business improvements.
• North of Tyne Growth Fund gives SMEs up to 30% in matching funds when they plan to invest at least £67,000 in premises improvements and other capital costs. Must be located in Newcastle, North Tyneside or Northumberland.
• Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland’s Business Energy Saving Team (BEST) offers free advice, energy efficiency audits and grant support to help SMEs to reduce energy use and costs.

These support schemes and networks are available in North West England:

• Chamber Low Carbon gives SMEs free ‘1-2-1’ consulting to improve energy efficiency and develop low carbon products. Must be based in Lancashire.
• Cheshire West’s UKSPF Business Support Programme is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, supported by Cheshire West and Chester Council and 4 delivery partners. The ‘Let’s Talk Business’ programme aims to support Cheshire West and Chester businesses to increase productivity by creating the conditions for businesses to start-up, scale-up and innovate and building a stronger business base. The UKSPF Business Support Programme is a mix of support activities, 121 guidance and grants for eligible businesses.
• Eco-I North West offers SMEs R&D funding, capital grants and collaboration with universities to help transition to a low carbon economy – must be located in Cumbria, Lancashire, Liverpool City Region, Cheshire & Warrington or Greater Manchester.
• GC Business Growth Hub provides fully funded resource efficiency support to SMEs located in Greater Manchester.

These support schemes and networks are available in South West England:

• Clean Growth UK (South West Hub) offers SMEs funding, coaching and grant application support.
• Decarbonisation Programme provides fully-funded sustainability consulting, including calculating your organisation’s carbon footprint, for SMEs applying in South Hams, West Devon and Teignbridge.
• Forest Business Climate Charter provides an opportunity for Forest of Dean businesses to take action on the climate emergency, learn strategies to reduce emissions, and get information on funding and grants.
• Low Carbon Dorset gives SMEs with free technical advice for energy efficiency and renewable energy project ideas – must be located in the Dorset and BCP Council areas.
• Low Carbon Devon gives SMEs access to research, business support, free events and fully funded internships – must be located in the Devon area.
• Wiltshire towns small business energy efficiency: fully funded business energy efficiency surveys for SMEs in a qualifying towns to help SMEs in 22 towns across Wiltshire to decarbonise and save money.

These support schemes and networks are available in West Midlands:

• Agri-tech Growth and Resources for Innovation (AGRI) gives SMEs free innovation support from experts at local universities – must be located in the Marches region.
• Business Energy Advice Service (BEAS) is offering 4000 free energy assessments to small businesses across the West Midlands, including Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton, as well as Worcestershire and the Marches, Warwickshire and Stoke and Staffordshire. The assessments will provide recommendations for energy reduction, helping to reduce costs.
• Energy & Bioproducts Research Institute (EBRI) gives SMEs expert advice and research support to develop low carbon products and services.
• GrowAgri gives SMEs 12 hours of expert support to adapt products for the horticulture and agriculture sectors – must be located in Worcestershire.
• Low Carbon Opportunities Programme (LoCOP) – gives SMEs free energy assessments and matching grants up to £100,000 to install renewable energy systems – must be located in Worcestershire.
• Net Zero Worcestershire support and grants – Worcestershire County Council offers free assessments and gran funding to help businesses save energy and reduce carbon and develop low carbon technologies.
• Sustainability West Midlands offers support and funding sustainable business on their regional hub.
• West Midlands Innovation Programme provides targeted support to SMEs to access more national innovation funding.

These support schemes and networks are available in Yorkshire and the Humber:

• UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) in South Yorkshire – If your business is based in Sheffield, contact Sheffield City Council’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund Low Carbon Project. If your business is based in Barnsley, contact Enterprising Barnsley. If you are based in Doncaster, contact Business Doncaster (phone: 01302 735555 email: info@businessdoncaster.com). If your business is based in Rotherham, contact Rotherham Investment and Development Office (phone: 01709 331111 email: info@rotherham.gov.uk).