Grants and funding

Grants and funding

We have put together some links to information about a variety of sources for financial support, whatever your business stage or needs. This list is not exhaustive: please contact the Business Support team if you are unable to find suitable sources as we may be able to signpost you to alternative funds or advice.

Start-Up Loans provide Government-backed personal loans for business purposes. They are available to individuals over the age of 18 who are eligible to start a business in the UK. Generally, loans of up to £25,000 are available at a fixed rate of interest and are repayable over 1 to 5 years.

Delivery partners

Delivery partners for the loans in the East of England are listed below. In addition to helping applicants prepare their business plan and cash flow forecast, the delivery partners are responsible for assessing final loan applications and providing ongoing mentoring support to successful applicants.

If you are currently claiming Universal Credit and would like to set up your own business, Jobcentre Plus can provide advice and support to help you start a business. 

Grants and loans for your business

Better Business Finance provides impartial information and support to businesses and entrepreneurs looking to develop and grow including a searchable database of business finance providers. 

The British Business Bank’s Finance Hub offers independent information on finance options for scale-up, high growth and potential high growth businesses. It also provides information and advice to help companies to get investor ready.

The East of England Regional Growth Loan Scheme, supported by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, is available to established, incorporated businesses bases that have a minimum annual turnover of £100k, show strong growth potential and have a medium to long-term funding requirement to deliver that growth.

The Fredericks Foundation provide loans to start up and existing social enterprises and charities.

The Government provides an in-depth online database of information about grants, loans and other financial assistance available to businesses in the UK. 

Alongside fully funded growth consultancy, Growth Works offers up to 50% match funding to help businesses accelerate their growth, with no set maximum. This investment gives businesses the opportunity to benefit from subsidised fees for external professional services or invest in capital purchases.

There are a number of funding programmes available to support housing-led developments through a partnership with Homes England.

Let’s Do Business Finance is a Responsible Finance provider and a leading provider of business advice, business loans, access to other finance, training, and business events across the South East and East of England.

NatWest Rapid Cash provides an alternative to overdrafts, offering businesses an opportunity to access capital waiting in unpaid invoices. Eligibility criteria applies. 

Creative UK offers loans to creative, digital small and medium-sized businesses at competitive rates to finance business growth. 

The Arts Council's National Lottery Project Grants focuses on supporting arts, libraries and museum projects.

The Arts & Culture Impact Fund is a new £20 million social impact investment fund for the UK’s arts, culture and heritage social enterprises. The fund offers loans to organisations in the arts, cultural or heritage sector of between £150,000 and £1 million, repayable over a period of up to 10 years.

The KEEP+ programme helps eligible small and medium-sized enterprises to develop new products or services in collaboration with universities, research institutes and the best graduate talent. 

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) offers funding and support across all academic disciplines and industrial areas from the medical and biological sciences to astronomy, physics, chemistry and engineering, social sciences, economics, environmental sciences, and the arts and humanities.

Our Climate Emergency Toolkit pages have lots of advice and guidance to help businesses, communities and individuals reduce their carbon emissions and reduce waste. There is also information about available grants, funding and incentives.

Almost £5 billion of Government funding is available to help UK businesses become greener, as part of the government’s commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

Community Energy England lists details of a wide range of funding opportunities relevant to community energy organisations. 

The Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund’s clean growth challenges are maximising the advantages from a global shift to clean growth. They are doing this by supporting the development, manufacture and use of low-carbon technologies, systems and services. 

The Low Carbon Innovation Fund (LCIF) provides equity finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the East of England that are contributing to the low carbon economy.

The Workplace Charging Scheme is a voucher-based scheme designed to provide eligible applicants with support towards the upfront costs of the purchase and installation of EV charge points. The contribution is limited to 75% of purchase and installation costs. It covers up to a maximum of £350 for each socket, and up to a maximum of 40 sockets across all sites, for each applicant.

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