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Posted: Wed 15th Jul 2026
Last updated: Wed 15th Jul 2026
14 min read
Business grants are one of the most sought-after finance options for any UK business looking for funding.
Awarded by the government, large companies and charities, grants provide financial support that doesn't need to be repaid.
Our grant guide explains how to find and apply for grants that can help your small business.
Understanding what types of grant providers exist will help shape your approach and save you time.
Central government: Larger grants that are more complicated and time-consuming to apply for. Government funding is mainly aimed at giving businesses an incentive to invest in specific technologies or areas with particular impact.
Local and regional governments: A mix of large and small grants, with a fairly rigorous application process. They tend to focus on supporting local economic development and the process is less competitive.
Charities: Small to medium-sized grants to support underrepresented groups or positive activities that might not otherwise be economically viable. Grants often come with additional support.
Large companies: A wide range of grants with intentions that range from supporting female entrepreneurs to promoting innovation. The application process tends to be the least competitive.
Well-known grant programmes are highly competitive. In an extreme example, it was reported that only 3.44% of Women in Innovation applicants were successful in getting access to finance.
However, regional pots of money and company competitions can be undersubscribed and take less time to apply for.
That means you need to find a balance between the size of grant and the likelihood of success, and the amount of time it takes.
The key is to make sure the grant is highly relevant to your situation.
Start by thinking about the types of business support that are available, so you can refine your search.
Most grants aim to support specific types of entrepreneurial activity by looking at the following:
Location: The city, region or country you’re based in.
Demographic: Support targeted at female and young entrepreneurs, and those from minority ethnic groups.
Innovation: Government innovation grants focus on companies investing in research and development (R&D) or commercialising specific technologies or challenge areas (for example, the government’s net zero target).
Purpose: The impact you want to make on the world, whether it’s societal or environmental.
Once you’ve thought about that, you can better understand which of the following organisations it’s worth contacting.
Applying for grants is time-consuming and the process is competitive, so make sure you fit the requirements.
Large companies often provide grants to small businesses to make a positive impact and promote their products.
There’s no central search for company grants, but we’ve listed some of the opportunities to keep an eye out for.
Who is it for? Small businesses.
We work with corporate partners to provide business support to our community, including offering grants.
Currently, there is one grant programme to apply for today.
Through our Powering Local Businesses programme with EDF, five businesses will each receive a £5,000 grant to help them make meaningful upgrades to their sustainability to save cash and carbon.
Plus five lucky business owners will win a workplace electric vehicle charger (including standard installation) from Pod.
Sign up to our email newsletter and be among the first to hear about the latest small business grants and opportunities for business support.
Who’s it for? Small businesses.
The insurance provider looks for small business owners who have a big dream to make a positive social impact to win its annual £25,000 grant.
The competition is closed at the moment, but you can sign up to get updates on the competition home page.
Who’s it for? Students, start-ups and small businesses.
Every year the bank provides grants to early-stage entrepreneurs. Shortlisted businesses take part in a pitching competition to compete for funding.
You can check if the competition is open and sign up for updates on the Santander X website.
Who is it for? Young people aged 18 to 30 who are starting new businesses.
The King's Trust aims to help young people aged 18 to 30 start and grow companies. It offers two main grants:
Start Up funding: Grants of up to £5,000 and a Start Up Loan of between £500 and £25,000 to help businesses launch.
Test My Business Idea Grant: Receive funding of up to £500 to explore your business idea.
Applicants need to be on the Trust’s Enterprise Programme, which offers lots of complementary support. You will need to demonstrate you’ve thoroughly researched your idea and have a robust business plan.
Who’s it for? Voluntary, Community, or Social Enterprise organisations that support people facing poverty, disadvantage or discrimination.
The Fund supports community projects that help people “connect, grow and build a better future”. You can search for grants on its Funding programmes page, examples include:
Fairer Life Chances: £20,001 to £500,000 grants for organisations in Scotland that support children, young people and families.
People and Places: £20,001 to £500,000 grants for organisations that work closely with people and communities in Wales.
Organisations like community interest and not-for-profit companies can apply (more details on the Fund’s criteria are available on its website).
Who’s it for? Social entrepreneurs.
UnLtd awards grants to social entrepreneurs, who it defines as people who are looking to start a social venture and driven by their passion to make a difference.
In particular, it’s trying to promote solutions to “loneliness, community resilience and our nation’s long term economic, social and cultural health”.
Its awards page lists the opportunities you can apply for and there are currently two active programmes:
Funding Futures Programme: Funds and supports people aged 16 to 30 with great ideas for “solutions to help those sidelined by the financial system”.
Millennium Awards Trust: Tailored grants offered to social entrepreneurs who are aged 16-plus and tackling a range of social issues.
Who is it for? Small businesses based in Wales.
Business Wales's Finance locator identifies relevant grant opportunities by asking questions about your business.
It highlights grants offered by the Welsh government, local councils and private companies like Barclays and Amazon.
Here are a number of examples of grants listed on Business Wales's Finance locator:
Blaenau Gwent - Kick Start Plus Grant: Grants of between £250 and £2,500 are available to businesses in the area to help them develop and expand.
Placemaking Property Improvement Grant: Funding is available for commercial property improvements that will regenerate certain areas.
Who is it for? Small businesses based in England.
Growth Hubs provide access to tailored business advice, online resources and “routes to funding”.
If you’re based in England, it’s a quick way to find local business support. Go to the Growth Hub homepage, search by postcode and check out your regional provider.
Individual hubs differ in the level of support they offer, but you can normally find a list of support programmes and funding opportunities.
It’s worth using your local hub’s consultation service if one’s offered – they’re normally great at signposting relevant support and funding.
Who is it for? Small businesses based in Scotland.
Use the Find business support in Scotland service to search for grants and support in the region.
The service lists lots of different types of support, including programmes and advice, but you can refine your search to Funding. Current opportunities include:
Circular Economy Accelerator Grants: Grants to help businesses develop new ways of working and get ahead in a circular economy.
Small Capital Grant: The funding will help cover capital investment costs for small and medium-sized businesses.
Who is it for? Pre-start and new companies and social enterprises based in Scotland.
It’s also worth having a look at Scottish Edge, which offers grants and loans from £10,000 to £150,000 to companies in the region through several funding competitions.
EDGE27 opens on 27 February 2026.
Northern Ireland also has a Business Support Finder that you can use to find support schemes.
You can filter the view by Support type to show the grants that are available, which currently include:
Arts Project Grant: A maximum grant of £1,000 for arts, community and special interest groups running community arts activities.
Tourism Large Events Fund 2026-27: Funding for event organisers.
While the services listed above will help you to find regional grant funding programmes, it’s also worth checking in with your local authority websites.
Find your local council using Gov.uk’s service and search their website for business support and funding schemes.
For example, the home page of Bristol City Council is advertising grants of up to £20,000 for sustainable travel.
The UK government offers grants to support specific regions, and to encourage companies focused on specific technology or challenges.
That means your business will have to be a specific, and often R&D-focused activity to benefit from the funding, which tends to be aimed at innovative companies.
The best place to start is the Find a grant service, which lists grants offered by different departments and government organisations.
Search for keywords around your sector, and key activities like exporting and manufacturing.
Here are a number of examples of small business grants available at the moment:
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is a non-departmental public body that invests £8 billion into research and innovation every year.
It works across fields ranging from biodiversity conservation to quantum computing – it’s a useful source of grants for businesses investing in R&D.
Use UKRI’s Funding finder to search for support relevant to your project.
Innovate UK is a research council that sits within UKRI. It’s well-known for providing grants to deep-tech startups, and running competitions like Women in Innovation.
Similar to UKRI’s wider remit, these grants are normally for companies investing in R&D and are highly competitive.
You can use its Innovation competitions search to find opportunities. Here are a number of examples:
DRIVE35 Innovation Fund: Demonstrate 2: Supporting R&D and the commercial scale up of innovative zero emission vehicle technologies.
Eureka GlobalStars Japan 2026: Funding to collaborate on industrial research projects with partners in Eureka member countries.
As you can see, these grants focus on innovative companies that are investing heavily in R&D. However, Innovate UK also runs:
Women in Innovation: Supporting female innovators with grants of up to £75K, tailored business support and training.
