Renée’s round-up of grants and funding - March

I’m often asked what funding is available. I share this blog but I often ask my own question back : “do you mean funding or finance?”

There is grant funding around, but realistically not very much, and it’s often focused on projects and specific outcomes rather than covering day to day operational costs. If you’re a business caught in the chicken and egg scenario of investing (aka spending) to grow then it can be a tricky place. I often signpost people to the British Business Bank who offer guidance on what finance options there are as well as managing the Start-Up Loan Scheme for any business in the 1st 3 years of trading. So if you are looking for finance to grow your business they are well worth looking at for advice.

Things are always moving with funded support programmes so keep an eye out for my monthly updates. Good luck, and let me know how you get on!

Renée

Surrey High Street Growth and Innovation Programme

This High Street Programme will support hundreds of small and medium businesses in Surrey’s town and villages throughout Spring 2026. It covers all corners of Surrey with dedicated sessions in 22 locations across all 11 district and boroughs in Surrey.

It offers free, practical and locally tailored support across Surrey high streets including:

Tailored support
In-person business engagement
Free practical workshops
Business toolkits and resources

Last Workshop: 8 April 2026
Find out more: Surrey High Street Growth and Innovation Programme

Made Smarter South East

Made Smarter South East is a government-funded programme created to drive growth amongst the South East’s manufacturing SMEs and makers. The Made Smarter team will provide advice and support to manufacturers and makers to:

help them switch to advanced and automated technologies
identify the right technologies and tools
and use them to make everyday improvements to your business.

Support elements include:

Match-funding of up to £20,000 (50% is available)
Expert advice, guidance and support
Bespoke digital roadmap for your business
Leadership training
Workforce training
Fully-funded student internship (up to 300 hours).

The programme is open to SME manufacturers and makers based in the South East. In order to be eligible businesses must have fewer than 250 employees and not be part of a wider group, or be funded by Private Equity, with a turnover below £44 million, and not have received state aid of more than £315,000 over the last three years.

Closing date: 31 March 2027
Find out more: Made Smarter South East: funding & support for manufacturers

The Small & Mighty Enterprise Programme

This 6 week programme for sole traders and micro businesses, concludes with a plan to support the next year of business growth. It will be delivered entirely online.

What does the course include?

Inclusion in an exclusive, supportive community to ask and answer questions, access experts and teachers, share experiences and network with other small businesses.

Live weekly sessions recorded and available on a private Small Business Britain website available exclusively to course participants.

Weekly worksheets to embed learning outcomes accessible on the private website hub, developed by each week’s expert trainers.

Development of an Action Plan: a twelve-month plan to grow and flourish with support of expert mentors.

1 hour of 1-2-1 and group mentoring over the six weeks from expert mentors around the UK.

Start date: 26 March 2026
Find out more: Small Business Britain | Champion. Inspire. Accelerate.

CVC DIF-Allia Accelerator Challenge

The CVC DIF-Allia Accelerator Challenge is open to UK-based impact-driven startups and social enterprises seeking to scale their activities. The six-month programme provides structured support aimed at strengthening commercial development and long-term growth.

Participants receive expert mentorship, coaching and tailored guidance to refine their business models. This includes testing assumptions with users, developing a clear impact narrative and preparing for expansion. The programme concludes with a Pitch Day, where selected ventures present their progress. As part of the initiative, participants can compete for a share of up to £50,000. This financial support is intended to help organisations advance to the next stage of development following completion of the programme.

The challenge is open to startups and social enterprises operating in the UK with a proven concept and evidence of early traction. Applicants are expected to be generating revenue or preparing to raise seed investment. Support provided through the programme can be used to strengthen commercial strategy, validate products or services and build readiness for growth and investment.

Closing date: 31 March 2026

Find out more: CVC DIF–Allia Accelerator Challenge

IOSH Certificate in Managing Occupational Health and Wellbeing

How good are you at spotting signs of stress in your team?

Build a healthier, happier and more resilient workforce with free accredited training for your business, fully funded by the Department for Work & Pensions.

Study online, in a virtual classroom, or at 12 regional centres to gain your IOSH Certificate in Managing Occupational Health and Wellbeing. There are 5,000 free course places available until 31 March 2026 for qualifying SMES.

Closing date: 31 March 2026

Find out more: ttps://lets-crack-on.com

SNPN 5G Assured Integration (CR&D) Competition

Innovate UK has opened the SNPN 5G Assured Integration Competition to support collaborative research and development addressing system level integration challenges in advanced connectivity.

The competition aims to enable UK based components to be combined into complete, secure and operable end-to-end systems suitable for early market evaluation. Work supported includes non-recurring engineering, interoperability testing and verification needed to integrate multi-vendor Core, RAN and supporting hardware or software components.

Projects must integrate UK anchored advanced connectivity components across Core, RAN, hardware or software layers. Engagement with potential end users or adopters is expected to ensure solutions reflect operational needs.

Up to £18.5 million has been allocated for industrial research. Individual projects can request between £2 million and £4 million in grant support, with no single organisation able to claim more than £3 million.

Applications must be collaborative. The lead applicant must be a UK registered organisation and may be a business, academic institution, research and technology organisation, charity, not for profit organisation or public sector body. Partners must also be UK registered and drawn from similar organisation types.

Closing date: 1 April 2026 (11:00)

Find out more: ttps://lets-crack-on.com

Farming Innovation Programme

Defra, in collaboration with Innovate UK, is providing support through the Farming Innovation Programme for farmers, growers and foresters in England preparing Full ADOPT Grant submissions. The scheme is intended to improve application quality and encourage wider participation in innovation-related funding.

The support is aimed at individuals interested in on-farm trials or experiments that test new or emerging solutions in agriculture, horticulture or agri-forestry. Funding will be used to engage an external Project Facilitator to assist in developing Full ADOPT Grant applications.

Projects must address a clear challenge or opportunity on-farm or immediately post-farmgate. They should aim to enhance productivity, sustainability or resilience, including support for net zero farming practices. Proposals must also show how findings will be relevant to others in the sector and tested under real-world conditions.

Up to £100,000 has been allocated for the scheme. Grants of £2,500 will be made available to successful applicants. Eligible applicants must be active farming, growing or forestry businesses based in England and able to demonstrate that they are established, including sole traders. Only single applicants may apply.

Closing date: 8 April 2026 @ 11:00
Find out more: Competition overview – ADOPT Facilitator Support Grant: Round 7 – Innovation Funding Service

The Stephen Lloyd Awards 2026

The Stephen Lloyd Awards support early-stage projects aiming to achieve social or environmental change in the UK.

Successful applicants will receive at least £25,000 in funding, alongside pro bono support from social enterprise mentors. Shortlisted candidates will be awarded up to £2,500 to develop their ideas and may also access expert guidance.

The funding aims to help ideas progress from concept to implementation. UK-registered organisations and charities, are eligible to apply. Proposals should address a problem systemically and can take various forms, including new enterprises, expansions of existing initiatives, lobbying efforts or policy change campaigns.

Closing date: 8 April 2026
Find out more: Stephen Lloyd Awards | Supporting Sustainable Social Change Ideas

2026 Diamond Education Grant

The Diamond Education Grant offers financial support to women seeking to enter or return to the workforce or transition into growing industries by gaining new skills.

The grant prioritises women facing significant financial need or barriers to employment, with an average award of around £1,000. Funding can be used for course fees or essential materials, such as books or equipment, but not for living expenses. Applications are open to women who are permanent residents in eligible Federation countries, which includes the UK. Preference will be given to applicants aged 30 and over.

Grants are available for courses taking place during the academic year from September 2026 to July 2027. The funding is intended for one year only, with vocational courses receiving priority.

Closing date: 15 April 2026
Find out more: Diamond Education Grant | SIGBI

The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses UK Programme

The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses UK programme is designed to provide high-quality, practical education and business support to leaders of high-growth small businesses and social enterprises across the country.

Participants in the fully funded programme identify and execute the steps necessary to enable them to scale their ventures, create employment and expand to new markets. Each participant develops a business growth plan throughout the course to implement back in their businesses. Eligibility criteria:

Business operating for at least three years
Have between 5 and 50 employees
Business should have turnover of at least 250,000 GBP in the previous financial year
Applicant should not have any recent management education
Applicant should be the primary owner or main decision-maker of the business

Closing date: April 2026
Find out more: UK | Goldman Sachs

Amazon Sustainability Accelerator

Early-stage businesses developing sustainable consumer goods can apply to join the Amazon Sustainability Accelerator, an equity-free programme designed to support innovation addressing environmental challenges.

The accelerator aims to help entrepreneurs develop skills and expand their businesses while improving the climate impact of their products. Each year the programme focuses on different sustainability areas including circular economy, recycling technology and sustainable consumer products.

One of the 2026 challenges is the Consumer Product Programme, which targets startups producing physical business-to-consumer goods. Eligible products must have recently launched or be close to entering the market and demonstrate measurable sustainability improvements. Examples include items made from recycled or upcycled materials, reusable everyday products, eco-friendly gadgets and technology, more sustainable clothing, shoes and accessories, and alternatives to plastic.

Selected participants will take part in a nine-week accelerator that includes workshops, mentoring and access to Amazon’s network. Businesses will receive a £10,000 cash grant, $10,000 in AWS Activate credits and a £1,500 travel grant. Additional support includes a climate impact assessment, guidance on selling through Amazon and an opportunity to present their business to investors during a London Demo Day.

Applicants must be brand owners and operate in the early stages of development. Businesses must also be registered in the United Kingdom, the European Economic Area or Switzerland.

Closing date: 17 April 2026

Find out more: Amazon Sustainability Accelerator: Maximise your Impact

Invention for Innovation (i4i)

The Invention for Innovation (i4i) THRIVE (Translate Healthcare Research through InnoVation and Entrepreneurship) funding and training programme funds early stage innovations which tackle health inequalities. This is a full researcher-led funding opportunity.

THRIVE supports clinicians and researchers to accelerate the translation of healthcare innovations tackling health inequalities from bench to bed, speed up patient benefit and concurrently expand the entrepreneurial mindset of researchers and clinicians.

THRIVE offers up to £150,000 over 9 months to support the development of a technology-based product or service, and a structured programme of entrepreneurial training, mentoring, peer support and networking. Through the programme the innovators will explore the market for their innovation and identify potential routes for commercialising (spin-out vs licensing) or sustaining their innovation (Intrapreneurship) and leave the programme with a plan to achieve their goals, a network of support and with the skills for the next steps of commercialisation.

Closing date: 17 April 2026 (13:00)
Find out more: i4i THRIVE – March 2026 | NIHR

Green Heat Network Fund

The UK Government has opened Round 11 of the Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF), a £288 million capital grant programme supporting the transition to low-carbon heat networks. The scheme funds technologies such as heat pumps, geothermal energy, and waste heat recovery to help reduce carbon emissions from heating systems.

Heat networks supply heat from a central source to multiple buildings, lowering reliance on individual gas boilers. The GHNF provides funding to public, private and third-sector organisations in England involved in developing heating and cooling networks.

Grants can cover up to, but not including, 50% of eligible commercialisation and construction costs, with a maximum of £1 million available for commercialisation support. Individual funding requests may be spread over multiple years.

Closing date: 1 May 2026 (23:59)
Find out more: Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF): Round 11 application guidance – GOV.UK

Materials Innovation Partnerships Grant

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is inviting applications for its Materials Innovation Partnerships Grant, which supports collaborative research between academic institutions and businesses. The grant is intended to advance materials research with potential for industrial use.

EPSRC has allocated up to £7.5 million for a minimum of four projects. Each project can receive £250,000, representing 80% of the full economic cost. The total full economic cost must be at least £312,500.

The initiative focuses on co-created and co-delivered research between industry and academia aimed at translating materials discoveries into practical applications. Projects must be led jointly by a primary academic partner eligible for EPSRC support, such as a UK university or research institute, and a primary business partner. The partners must have an established collaborative relationship of at least one year before applying.

Proposals must address one or more themes from the National Materials Innovation Strategy. These include materials for energy solutions, future healthcare, structural innovations, advanced surface technologies, next generation electronics telecommunications and sensors, and consumer products packaging and specialist polymers.

Closing date: 14 May 2026 (16:00)
Find out more: EPSRC Materials Innovation Partnerships – Innovate UK Business Connect

Business Boost Grants – Elmbridge

The business boost grants can help your business with:

Grant support up to £2,000 to help businesses improve their shop fronts or signage

Grant support up to £2,000 to help bring a shop that has been empty for at least 3 months back into commercial use
up to £1,000 to help town or village wide projects to drive new footfall, investment, street-scene improvements or sustainability.

All applications need at least 50% match funding and 2 quotes for each element.
Town and village centre independents can also apply for support to help sell online with the digital high street boost and small and medium sized business can get help to invest in energy efficiency projects with the green business boost.

Closing date: Applications can be made at any time.

Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme

Eligible adult social care employers in England can claim staff training costs from the Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme (LDSS). The LDSS is available for non-regulated care staff, including deputy and Care Quality Commission-registered managers and agency staff, within the adult social care workforce. Staff taking the training must be in qualifying roles.

Eligible ASC employers can claim funding for certain training courses and qualifications on behalf of eligible care staff. This funding is for eligible courses and qualifications that have been both paid for in financial year 2025 to 2026, as well as those paid for in financial year 2024 to 2025.

Closing date: When the fund is exhausted.
Find out more: Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme – GOV.UK

Business Support Grants – Reigate & Banstead

Business Support Grants of up to £1,000 for residents and businesses with fewer than 5 employees based in Reigate and Banstead.

Grants can be used to help fund things like marketing, new equipment or training. Please note the grant is NOT available for the development of prototypes or for IT equipment such as laptops, unless you are a brand new start up and do not possess any IT hardware.

Closing date: applications can be made at any time.
Find out more: Business Support Grants | Business Support Grants | Reigate and Banstead

Help to Grow: Management Course

The Help to Grow Management Course runs over 12 weeks and includes online and face-to-face sessions, 1-to-1 mentoring and peer networking. Whether you need to identify more efficient ways of working, target new markets, or create a plan to take your business and team to the next level, the Help to Grow Management Course will provide the knowledge and support you need.

To join the Help to Grow Management Course you should:

Work for a Small or Medium-sized Enterprise based in the United Kingdom
Employ between 5 and 249 employees
Be a member of the senior leadership team and have direct reports.

The full course is worth £7,500 but it is 90% government funded so small businesses pay just £750 per person. Our local Business Schools are Kingston University, Canterbury Christ Church University, University of Southampton, University of Brighton and Brunel University of London.

Closing date: Courses start at different times but applications can be made at any time.
Find out more: About the Help to Grow: Management Course | Small Business Charter

The Workplace Charging Scheme

The Workplace Charging Scheme provides support for organisations towards the cost of installing up to 40 electric vehicle chargepoint sockets at their sites.

The scheme covers up to 75% of the total costs of the purchase and installation of EV chargepoints (including VAT). This is capped at a maximum of:

£350 per socket
40 sockets across all sites per applicant. For example, if you install at 40 sites, you will have 1 socket per site

All chargepoints must be installed by an OZEV authorised installer.

Closing Date: extended to 31 March 2027

Find out more: Before you start

The Life Sciences Transformational R&D Investment Fund Pilot

The Life Sciences Transformational R&D Investment Fund Pilot is a £50 million capital grant programme supporting large-scale research and development projects within the UK life sciences sector. The fund aims to strengthen health resilience, drive innovation and deliver economic benefits through significant investments in research capacity, facilities and technologies.

Projects should demonstrate how they will enhance the UK’s ability to respond to health emergencies and long-term healthcare challenges, for example by expanding or creating R&D capacity, improving manufacturing processes, accelerating clinical research or deploying new technologies.

Closing Date: 31 March 2028 (23:59)

Find out more: Life Sciences Transformational R&D Investment Fund Pilot – GOV.UK

Surrey Hills Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) Grants

The FiPL programme provides grants to farmers and land managers in the Surrey Hills for one-off projects to make improvements to the natural environment, climate change mitigation, cultural heritage and public access on their land.

Closing date: Extended to March 2029

Find out more: Surrey Hills Farming in Protected Landscapes FiPL

Co-operative Enterprise Loans

Co-operative and Community Finance offers loans of between £10,000 and £85,000 for new or existing co-operatives across the UK. Loans are to assist with the expansion, setup, or development of a co-operative enterprise.  

Loans will only be made to economically viable enterprises that are democratically owned and controlled organisations registered in the UK.

Closing date: Applications can be made at any time

Find out more: Co-op Loan Fund – Unique lending: to co-ops, from co-ops

Greener Homes Alliance Development Loans

Homes England and Octopus Real Estate have launched the second phase of the Greener Homes Alliance. The scheme provides discounted development finance to small and medium-sized (SME) housebuilders. The initiative supports the construction of energy-efficient homes across England.

A total of £150 million is available. Loans range from £2 million to £20 million. Interest rate reductions of up to 2% are available for developers who meet environmental and social criteria. Eligible applicants include SME housebuilders and developers operating in England.