Finance, Funding and Grants in South Derbyshire

Grants are targeted at smaller businesses, helping them to increase productivity, purchase equipment, introduce new processes or techniques, start or grow their exports, or introduce new products or services.

Grants of between £1,000 and £50,000 can be applied for. The grant will only pay for part of the cost of the project, the remainder must be funded by the applicant business. There is a minimum total project cost of £1,250 with a requirement for at least a 20% contribution from the applicant business. Applicants must demonstrate that the grant investment will contribute to the desired outcomes, a list of which can be found on the website.

Eligibility: Small businesses that have been trading over 1 year. Full details, including eligible activities and organisations can be found in the Guidance document online.

Website: https://www.southderbyshire.gov.uk/our-services/business-and-investment/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-grants-and-programmes

Tel: 01283 595755

Email: [email protected].      

The grant scheme is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK Government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information visit:  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus

The South Derbyshire Community Grant Fund Scheme is backed by part of the Council’s allocation of Shared Prosperity Funding and Rural England Prosperity monies. It is aimed at community and voluntary groups, third sector and not for profit organisations delivering community facilities, projects and initiatives in South Derbyshire. 

Capital grants of between £2,000 and £25,000 are available (up to 80% of total project costs) with a minimum project cost of £2,500. Match funding of 20% is required.

Applicants must demonstrate that their project meets one or more of the Shared Prosperity Fund outcomes and further information including a Guide to the Criteria, Application Process and Conditions of Funding is available on the Community Grants section of the Council’s website.

Eligibility: Trading community and voluntary groups, third sector and not for profit organisations delivering community facilities, projects, and initiatives in South Derbyshire. Applications from Community Interest Companies (CICs) will be considered if all activities, as well as distribution of surplus, can be shown to be for community benefit.Further eligibility online.

Website:  https://www.southderbyshire.gov.uk/our-services/crime-and-community-safety/community-grants

Closing Date: Open rolling application process until the 31 December 2024 or until all funding has been allocated.

Email: Once you have checked your eligibility and read the Guidance document, you can request an application form by email:   [email protected]

A package of support for those looking to start a business or grow one they have started within the last year.  You could access free, 1:1 business advice, networking opportunities and potential grant funding of up to £10,000 (50% of eligible project costs).  The funding can support activities such as:

- ICT infrastructure
- Tools/machinery
- Monitoring/measuring apparatus
- Website
- Marketing materials
- Event stands and associated costs – travel
- Business cards/stationery
- Start-up equipment
- Relocation/fit-out costs (not moving transport costs)
- Improving/extending premises (subject to planning permission)
- Activities that support new ways of working.
- Specialised training required to develop the business

For further details and to express your interest, please email the team who will get back in touch with you to discuss the support available.

Eligibility: Available for businesses who have been trading for less than 12 months or people who are looking to start a business. The scheme is particularly interested in helping entrepreneurs based in Derbyshire, as well as those aged between 17 and 30, or people who are aged over 50 and who lost their jobs or livelihoods during COVID.

Website: https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/business/support-advice/vision-derbyshire/vision-derbyshire-business-support.aspx

E-mail: [email protected] 

Made Smarter East Midlands will provide advice and support to manufacturing businesses on how to switch to advanced and automated technologies. The programme provides digital transformation road mapping, leadership development, grant funding (up to £20,000) and access to industrial digital technology expertise to help with implementation until 31st March 2025.

Eligibility: Available for trading manufacturing businesses in the East Midlands.

Website: https://www.madesmarter.uk/adoption/in-my-region/east-midlands/

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund II offers commercially focussed finance through Small Business Loans, Debt Finance, Proof of Concept and Equity Finance funds. 

For more information on the types of loans available, go to the following links:

Small Business Loans - from £25,000 - £100,000
Smaller Loans - British Business Bank (british-business-bank.co.uk)

Debt Finance - Business loans from £100,000 - £2 million
Debt Finance - British Business Bank (british-business-bank.co.uk)

Equity Finance - Later stage equity finance up to £5 million
Equity Finance - British Business Bank (british-business-bank.co.uk)

Eligibility: Available for businesses that have begun trading.

Main website: https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/nations-and-regions-investment-funds/midlands-engine-investment-fund-ii-meif-ii/

If you are looking for funding then Key Fund may be able to help.

Providing tailored grants and loans to support the development and growth of new and existing social enterprise activity in the North of England. Funding can be used to support revenue or capital costs, including bridging facilities, capital purchases, cashflow, refurbishment costs, running costs, set-up costs, and wages.

They also deliver bespoke workshops and one-to-one support.

Eligibility: Available for businesses that have begun trading but you must be a registered/incorporated company providing positive social or environmental impact. The fund can not support sole traders or partnerships of individuals. Applicants must have already approached a commercial lender and been refused, prior to submitting a proposal.

Website: https://thekeyfund.co.uk/

Tel: 0330 202 0559

E-mail: [email protected]

Medilink Midlands provides support to companies in the life sciences sector to help them form partnerships, secure grant funding, develop new products and services and share ideas.

Eligibility: Less than 250 employees and/or less than €50million annual turnover, are working in, or looking to work in, life sciences, have business premises located in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire or the South East Midlands or are thinking about moving into the area.

Website: https://www.medilinkmidlands.com/business-support-programme-overview/

Invest to grow offer a mix of loans and grants according to the needs of the business - for around 30% of the cost of investment to help create long-term sustainable job growth.

The minimum award is £15k, so the minimum project cost is likely to be £50k. The maximum award size is 250k. Invest to Grow is a fund of last resort. Projects will need to demonstrate that other avenues of support and funding have been explored and why Invest to Grow funding is vital to the project going ahead.

Eligibility: Available to businesses trading over 24 months in the following sectors; food & drink manufacturing, transport equipment manufacturing, life sciences, construction, logistics, low carbon, technology, and creative industries. 

Website: https://www.derby.ac.uk/business-services/funding/access-to-funding/

Tel: 01332 597 907

E-mail: [email protected]

Loans range from £500 up to £150,000, as part of accessing a loan business support and aftercare is provided. Loans are only available to those who may otherwise struggle to raise funding through a traditional bank loan. 

Eligibility: Businesses must be trading for 18 months and able to contribute a minimum of 30% of the value of the loan. The business must demonstrate either job creation or safeguarding.

Website: http://www.first-enterprise.co.uk/business-loans/

Tel: 0345 602 7355

E-mail: [email protected]

A UK-wide, government-backed initiative financed through British Business Bank, providing loans for people starting a new business or have been trading for less than 3 years. Loans range from £500 to £25,000 with a fixed interest rate of 6% over 1-5 years. The scheme also offers 12 months of mentoring for successful loan applicants.

- The scheme is open to those over the age of 18 at the time of application

- Applicants must live in the UK. They must also have the right to remain in the UK for the duration of the loan term and the right to be self-employed.

- Applicants should be unable to access alternative finance for starting a business elsewhere.

- As part of the application process, a credit check will take place. Applicants with recent defaults or poor credit histories should check with a credit reference agency to ensure their records are up to date before applying.

Eligibility: https://www.startuploans.co.uk/faqs-2/eligibility/

Website: https://www.startuploans.co.uk/

Tel:0344 264 2600

E-mail: [email protected]

Start Up Loans also offers the below products through the listed dedicated providers.

Sharia compliant finance
The Start Up Loans Company provides a Sharia compliant investment product. This is provided through the Financing Startup Enterprise Group.
https://www.startuploans.co.uk/sharia-compliant-finance/
Tel: 0330 056 2528 

Creative Businesses
The Start Up Loans company provides loans specifically for the creative sector. This is provided through Creative England.
https://www.wearecreative.uk/investment/
Apply via the website.

Ex-service personnel
For military spouses & partners, reservists, cadets and children of forces personnel with entrepreneurial ambition.
Website: https://www.x-forces.com/
Tel:0800 368 9533
E-mail: [email protected]

Is your business over 12 months old and looking to grow? The Government's new Help to Grow programme could help.

The scheme offers decision-makers and senior managers access to a 12 week programme, designed to be manageable alongside full-time work. It combines a practical curriculum with 1:1 mentoring, peer-learning and alumni networking. Participants are enabled to develop their skills in areas such as financial management, innovation and digital adoption, working towards a tailored business growth plan to lead their business to its full potential.

Delivered by leading business schools across the UK, the programme is 90% subsidised by the government, with participants contributing £750. Some business schools delivering the Help to Grow Management programme are providing bursaries of £750 - more information is available directly from the business schools.

Eligibility: Available for limited companies who have been trading over 12 months with between 5-249 employees. If your business employs between 10 and 249 people, you can send up to two participants on the course. For more information, please read the FAQs.

Website: https://smallbusinesscharter.org/help-to-grow-management/


As well as this scheme, you can find more information and support resources for starting and growing a business on the Government's Help to Grow campaign website: https://helptogrow.campaign.gov.uk/

Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme is an equity scheme aimed at small riskier, early stage UK companies willing to hand over equity in their business in exchange for capital funding. It is designed to boost economic growth in the UK by promoting new enterprise and entrepreneurship. You can raise a maximum of £250,000 through SEIS.

The following criteria must be met by the company in order to be eligible and remain SEIS compliant:

- Must be established in the UK
- Must be fully independent (has not been controlled by another company since their date of incorporation)
- Must not be a member of a partnership
- Does not control another company unless that company is a qualifying subsidiary
- Must be unquoted before beginning SEIS (not listed on any major stock exchange)
- Has no arrangements to become a quoted company or a subsidiary of one at the time of the share issue
- Must be operating in a qualifying trade
- Must have fewer than 25 full-time equivalent employees when the shares are issued
- Must not have gross assets over £350,000 when the shares are issued

Website: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-apply-to-use-the-seed-enterprise-investment-scheme 

E-mail: [email protected]

Advanced Learner Loan helps with the costs of a college or training course. The course must have started on or after 1 August 2016 and be an eligible Level 3, 4, 5, or 6 courses, e.g. A-Levels or graduate certificate. Information about how to apply can be found here. The loan, which must be paid back, doesn't depend on income and there are no credit checks.

If you’re studying a Level 3 qualification, you might be eligible for an ‘Adult Education Budget’ grant instead of an Advanced Learner Loan. If you get a grant, you do not need to repay it. Ask your college or training provider about grants before you apply for a loan.

There is also a bursary fund; you may be eligible for support from the Advanced Learner Loan Bursary Fund for help with learning or living costs, e.g. childcare, accommodation expenses, course materials, a support assistant for learners with a disability or learning difficulty.

Applications for the bursary are made directly to the college or training provider and can be applied for as soon as you have received your confirmation letter of the Advanced Learner Loan. In some cases, money from the fund may have to be paid back.

In regards to making repayments if you are an employee, your employer will work out the repayments due and deduct them from your salary (with prior agreement). If you are self-employed you can make repayments as part of your self-assessment tax return. Additional repayments can be made at any time without an extra charge.

To support employees who wish to undertake professional development, employers can elect to make voluntary payments for part or the whole of the loan amount, on behalf of their employees. Employers can also make individual agreements with their employees about loan repayments. In either case, employers are urged to take their own independent advice on how the tax rules apply to them and their employees and any consequences of potential payments that they may make for their employees.

There are no upfront fees for this facility and you will only have to start repaying the loan the April after your course ends - details of Plans and income thresholds can be found here (though you can choose to start paying before this without any penalties). Speak to your preferred college for information on whether the course that you will be studying is eligible and which Plan you will be on when you start repayments.

Website: https://www.gov.uk/advanced-learner-loan

BGF invests in a range of companies, from earlier stage SMEs of £1m revenues, to those with £100m+ revenues, and across all sectors. Investments provided range  are a mix of equity and loan notes for growth and/or cash out to existing shareholders. Initial investments are between £1m and £20m.

The BGF works with companies that have realistic expansion plans, offering a collaborative approach to financing growth, working closely with the companies in which they invest.

Website: https://www.bgf.co.uk/

Regional telephone numbers and online contact form: https://www.bgf.co.uk/contact/

UK Export Finance (UKEF) is the UK’s export credit agency. It is like a government bank or insurer specifically for exports. Its ambition is to make sure no viable export from the UK should fail for want of finance or insurance from the private sector.

UKEF helps firms of all sizes access the finance and insurance needed to realise their export ambitions through:

• free and independent guidance on sources of export finance

• the release of working capital with bank guarantees for contract bonds or credit facilities

• security of payment with export credit insurance

• competitive finance for overseas buyers with buyer credit guarantees or direct loans

The amounts and terms of support available depend on the risk involved. UKEF works with exporters, project sponsors, banks and buyers.

Website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-export-finance

Find an Export Finance Manager website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/find-an-export-finance-manager

Overseas Investment Insurance guide: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/overseas-investment-insurance

E-mail: [email protected] 

General Tel: +44 (0)20 7271 8010

Innovate UK is the UK’s innovation agency and works with companies and partner organisations to find and drive the science and technology innovations that will grow the UK economy.

They do this by offering loans, grants, competitions, and access to academic resources and support via Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, Innovate UK Business Connect, and Catapult Centres.

They have also produced the good application guide to help you prepare your best funding application.

Website: https://www.ukri.org/councils/innovate-uk/

Funding website: https://apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk/competition/search

Tel: 0300 321 4357

E-mail: [email protected]

The data analytics innovation vouchers are provided by the Business and Local Government Data Research Centre. This grant-funded scheme enables organisations to work with international data analytics researchers in order to address the key challenges faced.

In addition to grant-funded research projects, the Centre also provides funded data analytics training, workshops, networking events and webinars. To keep up to date on the latest opportunities please follow the Centre on their social media channels.

Eligibility: Micro, small or medium-sized businesses, local authorities and the wider public sector, charities or not-for-profit organisations.

Website: https://www.essex.ac.uk/centres-and-institutes/business-and-local-government-data/data-analytics-innovation-vouchers

Find out more via the website or contact the Outreach and Publicity Officer directly via email: [email protected] to arrange a consultation.

The Momentum Music Fund offers grants of £5k-£15k for artists/bands to break through to the next level of their careers. Activities eligible for support include recording, touring and marketing. The fund is open to applications from artists and bands in the UK that are at a crucial point in their development, with the potential to significantly further their career within the next two years. Applications can be submitted by the artists themselves or those who are working on their behalf, e.g. a manager, an independent label or publisher.

Funding can be used for:

- Recording – new album, EP, single, producer, engineer, mixer fees, studio hire, session musician fees, etc.

- Touring (UK only) – travel, accommodation, musician fees, set/production design, tour management, equipment hire, etc.

- Marketing and promotions – online PR, radio plugger, digital marketing, music videos, merchandise production, etc.

Closing date: There are 4 application rounds per year, closing at 6pm on the dates listed here 

Website: https://prsfoundation.com/funding-support/funding-music-creators/next-steps/ppl-momentum-music-fund/

E-mail: [email protected]

Are you looking to access finance for your business? You may want to consider Crowdfunding.

Crowdfunding is a method of getting finance by sourcing small amounts from a large number of people, rather than getting large amounts from one or a few. Its platforms host fundraisers’ pitches and allows the transfer of money directly from the funders to the fundraiser. 

Some level of vetting is usually made before allowing pitches on the platforms, and fees are charged to either the fundraiser, funder, or to both.

Not all crowdfunders are regulated by the FCA. Some are regulated by their association codes of conduct. There is an element of risk involved in dealing with any organisation that is not regulated by the FCA to offer finance products. To find out more go to https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/crowdfunding

There are several types of crowdfunding platforms that you can consider, which usually depend on the stage and the sector of your business. Take a look at the British Business Bank information on equity crowdfunding: https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/finance-hub/equity-crowdfunding/, and peer-to-peer lending: https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/finance-hub/peer-to-peer-lending/ for the pros and cons of using these platforms.