Finance, Funding and Grants in Lisburn and Castlereagh

There are two funding options available under the Acumen programme to fund an experienced and skilled sales resource to help businesses to identify new opportunities and win new sales in the cross-border market. The Acumen team will work closely with you to help you decide which option is most suitable for your business needs.

Full-time Resource option:
ITI will fund up to 50% of the cost of a full-time experienced sales resource for a period of 12 months. The objective is to help businesses to identify new opportunities and win sales in the cross-border market. The maximum cost that can be covered for a full-time resource is €43,124/£34,500 with Acumen funding up to €21,562/£17,250.

A full-time sales resource must be an individual directly employed by the business and not a contractual representative.

Part-time Resource option:
Acumen will fund up to 50% of the cost of a part-time sales resource for a 6–12 month period.

The maximum cost that can be covered is up to €11,500/£9,200.

A part-time sales resource can be an individual directly employed by the business or alternatively a contractual representative e.g., an experienced sales agent, consultant or a lead generation company.

Eligibility: Available for businesses with a minimum of 18-24 months trading and are able to demonstrate that business has less than 30% of total sales in the target cross-border market in the last/current financial year. Have a sufficiently unique product or service that does not displace existing products or services in the target market. Demonstrate that new cross-border sales are not achievable without the support of the Acumen programme.

Website: https://intertradeireland.com/sales-growth/acumen

If you are looking for a support programme to help grow your employees' skills and motivations, the Skills Advancement Grant - Invest NI offers workshops and skill advisers on a 1:1 basis.

Their advisers will find your business's training needs and help you address them. Grant funding of up to £15k (50% basis) is available for external training, travel and accommodation costs with a minimum cost of £2k (£1k grant).

Eligibility: Available for businesses that have begun trading.

Website: https://www.investni.com/support-for-business/skills-development.html

Tel: 0800 181 4422

Are you looking for finance for your business?

NI Small Business Loan Fund provides funding up to £100k to businesses trading for over 2 years and £15k for start-ups trading under 2 years which can be applied for business start-up costs, expansion or growth, working capital, new product or market development, match funding and new asset purchases.

Eligibility: Available for all stages of business including businesses not yet trading.

Website: https://www.nisblf.com/

Tel: 0800 988 2879

Email: [email protected]

Online Contact Form: https://www.nisblf.com/contact-us/

The Growth Finance Fund is a £30m fund backed by The British Business Bank, Invest NI and NILGOSC.

The Fund will provide commercial loans of between £500k and £2m to fund growth.

Loans will be provided on a flexible basis over a 2-7 year period. In addition, the fund will retain the ability to provide capital and/or interest moratoriums and partial bullet repayments to align with the cash flows of the business.

Eligibility: Available for businesses with growth potential and in the manufacturing, engineering or tradable services sectors with export potential.

Website: https://whiterockfinance.co.uk/growth-finance-fund/

Tel: 028 9500 1060

Email:  [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]

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]

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

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]

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]

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/

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/