Grants, funding, and financial support
Investment Hub NEL
If you are experiencing or planning for growth in your business in NEL, then the Investment Hub can help you. The Hub can direct you to suitable sources of finance, funding and business support services, as well as identify other local businesses where they think mutual benefits exist. For enquiries, please email [email protected]
In North East Lincolnshire, there are a number of grants available to support inward investment and local businesses which can be accessed through the local authority.
You may need external funds or investment to support your growth or relocation to our area.
This page provides details on current funding streams and advice services available to North East Lincolnshire-based businesses.
GRANTS
North East Lincolnshire Council have been allocated £5.2m over the next three years through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. This is funding to replace the European grant provision, which supports activities and services for our communities and businesses.
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 by investing in communities and places, supporting local businesses, and people and skills. If you would like to find out more about the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, find out our investment priorities for our area and have a chance to shape where the funding should go, more details on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund can be found here.
Key benefits for registered SMEs are:
- Fully funded Energy Audit identifying costs and savings for energy savings upgrades;
- Advice on energy management techniques;
- Research into low carbon and environmentally sustainable measures or working practices and support to adopt these in your business;
- Decarbonisation plans;
- Signposting towards the NELC UK Shared Prosperity Fund which can offer grants towards energy-saving measures.
Find out more about Smarter Energy NEL or contact the team via [email protected] or, by telephone, on 01472 252780.
A brand new Activation and Community Engagement (ACE) Fund has been launched as one of the six Grimsby town centre projects which form Grimsby’s Towns Fund.
The ACE Fund, which is ring-fenced to Grimsby Town Centre, will offer grants of £500-£25,000 to business ventures and community-based organisations in Grimsby to bring forward activities that will add local interest to the larger regeneration projects already underway.
Developed through consultation with local people and organisations about what would make a difference to the town centre, there is a grant allocation of £850k to deliver the Activation Fund from the £20.9m Towns Fund awarded to Grimsby, will be phased across the next three years to support the establishment of alternative activities in Grimsby town centre.
The fund will cover projects that fit with at least one of the following six town centre priorities identified in the Masterplan:
- Introduce more diverse uses to the town centre;
- Reconnect the town centre and the community with the waterfront;
- Promote and support community ownership and participation;
- Identify development opportunities within the town centre, including low-carbon initiatives;
- Prioritise health and wellbeing activity in the town centre;
- Enhance employment, skills and entrepreneurial opportunities.
To find out more about the fund or submit an application, visit our Town Deal page.
Innovate UK is the UK’s national innovation agency. We support business-led innovation in all sectors, technologies and UK regions. We help businesses grow through the development and commercialisation of new products, processes, and services, supported by an outstanding innovation ecosystem that is agile, inclusive, and easy to navigate.
Find out more at Innovate UK – Innovation & Development Funding
The Infrastructure scheme of the UK Seafood Fund will invest at least £65 million in grant funding for infrastructure projects. The scheme will strengthen the seafood supply chain through infrastructure projects and bring social and economic benefits while reducing the seafood industry’s impact on the environment.
Round 3 will focus on modernising the fleet through engine replacements. Up to £2 million in grant funding is available to modernise the small-scale coastal fleet with replacement engines.
Defra will fund the replacement and fitting costs of:
- New electric and hybrid engines, to replace petrol and diesel engines of any age;
- New petrol and diesel engines, to replace existing petrol and diesel engines manufactured before January 2011;
- Modifications to a vessel that are required to install a new engine.
Value: Up to £2m
Deadline: 13 December 2024
The UK is set to be the global leader in the creation, adoption & exportation of advanced digital technologies. Now is the time for manufacturing to evolve and with emerging technologies the possibilities are endless.
This not-so-distant future will boost our economy and create new jobs. Want to be part of it?
We can help you to leverage the power of these tools. The manufacturers of tomorrow use technology to streamline their processes. They are faster, more responsive, and more efficient. Ultimately, they make better products for less. Made Smarter helps you secure this competitive edge.
Find out more about the Made Smarter programme.
FUNDING
The Start Up Loans Company was established in September 2012, with a mission to help new and early-stage UK businesses access affordable finance and mentoring support.
They are part of the British Business Bank and deliver the Government’s Start Up Loans programme, providing finance and support for businesses who struggle to access other forms of finance.
They work with a national network of business support partners who are based across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. As well as helping loan applicants prepare their business plans and cash flow forecasts, their business support partners are responsible for assessing final applications and providing ongoing mentoring support to those people whose applications are successful.
Creative England has established a new partnership with the British Business Bank, to unlock new and important investment opportunities for all subsectors of the UK’s creative industries.
The new government-backed Start Up Loans for the creative industries will offer borrowing of up to £25,000 at a fixed interest rate of 6% per annum, repayable over 1-5 years. As well as providing access to early financing, the loans will also include 12 months of post-investment mentoring support for recipients.
Applicants are welcome from any subsector of the UK’s creative industry; from young practitioners or experienced freelancers, to creative Start Ups less than two years old.
Loans of between £100k – £1.5m to support the growth of established businesses who cannot secure commercial funding, across Greater Lincolnshire.
The MEIF Debt fund is one of four funds managed under the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) delivered by the British Business Bank aimed at supporting SMEs, across the Midlands Engine area, with growth potential that are unable to secure all or part of the funding that they require from commercial sources.
The application and assessment process involves a number of stages: introduction to deal; business plan; Maven analysis; offer letter and due diligence; Maven Investment Committee; legal process and completion.
The loans are designed for grow and sustain businesses including; managing the business, business growth and expansion including specialist support for businesses with high growth potential, investigating in plant, machinery or property, performance improvement and best practice, improving information management and also making the most of the internet/new technology.
To find out more go to Midlands Engine Investment Fund II
Contact information:
Richard Altoft –
St Nicholas Court, 25-27 Castle Gate, Nottingham, NG1 7AR
0115 697 616
The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund, provides commercially focussed finance through Microfinance, Debt and Equity Finance funds. NPIF is a collaboration between the British Business Bank and ten Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in the North West, Yorkshire, the Humber and Tees Valley. NPIF provides over £500m of investment to boost small and medium business (SME) growth in the North of England. Finance to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the North West, Yorkshire, the Humber and Tees Valley.
Value: £25k-£2m
In 2019, Barclays announced a £14bn lending fund as part of a series of initiatives to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to succeed and flourish through the transition period and beyond over 3 years.
These loans are designed to help SMEs think about managing cashflow and working capital, exporting goods abroad, labour, supply chain management, and broader issues of preparedness.
This fund is intended for SMEs at several stages of growth and development. It includes a range of business lending services to participating UK businesses (subject to application and status) including:
- Business loans, commercial mortgages and overdrafts up to £250k working capital
- Cash flow funding for investment in growth, management buy-outs and business acquisition
- Loans for innovative businesses looking for growth funding, capital and environmental investment
- Maximising government schemes like The Enterprise Finance Guarantee programme, which is managed by the British Business Bank on behalf of, and with the financial backing of, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Any eligibility criteria?
You must be small or medium sized business with a turnover of £0-£25 million.
How to apply?
Find out more information on how to apply by clicking HERE.
The Angel CoFund makes equity investments of between £100,000 and £1 million in smaller businesses in the UK.
What grant amounts are available?
Equity investments of between £100,000 and £1 million in smaller businesses in the UK.
What is the loan available for?
The Angel CoFund makes equity investments of between £100,000 and £1 million in smaller businesses in the UK. It invests alongside strong syndicates of business angels to support businesses with strong growth potential.
Through these equity investments the Angel CoFund also acts as a catalyst to better practice and increased long-term capital in the UK angel market, and as a stepping stone to wider and later-stage venture capital (supported by our Enterprise Capital Funds and VC Catalyst Fund programmes).
Investment is subject to an upper limit of 49% of an investment round and 30% of the equity in a business, although investments are usually less than this.
Any eligibility criteria?
If you are a business seeking investment, you should first secure the interest of a business angel syndicate or network, as you can’t approach this fund directly.
How to apply?
Click HERE to apply and here for more information.
Contact information:
Suite 15, Sheffield Technology Parks Cooper Buildings, Arundel Street, Sheffield, S1 2NS
The Recovery Loan Scheme supports access to finance for small and medium sized UK businesses, so they can grow and invest.
Finance can be used for any legitimate business purpose, including working capital or investment.
The scheme makes available:
- up to £2 million per business group
- up to £1 million for business groups in scope of the Northern Ireland Protocol
The actual amount and terms offered are at the discretion of participating lenders.
The government guarantees 70% of the finance to the lender. As the borrower, you are always 100% liable for the debt.
Eligibility
You may be eligible for a loan through the Recovery Loan Scheme if your business:
- is trading in the UK
- has a turnover of £45 million or less
You need to show that your business:
- viable
- is not in difficulty
Businesses that received support under the earlier COVID-19 loan guarantee schemes and earlier phases of the Recovery Loan Scheme are eligible to access finance under this scheme if they meet all other eligibility criteria.
Charities and further education colleges that generate not more than 50% of their turnover from trading activity must confirm they have been impacted by COVID-19 in order to be eligible for the scheme. There is no requirement for any other sectors to have been impacted by COVID-19.
More information is available on the British Business Bank’s website
Can’t find what you’re looking for?
For a wide range of funding options available to businesses in North East Lincolnshire visit InvestNEL.
Further grant and support options can be found by using the Business Lincolnshire Grants and Support Finder tool and the Gov.uk Find a Grant tool.
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