Welcome to this round-up of the latest free support for your business.
Business Support.
Business Gateway Stirling -?Meet Our Advisers Rural 1-2-1 Appointments
Working with Stirling’s Rural Business Hubs these one-to-one meetings are an opportunity for businesses based in and around Rural Stirling to discuss their business with a Business Adviser.
Need to speak to an?expert? This is your chance to access free?1-2-1 support. Thanks to UK Shared Prosperity Funding, we can fully fund a specialist consultant to work with you on a 1-2-1 basis for up to five days.
For example, specialists can help you with:
This is not an exhaustive list, we can support most projects which will support your business growth. Find out more here.
Clackmannanshire Council has announced the return of Expert Help support for local businesses. Now funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, businesses and third-sector organisations can apply for 3 days of support with an expert in the fields of:
Ceteris will manage referrals for Expert Help support. If you are interested in getting free help for your business, get in touch here.?
Business events.
Business Gateway Stirling - DigitalBoost Coaching Session: Canva for Beginners? 16 Mar?9.30 - 12.30 | Stirling Enterprise Park?
Get started with Canva, the most popular online graphic design tool, with this overview of all the things you can do.
Forth Valley Employers Club -?The Importance of Upskilling and Talent Development in House 23 Mar 10.00 - 11.30 | Alloa Business Centre
In today's fast-paced environment, businesses must continuously adapt and evolve to remain competitive. Key ways to achieve this is through upskilling employees and talent development. This event will explore the importance of investing in the growth and development of your teams, and how it can lead to improved performance and increased business success. Find out about free ways to upskill your staff.?
Business Awards.
Made in Scotland Awards Deadline: 27 Mar
Scottish Legal Awards Deadline: 17 April
VIBES Scottish Environment Business Awards Deadline: 29 April
Funding.
The Scottish Government / Business Stream ?- Water & Sewage Charge Exemption Scheme?***Closes 31 Mar
Charities and?Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs)?can apply for an exemption from water charges under the Scottish Government’s Charity Exemption Scheme. Once charity accounts have been submitted to OSCR for the most recent financial year before 1 July, your organisation can apply for an exemption on water and waste water charges.?
Non-levy paying SME’s?can access up to ￡5,000 worth of support. Non-levy paying SMEs must provide evidence of running a business. For example, a business bank account or company registration number.
Employers can access it?once?per?academic year and have the option of using their local college, the Open University in Scotland or a private learning provider (administered through Skills Development Scotland). The fund will be distributed on a first come first served basis.?Employers must contact their local college in the first instance. If the college cannot provide the training you require, you'll have the option of using private training provision (administered through Skills Development Scotland).
UK Government?- UK Tradeshow Programme
The UK Tradeshow Programme offers government support to help UK businesses attend or exhibit at overseas trade shows more effectively.
UK businesses that are currently exporting can apply:
Attending or exhibiting at overseas trade shows can help you gain essential market knowledge and:
The National Lottery and Creative Scotland -?Open Fund for Organisations (artistic, creative and cultural)?
Organisations can apply for between ￡1,000 and ￡100,000 to support creative activity that lasts up to 18 months.?
The types of activity eligible for funding are:?
The funding programme can also help organisations to undertake business and organisational development that will:
The funding programme is open all year round, with no deadlines - organisations can apply at any time.
The Workforce Innovation Voucher scheme is between ￡1,000 and ￡5,000 which can be used to develop a company’s workforce in partnership with a college or university.
Interface provides support with finding a suitable academic partner who has the right specialist expertise to progress your Research and Development project.
Eligible businesses must be:?
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If you've completed the Prince's Trust Explore Enterprise Course, you can apply for a Test My Business Idea grant of up to ￡500 to help you try a new business idea.
The Test My Business Idea grant can be used for a variety of purposes, such as:
When you first contact the Trust, you'll be paired with a caseworker who will get to know you and your business idea through some initial induction meetings. You'll complete some documents to get set up in the system, then you can enroll on the Prince's Trust Explore Enterprise Course.
The Explore Enterprise Course includes 7 sessions that cover the basics of self-employment, HMRC and finance, pricing and sales, marketing, networking, cashflows, and business plans. Read more about the Explore Enterprise Course.
Skills Development Scotland - Flexible Workforce Development Fund?***Closes 31 July
The Flexible Workforce Development Fund (FWDF) helps employers in Scotland access workforce training opportunities to upskill or reskill their employees.
The training is offered in high-quality learning environments across Scotland, such as colleges, the Open University in Scotland (OUiS) and other training providers.
Innovate UK ?- Collecting flexible plastic packaging waste at home?challenge?***Closes 12 April
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will invest up to ￡250,000 from the Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Programme.
The aim of this competition is to fund projects that will develop innovative ideas to help with the collection of flexible plastic packaging waste from households. The ultimate goal being the reduction of the amount of waste ending up in landfill or in the environment.
Your project must:
To support the uptake of electric vehicles across Scotland, Transport Scotland has made grant funding available through Energy Saving Trust to help organisations install electric vehicle charging infrastructure on their premises.
Funding is currently available for chargepoints for sole use by occupants, staff and visitors. You can access this funding if:
Funds of up to ￡400 are available to?community groups and organisations who are interested in setting up food activities across NHS Forth Valley.
This includes opportunities where people can share or increase their food and budgeting skills such as cooking groups, supper clubs or lunch clubs.
Scottish Enterprise - Low Carbon Manufacturing Challenge Fund?***Closes?31 March 2026
The Low Carbon Manufacturing Challenge Fund helps Scottish manufacturing companies that wish to pursue business growth by developing low carbon products, processes or services. This may be achieved through pure research and development (R&D), capital investment or environmental aid support.
sportscotland -?Sports Facilities Fund ***Closes 01 April 2023
Sports Facilities Fund (SFF) supports capital projects that create or improve places where people take part in sports and physical activity. Supported projects?provide opportunities for people to get involved in and participate in sports & physical activity.?
Awards of up to ￡100,000 are available for sports facility projects within clubs and?communities, schools and?education or performance sports environments.??
The Investing in Enterprise Fund offers?blended grant and loan investment?to eligible social enterprises, community organisations and charities. The fund can invest between ￡10,000 and ￡250,000 per organisation; up to 25% (￡62,500) of this can be in the form of a non-repayable grant and the remainder a repayable loan.
RSA funding is designed to support projects that will help create jobs and a greener economy. If your company is in need of at least ￡100,000 in grant funding, check your eligibility and start the application process today.
The Scottish Land Fund supports rural and urban communities to become more resilient and sustainable through the ownership and management of land and land assets.
The fund offers grants of between ￡5,000 and ￡1 million to help communities take ownership of the land and buildings that matter to them, as well as practical support to develop their aspirations into viable projects.
It is funded by the Scottish Government and delivered in partnership with The National Lottery Community Fund and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
This is a research and development (R&D) grant for small and medium-sized businesses that aims to support high risk, highly ambitious projects. It covers conducting feasibility studies to show how ideas could work in the real world and supports activities that have a commercial endpoint.
Scottish Government -?Zero Emission Mobility Innovation Fund
The Zero Emission Mobility Innovation Fund (ZEMIF) provides discretionary grants to Scottish-based companies to help them manufacture and deploy components, systems and vehicles that will help to reduce the carbon emissions of heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) in Scotland and globally.
Falkirk Council - Various Funding?
Falkirk Council recognises that Coronavirus (COVID-19) has affected most businesses in some way. There are various funding options for those based in the Falkirk Council area.?
Screen Scotland is aiming to support the?growth of the screen sector through increased funding and support for film and television production, an increase in specialist staff and further investment in skills, festivals, audiences and education.
Open funds include:?
This update is created by STEP in collaboration with Business Gateway Stirling to bring you?a single source of business support and information relevant to your business. If there is additional information you would like to see included please contact [email protected].?