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Updated 31 October 2026

Grants and funding for shops and retailers

Schemes open today that name shops and retailers in their published criteria, or fund the kind of work shops and retailers do. Read from the funders' own pages and re-checked daily.

12 open today. Whether your business qualifies for any of them depends on your legal form, your size, your age and where you are, which is what the check does.

Which of these can you actually get?

Enter your company number. We read each funder’s own page against your business and tell you which fit, which do not, and why.

Check my business

What kind of funding these are

Grants
7
Loans
2
Mixed
2
In-kind and free support
1

A grant is money you keep. A tax relief lowers a bill rather than arriving as cash. In-kind support is training, credits or expert time instead of money. Loans and equity have to be paid back or bought back, and are worth treating as a different decision entirely.

Who can apply

Every one of these has published criteria. Across the 12, the conditions that come up most are that you must:

  • work in a named sector7 of 12
  • be under a headcount limit6 of 12
  • not have started the work yet4 of 12
  • be at a particular stage2 of 12
  • have been trading for a set time2 of 12

Which of them you meet depends on your legal form, size, age and where you are registered. That is what the check reads for you, scheme by scheme, and it quotes the funder’s own sentence beside each answer.

What the money is for

  • Business growth 5
  • Property improvements 5
  • Premises 5
  • Equipment 3
  • Consultancy and professional support 2
  • Innovation and new products 2
  • Net zero and decarbonisation 2
  • Marketing 2

How to apply

You apply to the funder, never to us. Every scheme above links straight to its own page, and that page is the only thing that decides whether you get it.

Before you spend an afternoon on a form, three things are worth checking: that you are inside the deadline; that you have not already started or paid for the work, which a great many grants refuse; and that you can fund the share they expect you to.

Most refusals are not close calls. They are a rule the applicant never saw, in a sentence on the funder’s own page.

Where else to look

The government publishes its own list, free, and you should use it. What is above is wider than that list, because it also holds council schemes, tax reliefs and in-kind support that Find a Grant does not carry — but if you only want a list, start there.

Find a grant, on GOV.UK

The 12 open today

  • Loan

    Midlands Engine Investment Fund II – Debt Fund

    Department for Business and Trade

    Up to£2,000,000

    A flexible debt fund providing loans between £100,000 and £2 million to established SMEs trading business to business across the East and West Midlands, to support growth plans such as working capital, asset purchase, product development, new staff and marketing. It cannot be used to refinance existing debt.

    RollingThe funder’s page

  • Loan

    Regional Growth Loan Scheme - East of England

    The FSE Group

    Up to£500,000

    A loan scheme run by The FSE Group offering growth finance to established SMEs across the East of England. Loans range from £50,000 to £500,000 for businesses with turnover of at least £100,000 and a clear plan for significant growth.

    RollingThe funder’s page

  • Grant

    Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME) Manufacturing Grants

    Flintshire County Council

    Up to£300,000

    Capital grants of £5,000 to £100,000 per award, up to £300,000 in total across three project types, to help small and medium manufacturing businesses in Flintshire buy equipment, gain accreditation or adapt premises for decarbonisation. Delivered through the Business Support strand of the Flintshire and Wrexham Investment Zone, with a minimum 30% match contribution required from the business.

    RollingThe funder’s page

  • Mixed

    Invest to Grow Programme

    University of Derby

    Up to£250,000

    A revolving loan and grant fund run by the University of Derby that supports private-sector businesses in the East Midlands to innovate, expand and create or safeguard jobs. Support is a blend of loan and grant up to £250,000, recycled from repayments on previous awards, and is aimed at manufacturing, engineering, life sciences, construction, logistics and creative/digital businesses.

    RollingThe funder’s page

  • Grant

    Innovation Boost

    InterTradeIreland

    Up to£56,000

    Innovation Boost is a grant from InterTradeIreland that pays for academic expertise and a project manager to help manufacturing and tradable services SMEs on the island of Ireland run new product/service or process-improvement projects. It covers 100% of academic partner costs and 50% of a dedicated project manager's cost, up to £56,000 over 18 months or £39,000 over 12 months.

    RollingThe funder’s page

  • Grant

    Shop Front and High Street Improvement Grant Scheme

    Crawley Borough Council

    Up to£20,000

    A £128,000 Crawley Borough Council fund supporting independent and small shops in the town centre and neighbourhood parades. Businesses can bid for grants of up to £5,000 for shop-front and frontline operational improvements, with adjoining businesses able to make a joint bid worth up to £20,000.

    RollingThe funder’s page

  • Grant

    Plug-in Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle Grant

    Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV)

    Up to£2,500

    A government grant that reduces the purchase price of new electric wheelchair accessible vehicles, applied as a discount by the seller. Claims are made by vehicle dealerships and manufacturers through an online portal, not by the end customer. The discount is 35% of the price up to a maximum of £2,500 per eligible vehicle, and the base vehicle must cost under £50,000.

    Closes 5 April 2027The funder’s page

  • Grant

    Elmbridge Digital High Street Boost

    Elmbridge Borough Council

    Up to£2,000

    A grant for independent high street retailers in Elmbridge's town centres to establish or upgrade an e-commerce website, with the first £1,000 fully funded and further funding up to £2,000 requiring a 50% match contribution.

    RollingThe funder’s page

  • Grant

    Shop Signage Grant

    Erewash Borough Council

    Up to£2,000

    Erewash Borough Council grant towards the cost of shop signage for businesses in ground floor retail units across the borough's town and local centres, villages and designated Growth Zones. Existing businesses can get up to £1,000, and new businesses or those moving into empty units can get up to £2,000.

    RollingThe funder’s page

  • Grant

    Independent Retailer Grant

    Test Valley Borough Council

    Up to£1,200

    Test Valley Borough Council offers a fixed £1,200 grant, paid in two £600 instalments, to independent businesses taking up vacant ground-floor premises in the Andover or Romsey town centre shopping areas. Eligible use classes include shops, cafes/restaurants, medical/health services, community shops, and specific personal-service trades.

    RollingThe funder’s page

  • Mixed

    Evergreen Development Fund

    North West Evergreen Fund (managed by CBRE) / Cheshire and Warrington

    A £20m development finance fund offering loans or investment capital for property projects in the Cheshire and Warrington region. It targets low-carbon energy-efficiency retrofits and new builds, new research and innovation facilities, and business support finance for SMEs, and it excludes residential and retail property.

    RollingThe funder’s page

  • In-kind support

    Fit To Bid

    Department for Business and Trade

    A fully-funded programme of workshops and 1:1 advice delivered by Brandiun Business Support Ltd to help small and medium-sized London businesses win contracts with Tier 1 suppliers, including a bid capability assessment and tendering guidance.

    RollingThe funder’s page