How UK Government support could help your SME grow

A new survey from MoneyWeek reveals 84% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) feel confident about their prospects for growth over the next 12 months. And they’re ready to embrace UK Government support to help them capitalise on this optimism, with 82% telling MoneyWeek they are likely to explore government-backed support where it aligns with their ambitions.

There is a wide range of tailored help available, providing SMEs with access to services that support everything from hiring staff to expanding internationally. SME leaders who take advantage of these opportunities will be in a stronger position to turn business confidence into more rapid growth, increased revenues and stronger profitability.

Services such as the UK Government’s Business Growth Service (BGS) and Jobcentre Plus are good places to start.

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Help from the Business Growth Service

Launched last year, the BGS brings together a variety of guidance and routes into support on running and growing a business.

For example, the Business Support Service (part of the BGS), offers help by phone, email and webchat, and can connect companies to support that is right for them, whatever stage they are at. The help is available to SMEs in England. The devolved governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are running their own support schemes.

The BGS also provides critical access to advice and training. For example, the Business Academy offers free online courses on digital skills, finance and selling overseas – tens of thousands of SMEs have already put this training to good use. It also has links to local Growth Hubs throughout the country that can provide more hands-on support and events, from business planning to access to finance.

On the latter, the BGS will also signpost you to the British Business Bank, wholly owned by the UK Government, which offers a range of schemes aimed at helping you secure the funding you need to achieve your business ambitions. The bank has a “Finance Finder” tool that will suggest types of finance that could suit your business, from loans and asset finance through to equity and export finance. It also publishes simple guides to the different types of finance and how they work in practice.

These sit alongside programmes such as the Start Up Loans scheme, which is designed to unlock lending to smaller businesses that might otherwise struggle to raise capital.

For businesses looking for support with innovation and research and development, the BGS will help you access Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, which runs regular competitions and grant schemes to help businesses develop and commercialise new products, processes and services.

You’ll also find details of how to apply to Horizon Europe. UK businesses are eligible to make bids to the European Union’s £80bn (€95bn) research and innovation programme.

The average grant to a UK business or researcher from the scheme is worth over £400,000. The programme also offers opportunities to collaborate with leading researchers, innovators and businesses worldwide.

Support for SMEs trading overseas is another important plank of the government’s work, particularly through UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK’s export credit agency. It provides loans, guarantees and insurance to help UK exporters access international trading opportunities. UKEF also has regional export finance managers on hand to provide free and impartial consultations to local businesses on their export finance needs.

In its last financial year, UKEF provided record levels of support, with £14.5 billion in new financing, helping UK firms break into international markets and grow. This supported up to 70,000 jobs in key industrial sectors such as advanced manufacturing, life sciences, clean energy and automotive.

Use Jobcentre Plus to help you recruit

Jobcentre Plus, part of the Department for Work and Pensions, supports businesses of all sizes with their recruitment.

Jobcentre Plus has a network of local Employer Advisers, who offer no-fee, tailored support with writing job descriptions and promoting your vacancies, including invitations to local recruitment events. Advisers can also support employers through the recruitment process, helping to sift applications, interview candidates and provide use of Jobcentre Plus offices to conduct interviews.

Jobcentre Plus can also help businesses access government support through the Youth Guarantee, which brings together a range of funded programmes and financial incentives to help employers fill skills gaps and ensure all young people aged 16 to 24 are earning and learning.

Employers looking to build a highly skilled workforce for the future can work with Jobcentre Plus to arrange work experience and work trials, where both employers and employees can decide whether a job is the right fit for them both before agreeing to a permanent role.

Apprenticeships are another way Jobcentre Plus is helping younger workers into paid employment, supporting businesses with training costs to help develop employees with the exact skills your business needs.

Visit business.gov.uk/recruit to find out more about what Jobcentre Plus can offer you. You can also complete the online enquiry form or call us on 0800 169 0178. Eligibility criteria apply.

All this support is aimed at helping SMEs to fulfil their potential. As businesses across the UK focus on their priorities, it is help and assistance that could unlock new opportunity and growth. Whatever help your business needs, don’t miss out on the free and independent support available from the UK Government. To find out more about what’s available, visit business.gov.uk.

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