Business support - opportunities and cutting costs

Businesses are being offered support to help cope with rising costs and access opportunities.

For information on the Circular Economy and funding/support opportunities, visit our dedicated webpage for businesses and third sector organisations

Find the latest information and advice from Scotland's public sector on reducing the cost of running your business. Visit the Find Business Support website.

The Council’s Business Growth Grant is a discretionary payment to help cover the costs incurred by a business as it grows in line with a plan prepared with a Business Gateway adviser.
The maximum grant you can receive is £1,500.
The grant can be used to cover most business expenses, except for ongoing costs such as salary, rent and utilities, and the purchase of motor vehicles. You'll need to apply through the application form provided by your business adviser.
You can arrange an appointment with one of our Business Gateway advisors in your local office (Kirkintilloch and Milngavie) by calling 0141 578 8530.

Find a grant is a UK government service that allows businesses to search all UK government-funded grants. Businesses can use the website to browse or search for available grants, check if they are eligible and find out how to apply for each grant. Visit the website for more information.

The UK Government has announced measures to help businesses through the energy crisis - including an Energy Bill Relief Scheme to provide a discount on wholesale gas and electricity prices for all non-domestic customers whose current gas and electricity prices have risen significantly due to global energy prices. That includes all UK businesses, the voluntary sector (such as charities) and the public sector (such as schools and hospitals).

Please note, the programme is currently closed to new applications. You can register your interest for the next round of support by filling in a form via the Digital Development Support Programme webpage

In a Circular Economy, waste of all types, from all sources, is minimised to as close to zero as possible. The Circular Economy can help businesses by reducing costs, driving innovation and opening up new markets. For more information, opportunities and support, visit the Circular Economy webpage.

Businesses are being offered the chance of funded training for new or existing staff through apprenticeships.

Benefits include:

• Discovering new talent
• Upskilling new or existing staff
• Encouraging talented staff to stay with your business
• Getting access to skills your business needs to succeed

For more information on the Skills Development Scotland scheme, visit the Find Business Support website.

The Investment Fund for Scotland provides finance options to support new and growing businesses in Scotland.

IFS funding can help small businesses:

• Fund expansion projects
• Lease new commercial premises
• Purchase assets
• Hire a new team
• Purchase new machinery or equipment
• Launch a new product or service.

The fund offers three commercial finance options:

• Smaller loans of £25,000 to £100,000
• Debt finance of £100,000 to £2 million
• Equity investment of up to £5 million.

For more info, visit the Find Business Support website.

The Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) grant from Scottish Enterprise helps projects that create or protect jobs in areas of Scotland. The level of grant offered depends on the location of your project and the size of your business.

An RSA can typically cover up to 35% of the eligible costs for a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) and 15% of the eligible costs for a large enterprise.

Projects must last between 6 and 36 months. The minimum grant amount considered is £100,000.

Your business can be based outside of Scotland, but the project itself must take place in Scotland.

Large businesses will only be eligible if the project involves diversification of activity at an existing location or new activity taking place on a new site.

The fund is for capital investment projects that don’t fit into other funding programmes available through Scottish Enterprise. Applicants are advised to explore all options available before they apply.

Visit the Find Business Support website for more information.

Up to £500 in grant funding is available for individuals aged 16 to 26 who are looking to explore a business idea that addresses social issues in Scotland. Pounds for Purpose can also provide one-to-one support with a business adviser if you turn your idea into a social enterprise. Visit the Find Business Support website for more information.

Innovate UK provides grant funding, loans and procurements for UK-based businesses to support research, development and innovation. Visit the Find Business Support website for more information.

Funding is available to help companies develop their workforce, in partnership with a college or university. For more information on the Workforce Innovation Voucher scheme - which could mean funding of between £1,000 and £5,000 - visit the Find Business Support website.

You can apply for a UK Government-backed Start Up Loan of £500 to £25,000 to start or grow your business. Unlike a business loan, this is an unsecured personal loan. You’ll get free support and guidance to help write your business plan and successful applicants get up to 12 months of free mentoring.

For details, visit the Find Business Support website

The National Lottery Open Fund for Organisations is a funding programme for artistic, creative and cultural organisations based in Scotland. Organisations can apply for between £1,000 and £100,000 to support creative activity that lasts up to 18 months. For details, visit the Find Business Support website.

Historic Environment Scotland provides a range of grants and funding schemes to organisations developing projects that will benefit Scotland’s historic environment.

Funding applications can focus on any aspect of Scotland's historic environment. For example, projects could involve:

• Historic buildings
• Ancient monuments and archaeology
• Designed or cultural landscapes
• Historic gardens
• Heritage skills
• Stories and traditions

For more information on eligibility and the application process, visit the Find Business Support website.

For the latest information on Council properties for lease/sale, check out our dedicated webpages. For lease opportunities, visit this webpage. For sale opportunities, visit this webpage.

You can also e-mail estates@eastdunbarton.gov.uk or call 0300 1234510. We have a commercial portfolio which can accommodate a range of businesses across East Dunbartonshire - including budding start-ups, growing enterprises and established brands.

Skills for Growth is a diagnostic service that helps you identify skills gaps in your business and find ways to fill them. Skills Development Scotland (SDS) will work with you to understand the skills your business needs. Then, they'll help you create a detailed people skills action plan and direct you to the right support. Visit the Find Business Support website for more info

The Women's Business Centre Business Directory is a free, digital directory designed to help women raise awareness and develop the profile of their businesses. Visit the Find Business Support website for info.

The Supplier Development Programme offers training and events related to public sector procurement that Scottish businesses can access for free. This includes step-by-step training on how to use the Public Contracts Scotland website, as well as the Public Contracts Scotland Tender website. Register for a free account on the SDP website to access free tender training and learn how to do business with the public sector. Visit the Find Business Support website.

The Flexible Workforce Development Fund (FWDF) helps employers in Scotland access workforce training opportunities to upskill or reskill their employees. Eligible employers can get up to £15,000 in funding for tailored training programmes. For more information, visit the FWDF website.

The District Heating Loan Fund - managed by the Energy Saving Trust on behalf of the Scottish Government - provides capital loan funding of more than £1 million to organisations in Scotland that use renewables technologies to build out heat networks. Loans are typically repaid over 15 years. For information visit the Find Business Support website.

The Clean Energy Transition Partnership is a competitive funding call that aims to get as many Scottish companies as possible involved in developing new clean energy solutions. Visit the Find Business Support website for more information.

SMART:SCOTLAND is a research and development 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. Grants can support up to 70% of the eligible costs for a small enterprise and up to 60% of the eligible costs for a medium enterprise. Visit the Find Business Support website for more information.

The Catalyst Fund is a new type of social investment that offers loans to social enterprises to help them start and grow their business.

The fund offers loans of £50,000 or more with a flexible, revenue-based repayment model. This means you'll only begin to pay back the loan once you've started to generate income. You'll need to submit an expression of interest before you apply. For more information, please visit the Find Business Support website.

A series of free online Green Champions training modules are available to help improve the resource efficiency and environmental performance of your organisation. The course is CPD-certified and designed to help you develop new skills and find support tools. It packs in knowledge and experience from Business Energy Scotland's resource efficiency experts. Visit the Find Business Support website.

Business Gateway can provide digital tools and techniques to help you identify consumer trends in your sector. Keeping an eye on customer trends can help inspire innovation, identify growth markets and emerging products and even spot untapped demand. Visit the Find Business Support website.

The Scottish Co-Investment Fund (SCF) from Scottish Enterprise provides match-funding for Scottish start-up, early-stage or growing companies that are seeking investment alongside accredited co-investment partners. The fund is designed to address a finance gap and support growth plans. Visit the Find Business Support website .

The Standard Innovation Voucher funding programme supports projects that bring together a company and a university or further education college to develop a new or pioneering idea and increase innovation in business. The value of each voucher is between £1,000 and £7,500, which covers the project costs and is paid directly to the university or college. Visit the Find Business Support.

Does your business need funding to grow? Are you struggling to secure finance from the traditional lenders? Business Loans Scotland may be able to help. Led by a consortium of Scotland's local authorities, BLS can offer loans from £25,000 up to £100,000 to new and established businesses throughout East Dunbartonshire and beyond. Visit our webpage for more information.

Seeking funding to develop products and/or markets? The Scottish Venture Fund, run by Scottish Enterprise, is a flexible equity gap fund that invests alongside private sector investors, offering equity funding from £10,000 up to £2 million. Visit the Find Business Support website for more info.

Companies in Scotland can get up to three days of free consultancy support with an industry expert to help them move into the clean heat sector. This service is available for companies of different sizes and types, in various sectors, that are looking to grow and diversify into this market. Visit the Find Business Support website.

Research and development (R&D) grants from Scottish Enterprise are designed to help innovative projects that will improve business competitiveness, encourage further R&D activity and benefit the Scottish economy. The grants are for companies that are looking to develop a new and innovative product, process or service – or significantly improve an existing one – in Scotland. Small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) working independently on innovative projects may receive a grant to cover 35%-50% of eligible project costs. Large companies working independently may receive a grant to cover 25%-40% of eligible project costs. The minimum amount you can apply for is £150,000. Visit the Find Business Support website for more information.

You can sign up for information on business support from more than 100 organisations, conveniently in one place - courtesy of Find Business Support. Enter your deadlines via the website.