UK Shared Prosperity Fund - supporting local business

Barts Life Sciences MedTech, delivered by Barts Health NHS Trust, is awarded £600,000 to support London’s active life sciences SMEs. 

Its key initiatives include an SME Support Service, helping SMEs to better-navigate the NHS through training workshops and bespoke entrepreneurial support. It will deliver a paid internship programme, partnering interns with life sciences SMEs. Finally, it will support the development of an adoption pipeline for innovators.

London South Bank University’s BIG Growth Programme, backed by £1,506,682.24, strengthens an ongoing partnership with education institutions and local boroughs. The programme is dedicated to enhancing south London’s innovation ecosystem. 

Addressing sub regional productivity and innovation gaps via a pathway of interventions, the programme engages and develops local organisations. Prioritising key growth sectors, activity will support local enterprises to leverage south London’s knowledge base to develop innovative approaches which result in new products, services and processes.

Find out more, here.
 

Awarded £903,233.85 in funding, Central Research Laboratory (CRL) is a pan-London programme stimulating innovation in Hayes, Tottenham, and Croydon, delivered by Central Research Laboratory Hayes Ltd. The programme aims to prepare future global hardware through entrepreneurial skills, sustainable product development masterclasses and connections to investors and suppliers.  

Aiming to support 150 SMEs on their innovation journeys, CRL’s proven model of deep local economic regeneration will transform these communities into pillars of innovation excellence.
 

With a grant of £947,582.11, Open London, led by Newable Trade Ltd, unites large corporates, local authorities, public organisations, London residents and London SMEs to solve the capital’s critical socioeconomic, health and environmental challenges. 

Aiming to improve living standards, the initiative supports 90 London SMEs and social enterprises to develop open innovation, collaboration skills and idea commercialisation through curated challenges and a demand-led Accelerator and one-to-one support. Receiving grants to develop ideas, 30 SMEs will adopt new or improved products, with 15 introducing their services to market to benefit London citizens.

Find out more, here.
 

Delivered by London Legacy Development Corporation, and receiving £1,471,272.49, SHIFT: Future Industries Demonstrator is a mission-led scale-up solution. It addresses real, local citizens challenges, aligning them with market solutions that accelerate our collective transition to Net Zero and fairer economies. 

Utilising London’s real-world testbed (SHIFT), the project offers a delivery map for SME-led products and services, combining market-demand clarity and supply at a sub-regional level. Leveraging the diverse ecosystem of 400+ organisations based around Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, it fosters robust, intersectional partnerships championing specialist inclusive innovations that are central to SHIFT's mission.

Find out more, here.

The Social Tech Amplifier, led by Catch 22 Ltd, is awarded £590,539.60 to empower London’s most innovative social impact entrepreneurs. This collaborative initiative uses game-changing Digital and Tech solutions to reveal radical new ways to accelerate commercialisation and promote government adoption. It aims to create and scale up 30 enterprises across London. 

Find out more, here.

Newable Trade Ltd’s Inclusive Supply Chain project, supported via £893,515.65, aims to enhance London’s social and economic cohesion. It will provide 300 SMEs with an intensive, tailored, supply-readiness programme, focusing on underrepresented entrepreneurs (50% female, 40% ethnic-minority, 5% disabled). 

It intends to enhance awareness and participation of supply chains’ commercial opportunities. Through interactive workshops and buyer-side engagement, it will offer bespoke business support, resulting in SMEs winning new contracts, promoting business growth, increased economic activity and job creation.

Find out more, here.

With a grant of £1,018,856.56, Minority Business Matters, led by Heart of the City of London Ltd, addresses challenges faced by London's ethnic minority SMEs and freelancers in accessing business opportunities. The programme combines the supply chain expertise of MSDUK, the leading ethnic minority supplier diversity body in the UK, with Heart of the City’s longstanding responsible business expertise. 

It supports ethnic minority businesses to become supplier-ready through embedding best practice social values into their business and services. It will facilitates procurement opportunities, and develop a directory of ethnic minority creative and cultural freelancers.

Find out more, here.

The Selby Community Enterprise Project, backed by £631,110.00, by The Selby Trust, is a community learning, business, and people enablement centre surrounded by high unemployment and few opportunities. The project drives community-led change through local teams, with 32 onsite diversity-led SME organisations. 

Awarded £20m Levelling Up Funding to create the Selby Urban Village; this additional funding will prepare our SMEs and wider business community for lifechanging opportunities, including: 

1. Service diversification and expansion
2. Tailored, on site Supplier Readiness support 
3. Cross organisational project facilitation and fundraising 
4. Business incubation and start-up services 
5. Digital inclusion to empower the SME community voice.

Project themes also include bridging the Digital Divide and Growing the Social Economy.
 

Ealing Council leads a project with Harrow and Hillingdon councils, with £500,869.92 of funding to deliver tailored business support with 300 SMEs from April 2023 to 31st March 2025.

The project will particularly support Black, Asian and minority ethnic, and other SMEs hit hardest by the pandemic in key sectors, including Wholesale, Retail & Motor Trade, Manufacturing, Health & Social Care, Creative sectors, Professional & Scientific, Information & Communications and Construction sectors. It facilitates introductions to Tier 1 suppliers, Public Sector Anchor Institutes and other buyers, enhancing visibility of SMEs to help secure market opportunities.

City of Westminster’s Westminster Supplier Readiness, UKSPF funding of £683,211.27 will provide additional officer resource, bolstering internal capacity within Westminster City Council’s Economy & Skills and Procurement & Commercial Directorates to manage this supplier readiness programme. This cross-departmental team will deliver tailored guidance, support, workshops and events for local organisations. 

They will provide strategic brokerage services, connecting anchor institutions and larger businesses based in Westminster offering business support. They will use an accessible, council-commissioned supplier directory, updated via active outreach to new market entrants across London. The initiative emphasises small businesses owned and led by disabled people, women and people from global majority backgrounds.
 

The London E-Business Support Programme, led by Enfield-Enterprise, received £2,858,421.00 to deliver a comprehensive digital skills programme for London’s SMEs. It aims to drive businesses’ growth, resilience and sustainability, in particular responding to the pandemic’s impact, through effectively integrating technologies into daily business practice. 

Operating through Business for London, a consortium of seven of London’s established business support organisations, the programme offers diagnostics, training, one-to-one support and tailored networking measures, with focus on maximising female, Black, disabled and Asian and minority ethnic-owned businesses’ participation.

Find out more, here.

Receiving £1,465,707.97, this project led by London Borough of Islington supports emerging social businesses entrepreneurs in public health and life sciences, to boost opportunities for underserved communities.

MedCity will work with seven London boroughs hosting London’s Innovation Districts to grow a community-driven social economy, actively addressing entrenched health and wealth inequalities.

Targeted business support will include outreach, challenge-based events, incubation, mentoring, acceleration and grant-giving. Knowledge exchange and networking will connect entrepreneurs with researchers, businesses and commissioners to ensure lasting impact in this emerging ecosystem.
 

Power Up, Big Issue Invest's accelerator programme for early-stage social enterprises, receives £988,994.37 via UKSPF. This four-month initiative offers intensive non-financial assistance, from mentoring and business support to training workshops and networking opportunities. It also offers possible access to grant funding. 

Tailored for London’s social enterprises, Power Up helps them create and retain jobs and expand or grow their services. It will help businesses to address environmental and social issues, and provides services to underrepresented communities.

Find out more, here.

With a grant of £750,000.00, the Property Advice Service by London Business Partnership offers a one-stop shop for London SME’s navigating challenging business rates, leases and energy costs.

The service offers free support and training through masterclasses, one-to-one sessions and expert guidance covering issues tailored to sector-specific issues and business and property types.

Find out more, here.

The School for Social Entrepreneurs, supported by £950,083.00, will deliver a mix of interventions, including vibrant Social Enterprise Festival, designed to reach a diverse London audience. 

The project will run 16 ‘drop-in’ workshops to facilitate opportunities within the local, social economy. In addition, 80 social entrepreneurs will partake in a twelve-month learning programme, with £400,000 in grants will be available to programme participants. These interventions will build interest helping to grow London’s social economy.

Find out more, here.

Greater London Authority’s Better Futures project received £2,258,796.00. It is a collaboration of London’s leading private and public sector organisations, addressing challenges SMEs face in their pathway to sustainability and net-zero. 

It provides direct business support to cleantech SMEs to help bring low carbon solutions to market, deliver business growth and job creation, promote diversity in the low carbon sector and help reduce London’s greenhouse gas emissions. 

It assists non-climate tech to adopt low carbon business models and technologies to accelerate their emissions reductions. The project also uniquely addresses innovation and decarbonisation by scaling built environment, technical and decarbonisation support.

Project theme also includes innovation. 

Find out more, here.
 

The Circular Fashion project, funded by £1,221,038.00 by UKSPF, is a British Fashion initiative provides a phased, measurable journey of support to accelerate London fashion designer SME’s transition to a circular fashion economy. It enables them to grow sustainably by addressing environmental impact from design to supply chains.

Backed by £1,246,356.27, Startup Discovery School Ltd’s Just Transition Project is a business support initiative that ensures London’s business ecosystem moves towards an equitable and inclusive net zero economy. 

It incubates new business solutions with diverse startups to accelerate growth in the net zero and circular economy. It also supports scaling up climate tech solutions for diverse entrepreneurs, tackling energy efficiency and retrofitting, and cost of living issues which disproportionately affect underserved communities. 

Find out more, here.
 

Receiving £1,446,419.85 through UKSPF, the London Waste and Recycling Board’s ReLondon’s project builds on a previous ERDF-funded initiative. It is designed to create jobs & GVA by supporting both everyday SMEs to transition to circular business models, and to accelerate growth of circular economy SMEs. 

Delivered collaboratively with boroughs, the programme equips SMEs with skills, resources, and connections to help reduce waste and consumption-based emissions while generating commercial and operational benefits. It emphasises business models tackling social issues, structural inequalities and prioritising minority-owned SMEs and those in sectors disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

Find out more, here.
 

Delivered by London Borough of Camden’s Camden Climate Alliance, this project received £640,789.00 to deliver a high-quality energy efficiency programme benefiting125 businesses across Camden and Brent. The SMEs will address cost-of-living, energy and climate issues, delivering a minimum 10% reduction in energy consumption with realistic plans to further decarbonise and achieve net-zero. 

Utilising existing business networks, it offers 1-to-1 and peer-to-peer support, energy audits and recommendations and management reports, upskill and empowerment training for underrepresented businesses. 

The project will lead to a pipeline of retrofit projects accessing other capital funding to dramatically accelerate decarbonisation of London’s buildings.
 

Delivered by Better Bankside, the Southwark Climate Collective with £653,775.22 funding, will provide expert support to 160 Southwark SMEs. 

It will enable decarbonisation pathways, while stimulating the local green economy through facilitating their procurement of ‘green’ low-carbon services. The project will build on the success of the Mayor of London’s Business Climate Challenge, with an innovative and distinct focus on four low-carbon programme streams: energy, waste, freight and supply chains. 

This project actively provides opportunities to engage Black, Asian and minority ethnic owned small businesses. This project estimates a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of 1,204 tCO2e by March 2025.

 Find out more, here.
 

Capital Enterprise One Tech. Amplify Venture received £1,435,247.92 to deliver this project supporting 120 businesses run by Black & minoritised ethnic communities, women, and those from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. It will create 50 jobs through an ‘always on’ central community providing access to content, networks, customers, coaching, events, & post-programme support. 

The project also provides cohort based activity, with thematic modules, accelerators targeting Consumer Goods businesses and those aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The project is delivered by female & Black-led organisations OneTech, Foundervine & StartUp Discovery School.

Learn more at Amplify Venture.
 

Delivered by Guys & St Thomas's NHS Foundation Trust, and with funding of £1,379,257.04, DigitalHealth.London will deliver high-value jobs and economic growth. The programme supports high-potential businesses and founders to collaborate with the NHS and academia. 

It targets diverse founders and early-stage social entrepreneurs; helps developing companies build evidence and launch, accelerates high-potential companies tackling NHS’ challenges, and integrates cross cutting support for net zero and decarbonisation. 

Themes for this project also include innovator, supplier-readiness, growing the social economy, low carbon, investment readiness support for diverse founders. 

Virgin Start Up Ltd’s £558,178.84 grant will provide funding for its Empower 100 project. It supports diverse founders with growth potential to maximise their chances of scaling and financing their businesses successfully. Its three-month accelerator includes training modules, networking, mentoring, peer-to-peer learning, and participation in a 'demo day’. 

Empower 100 supports 100 diverse founders through development paths, building resilience, confidence, and capabilities to ensure financial sustainability in a challenging economic context. It aims to address systemic inequalities and biases that London’s female, ethnic minority, and disabled entrepreneurs face. 

Project themes also include investment readiness for diverse founders.

Learn more at Empower 100.

Foundervine CIC’s Ascend Investment Readiness Programme, provided with £748,074.48, supports early-stage, diverse-led startups in London to access finance and thrive in the competitive business environment. The 3-month investment readiness programme will equip SMEs with knowledge, resources, and networks required to navigate the fundraising process and create strong business plans. 

Programme offers ‘always-on’ funding and business development advice, mentorship, relationship brokerage, and peer support. Plus, its 6-months post-programme support will facilitate access to investor networks, pitching opportunities and co-working space. 

Find out more, here.
 

Film London’s Game Changer programme, funded with £638,927.92,  supports diverse founders and SMEs in the video games sector become investment ready. Game Changer aims to deliver workshops to boost commercial acumen, and concurrently provide mentorship to upgrade business plans. It will culminate in events providing direct investor access.  

Recognising the under-representation of diverse founders within one of the UKs fastest growing sectors, which attracts significant investor interest, Game Changer aims to bridge this gap between financing and business support. 

Funding London’s £1,065,964.01 supports its Investment Ready Programme for Diverse Founders, an extension of its successful 2022 GLA-commissioned “Investment Ready” pilot. It will continue enabling London SMEs led by female, disabled or ethnic minority founders with investable propositions who are ready to raise equity or debt finance.  

It aims to remove fundraising barriers, through group workshops and one-to-one support, to help optimise participants’ fundraising capabilities.

It also fosters a collaborative, supportive environment from which participants can learn from each other, connect with ecosystem stakeholders including investors, to support participants chances of successfully raising finance.

Find out more, here.