Grants and loans for existing businesses

There are many ways that existing businesses can apply for financial support, from Government sources as well as the private sector.

We also publish information on grants and loans for new businesses.

Many grant schemes are only open to new applicants for a limited period. Business grant schemes may also be specific to:

certain types of business
specific types of investment
businesses within a specific location.

Government grants and financial support from New Forest District Council

We do not have our own business grants scheme, but we administer the following grants either on behalf of Government or in collaboration with our partners.

The New Forest Rural SME Grant - An £82,000 grant fund from Solent Local Enterprise Partnership targeted at rural SME businesses. The fund seeks to support businesses with potential for economic growth, leveraging in private sector investment, creating or protecting jobs and assisting the rural sector. Individual grants between £2500 - £50,000 are available but must be 50% match funded. Full details of this scheme are available on this page.

During the Coronavirus outbreak we administered the following schemes on behalf of Government:

The New Forest Local Authority Discretionary Grant fund is now closed to new applications. This was a scheme targeted at businesses who did not meet the criteria for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Scheme or the Small Business Grant. Further information about the fund can be found here
The Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Scheme offered cash grants  where the business property's rateable value is between £15,000 and £51,000, and £10,000 where the rateable value is less than £15,000. This scheme closed on Friday 28 August and is no longer available.
The Small Business Grant provided funding of £10,000 for all businesses in receipt of Small Business Rate Relief or Rural Rate Relief.  This scheme closed on Friday 28 August and is no longer available.
The New Forest Rural Resilience Fund. Small and medium-sized businesses in New Forest were able to benefit from a £25,000 grant fund related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. This scheme is now closed to new applications and has been replaced by The New Forest SME Rural Grant.

In order to ensure you receive future updates regarding business support and grants from NFDC, please sign-up to receive our Business Support enews.

We also share information via our Twitter Feed @NFDCBizUpdates

Grants and financial support from the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership

The New Forest is served by the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership. This was formed after the Government offered local areas the opportunity to take control of their future economic development. It is a locally owned partnership between businesses and local authorities. 

Visit the Solent LEP website for information on the grants and funding programmes.

Solent LEP also has available £600,000 via Crowdfunder, with more available if demand is there. Find out more about the Solent LEP Crowdfunding Programme.

Grants and financial support from Government and other agencies

On the GOV.UK website, you can search for these using the Government Grant and Finance search tool.

The search will return the details of funding via Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). The New Forest is served by the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership.