Funding & support resources

Debt and equity finance for businesses based in or looking to relocate to County Durham.

Eligible homes and businesses can apply for up to £4,500 to cover the costs of a gigabit-capable connection.

The new Start-up Support Programme is available to new retail, hospitality and leisure businesses across County Durham

As part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II NEL are offering Debt Finance from £100,000 to £2m

Flexible Social Finance has been designed with the social sector, for the social sector.

Creative Growth Finance provides scale-up loans of £100k to £1m to UK businesses in the Creative Industries.

Funding for early-stage businesses with innovative, scalable ideas – from software to life science, start-up to scale-up.

Government support towards the up-front costs of the purchase and installation of electric vehicle chargepoints.

The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) finds and funds exploitable innovation to support UK defence and security quickly and effectively, and support UK prosperity.

Funding loans of up to £25,000 available to entrepreneurs within their first 3 years of trading, with potential top up loans within years 3-5 of trading.

Working with UKSE gives you more than just finance. Benefit from the support and knowledge of people who have been there before.

A £20 million fund offering development funding to SME house builders, construction and property development companies

The Flexible Finance Fund by the Social Investment Business, The Ubele Initiative, and Create Equity offers a blend of grants and loans to Black and Racially Minoritised-led charities and social enterprises in England.

Designed to support access to finance for UK smaller businesses as they look to invest and grow.

LNER is inviting small and medium-sized charities located within 15 miles of the East Coast Main Line to apply for funding through its 2026 Customer and Community Investment Fund (CCIF).

Grants plus business support are available to social entrepreneurs that are looking to start or grow an existing social venture.