Sunderland City Council
Sunderland is a vibrant city by the sea with a vision to create a connected, international city with opportunities for all.
Our city's ambitious regeneration programme has created new opportunities across our key sectors, including advanced manufacturing, financial, professional and business services as well as digital, creative and screen industries.
We are a developing a dynamic and smart city, creating more and better jobs and a low-carbon economy, deploying smart and sustainable technologies to benefit residents, businesses and visitors.
The city's people and communities are at the heart of our plans as a city, which are being delivered at pace, with significant investment coming into key developments sites across the city. Sunderland is a city of achievements and potential; a great place to work, live and invest.
Schemes provided by Sunderland City Council
Sunderland Business Support Fund
This grant programme will help local growing businesses to access high quality external expertise to deliver business improvement projects.
Local Automotive Business Support - Sunderland (LABS-S)
Local Automotive Business Support - Sunderland (LABS-S) is a tailored package of support for Sunderland businesses wanting to grow and thrive within the automotive sector.
Business Growth Fund
Support for businesses looking to expand or establish new operations in Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council, Newcastle City Council, North Tyneside Council, Northumberland County Council and Sunderland City Council areas.
Enterprising Sunderland
Enterprising Sunderland is a project designed to unlock the potential of future entrepreneurs within our communities and to support businesses from all sectors to grow and innovate.
BREEZ - Business Renewables Energy Efficiency Sunderland
Sunderland City Council offers eligible SMEs a flexible approach to cutting their energy bills and their carbon emissions.
Sunderland Innovate and Grow
Sunderland Innovate and Grow (SIG) brings together a range of complementary activities to catalyse and support innovation and business growth in the city.
Tech Start-up Sunderland
Tech Startup Sunderland is a new programme of activity to help entrepreneurs across Sunderland to bring their tech and digital ideas to life through a wide range of expert-led support.
Citylife Business Support Grant
Citylife Business Support Grant is available to businesses within Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead and Sunderland to support businesses to grow and adapt to the challenging conditions that many are currently facing.
Supply Chain Sunderland
The Supply Chain Sunderland project will strengthen Sunderland's local entrepreneurial ecosystem by improving business resilience and growth, boosting survival rates, driving innovation, and enhancing market readiness for new supply chain opportunities.
Wear Together Initiative
Wear Together provides social entrepreneurs in Sunderland with access to business support and grants assisting them with start, development, and growth of social businesses.
Sunderland Skills and Inclusion Programme (SSIP)
The Sunderland Skills and Inclusion Programme (SSIP) offers Sunderland businesses and employees the opportunity to access fully-funded courses spanning a range of subject specialisms and disciplines.
Esports Business Cluster
The Esports Business Cluster (the first and only in the UK) aims to create and support businesses already actively working or seeking to work within the esports sector.
Expo Sunderland
Expo Sunderland will explore the future of homes, living and cities in a series of events launching at scale in 2025 with pilot attractions and taster events taking place in 2024.
North East Screen
Funded by North East Screen Industries Partnership, North East Screen is a regional screen agency for filmmakers, producers and creative professionals looking to start and grow their careers in the industry.
IP: Research, Protect & Commercialise
An impressive collection of on-site resources to help when researching a business idea, find competitor information and analyse markets.
Additional Funding & Support Resources
Discover more business support, finance and funding schemes available to Sunderland based businesses by visiting our resource page.