Under the UKSPF fund we have match funding grants available of between £500 – £5000. To date, 81 organisations in BCP have been offered grants, and 168 businesses’ have benefitted from our business support.

To see examples of successful grants awarded please click here.

What is the UKSPF?

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. The government has allocated £2.5million for investment in business across Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole.

What support is available?

1. 1. A free diagnostic survey and generated report providing valuable insights into the operations of a business.
   2. Signposts and guidance to address any highlighted weaknesses
   3. An opportunity to discuss the diagnostic report with a member of BCP Council’s Economic Development (ED) team or (if eligible) Evolve – a business development and coaching company based in Poole.
   4. Following the diagnostic stage, SMEs will be eligible to apply for a project-based match-funded grant on a competitive basis in one of the following categories (next round closes to applications on 6 July 2023):
   5. start-ups (£500 up to £1,000)
   6. business growth (£1,000 up to £2,500)
   7. research and development for innovative product and service development (£1,000 up to £5,000)
   8. exporting to grow overseas trading (£1,000 up to £5,000)

Eligible businesses

A business’s sole or main place of business must be an address within Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole in order to be eligible to apply for support from the UKSPF

More information

Stay up to date regarding the very latest UKSPF news and other business support from us by subscribing to our regular Business News and Information newsletter.

If you have any queries, which cannot be answered by the information on this page or the scheme document, please contact the Economic Development (ED) team by emailing ukspf@bcpcouncil.gov.uk. Due to the demand we are expecting for this support and limited resources there may be a short delay in responding to you. If you are contacting us about an existing registration and/or grant application, please provide your business name and reference number(s). 

If you require a more accessible format to complete the registration and grant application forms, please email ukspf@bcpcouncil.gov.uk to discuss alternative options which may be more suitable.