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Business finance and grants

Use our selection of guides, links, books and articles to find more information on sources of business finance.
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Latest on business finance and grants

Read our latest features and articles on business finance and grants.
Take your first step in finance with ICAEW CFAB
  • Article
  • 06 Mar 2024
Looking to secure a job in the financial sector? Two professionals working in Belfast explain how completing the ICAEW Certificate of Finance and Business helped them build fulfilling careers.
Next government must act to renew UK economy, says ICAEW
  • Article
  • 07 Feb 2024
ICAEW has outlined the actions needed to boost productivity and ensure the UK economy is resilient in future. ICAEW’s Manifesto calls for the revitalisation of support for start-ups, improved access to labour and a simplified, digital tax system.
Bounce Back Loan data pilot examines sole trader fraud
  • Article
  • 17 Jan 2024
The government is setting its sights on unincorporated businesses that fraudulently took out Bounce Back Loans during the pandemic.
UK government responds to Treasury Committee venture capital reliefs report
  • Article
  • 25 Oct 2023
The response suggests that the current sunset clauses for the enterprise investment scheme (EIS) and venture capital trusts (VCTs) will be extended beyond 2025. However, the response also pushes back on some of the committee’s other recommendations, including extending the company age and funding limits for these schemes.
Commons Treasury Committee calls for greater diversity of venture capital investment
  • Article
  • 09 Aug 2023
The House of Commons Treasury Committee’s report into venture capital investment schemes recommends better support for female-led businesses and those outside the South East of England.
NAO highlights COVID-19 business support counter-fraud failures
  • Article
  • 23 Mar 2023
The government should use lessons learned from the COVID-19 business grant schemes to improve contingency planning and build resilience for responding to future national emergencies, spending watchdog concludes.
Government’s ‘Scale-Up Britain’ ambition under the spotlight
  • Article
  • 27 Feb 2023
Is the government’s bold vision for a UK Silicon Valley at odds with how start-ups and scale-ups are being managed at policy level?
EY reveals support strategy to boost fintech start-ups
  • Article
  • 13 Feb 2023
With explosive growth forecast for the fintech sector, we meet Mark Jannetta, the head of EY’s UK FinTech Lab, to find out how the Big Four firm is looking to help start-up fintechs get to the next stage.
Read more

Topics in depth

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Crowdfunding
Learn about the benefits and risks of crowdfunding with our selection of guides, reports, articles and books.
Science lab microscopy looking at samples
Grants and local funding
Selected information resources on grants and business funding in the UK and Europe.
Teamwork groups inclusive
Peer-to-peer lending
Peer-to-peer lending is a popular way for businesses to secure loans. It is most suitable for businesses which have been trading for a few years.
Woman working in flower shop
Sources of finance for your business
Learn how to secure investment finance, overdrafts and loans with our selection of guides and online resources.
Hands holding plant
Venture capital and business angels
Learn about financing your business through venture capital and business angels with our selection of guides, links, books and articles.
London skyline
Working capital
Find out more about the benefits and risks of using your assets to finance your business. Options available include hire purchase, leasing, invoice factoring and discounting, and commercial mortgages.

ICAEW guides and advice

Access to finance special
  • Hub page
  • 2023
ICAEW Insights examines the finance options and support available to businesses, as well as the challenges they face in obtaining it.
ICAEW BAS
  • Promotional material
  • 2020
ICAEW’s Business Advice Service puts small and medium business owners in touch with both ICAEW members or regulated ICAEW member firms who can provide a free initial consultation, without obligation, to discuss any business issues the owners are facing.
The Business Finance Guide
  • Helpsheets and support
  • 2016
This independent guide draws on the expertise of partners from across the finance industry and business community to provide information on the financing options that may be available to entrepreneurs, startups and businesses at every stage of development.
Exclusive Special report - Growing your business
  • Report
  • 2014
This report is primarily aimed at smaller businesses seeking to grow and develop and to achieve their full potential through practical guidance and advice.
How to find the right professional advice
  • Helpsheets and support
  • 2011
The Business Advice Service connects small and medium businesses with trusted business advisors working in ICAEW regulated-firms.

Webinars

Getting SME investment back on track
  • Podcast
  • 28 Apr 2023
In this Insights In Focus episode, we discuss the obstacles and incentives to SME investment.
Disruptors, innovators, start-ups - exploring roles for accountants
  • Webinar
  • 22 Mar 2021
Considering making a move from a practice or established corporate world into a start-up, or exploring expanding your portfolio into this space? Hear insights and experience from our panel of speakers.
More webinars

Business press

The ICAEW Library & Information Service provides access to leading business, finance and management journals. These journals are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users subject to suppliers' terms of use.
Exclusive UK insolvencies jump 14% in 2023 after interest rates surge
  • Article
  • 16 Jan 2024
  • Tom Rees
The number of UK companies suffering insolvency jumped 14% in 2023 as firms collapsed under the weight of higher borrowing costs and weaker economic growth. The article gives an overview of the factors involved and the sectors most affected.
Exclusive Supply chain finance in the trenches
  • Article
  • 01 Oct 2023
  • J. Stephen McNally
Former Campbell's Soup supply chain finance executive J.Stephen McNally shares stories 'from the trenches' on how CFOs and their teams can effectively collaborate with their cross-functional colleagues in supply chain management to mitigate supply chain disruption and build stronger operations.
Exclusive Who learns fastest, wins: Lean Startup and Discovery Driven Growth
  • Article
  • 01 Oct 2023
  • Rita Gunther McGrath
Most entrepreneurial ventures and startups fail. Against this backdrop, Lean Startup and Discovery-Driven Growth (DDG) are methods that emphasize rapid learning, resource parsimony, and focus on validating assumptions as ways of reducing the cost and risk of failure. Rita Gunther McGrath looks at the benefits of both methods, suggesting that they are a major advance over traditional planning processes because they both emphasize rapid learning. She also provides a 'flops file' of massive corporate failures and analyses the mistakes made.
Exclusive The language of crowd-funding
  • Article
  • 01 Sep 2023
  • Daniela Blei
Do crowdfunders seeking donations see different results depending on the phrasing they use? A new paper to be published in the Journal of Consumer Research investigates the language of crowdfunding appeals by mining some ten years of data from crowdfunding platforms GoFundMe and Kickstarter. Daniela Blei reports on the outcomes.
Exclusive UK home sellers cut asking prices for first time this year
  • Article
  • 17 Jul 2023
  • Jill Namatsi
UK property sellers cut their asking prices for the first time this year, an indication that a sharp jump in borrowing costs is cutting into what buyers can afford. The figures confirm a trend toward lower prices reported by mortgage lenders, suggesting that home sellers are beginning to lower their expectations for how much they can get.
Exclusive Tax residency issues on structuring Mexican venture capital investments
  • Article
  • 26 Jun 2023
  • Oscar A. López Velarde and Gabriel Márquez García
Venture capital funds and investors often fail to give due consideration to the Mexican tax residence rules, say Oscar A. López Velarde and Gabriel Márquez García of Ritch Mueller.
More articles

Online magazines

Some online journal titles are available only to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users. To view the full range of titles available to you, please log in.
Corporate Financier
  • ICAEW Corporate Finance Faculty
Analysis and insight from ICAEW's Corporate Finance Faculty.

External resources - Funding sources

Alternative Business Funding
  • Website
  • Alternative Business Funding
A matchmaking service for small businesses and alternative finance providers.
British Business Bank
  • Website
  • British Business Bank
An economic development bank launched in 2013 to create more effective finance markets for smaller businesses in the UK.
ByteStart - Finance
  • Website
  • Bytestart Limited
The Finance section of the ByteStart website has a range of articles outlining the different types of funding businesses can call on, such as bank loans, business angels and crowdfunding.
Enterprise Europe Network
  • Website
  • Enterprise Europe Network
The Enterprise Europe Network helps small businesses develop into new markets, source or license new technologies and access EU finance and funding.
European Investment Fund
  • Website
  • European Investment Fund
The European Investment Fund (EIF) is involved in a number of initiatives to promote regional business development.
Finance and support for your business
  • Website
  • GOV.UK
List of publicly-backed finance or business support schemes. With hundreds of schemes available, this is a good starting point to find out which ones you are eligible for and which suit your needs.
Good Finance
  • Website
  • Good Finance
A UK website aimed at charities and social enterprises. It provides information and advice on locating socially responsible sources of finance.
Start-up loans
  • Website
  • GOV.UK
A government funded scheme to provide loans and mentors for entrepreneurs. As well as start-up finance the scheme offers coaching to applicants to prepare for the pitch for the loan, help prepare a business plan and mentoring for a period after the loan has been received.
Terms of use

ICAEW accepts no responsibility for the content on any site to which a hypertext link from this site exists. The links are provided 'as is' with no warranty, express or implied, for the information provided within them. Please see the full copyright and disclaimer notice.

External resources - Associations, reports and guides

Environmental grants and loans
  • Atom Content Marketing
If you are considering making your business more environmentally responsible, there are a variety of grants, loans and government-sponsored initiatives can help you. This MoneyDonut guide covers environmental support basics, finding a grant, what you can get a grant for, making the application, your financial contribution, environmental loans and environmental awards.
Getting a grant for your business
  • Atom Content Marketing
Securing grant funding could really help your business develop and grow. This MoneyDonut guide covers grant funding - potential problems, grant schemes, identifying possible grants, applying for a business grant, writing your grant application and grant payments.
Responsible Finance
  • Responsible Finance
The trade association for community development finance institutions (CDFIs). CDFIs provide loans and support to individuals and businesses who find it difficult to access finance from the commercial banks.
SME Finance Monitor
  • BDRC
Annual large-scale study of UK SMEs and their access to finance. BVA BRDC surveys 5,000 businesses every quarter about past borrowing events and future borrowing intentions.
Terms of use

ICAEW accepts no responsibility for the content on any site to which a hypertext link from this site exists. The links are provided 'as is' with no warranty, express or implied, for the information provided within them. Please see the full copyright and disclaimer notice.

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