Help to Grow: Digital is a UK-wide government-backed scheme. It supports you to choose, buy and adopt digital technologies to grow your business. In this blog we outline how the scheme could help you find the best solutions for your business, including financial support worth up to £5,000 that may be available to you.
What does the scheme offer?
Help to Grow: Digital provides businesses with:
- Free, impartial advice and guidance about what digital technology is best suited to your business and how it can boost your business’ performance
- Targeted financial support, if your business is eligible, worth up to £5,000 towards the costs of buying approved digital technologies
Free, impartial advice and guidance available to all businesses
The right digital technology can take your business to the next level. It can help you:
- organise your business activities more efficiently including automatically generating invoices and helping to track spend
- improve your ability to reach new customers though data collection that helps you understand their wants and needs
- make your work smarter and more flexible by using automation to reduce the time spent on admin, and storing information in one central, accessible location
Many businesses feel cost and knowledge are barriers to adopting new digital technologies:
- knowledge and training - from knowing which software is best suited to the business, to finding the expertise to install and support it
- funding - investing in new technology can be a huge financial commitment for small businesses, and often one they would like help with
The Help to Grow: Digital website has expert guidance to help you overcome these challenges and harness the power of digital technology. It enables you to explore the software – compare features, compatibility and price to find the best match for your business.
Financial support to buy digital technology
If eligible, you can access a discount of up to 50% on the costs of buying approved software, worth up to £5,000.
Discounts are available for approved software that helps your business to:
- build customer relationships and increase sales
- manage accounts and finances digitally
Additional software products, including e-Commerce software, are expected to become available for Help to Grow: Digital discounts soon.
Is my business eligible for financial support?
To receive the targeted financial support, businesses must meet all four eligibility criteria:
- Your business must have a registered office in the UK (England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland) and be registered at the relevant Companies House or be a registered society listed on the Financial Conduct Authority’s Mutuals Register.
- Your business must have been actively trading for over 12 months prior to the date of application and have an incorporation date of, at minimum, 365 days prior to the date of application.
- Your business must have a total of between 5 and 249 employees.
- Your business must be purchasing the approved software for the first time.
Check if your business is eligible here
Eligible businesses will only receive one discount towards the purchase of one approved software product up to a maximum of £5,000 (not including VAT).
The financial discount covers 12 months’ worth of approved software product core costs, exclusive of VAT.
For further information
Please visit the Help to Grow: Digital website. If you are a Hallidays client, you can also speak with your Hallidays business advisor.