Home | Business planning, support and funding

Our team are here to support you whether you’re starting a new business, looking to expand an existing business or want some support generally with marketing, development and growth challenges.

Business support

If you’re looking to expand your business and need funding to diversify and bring your product or services to a new market, we can help.

From start-ups to business development for growing firms, we can offer you support and guidance on the following:

starting up a new business
planning and licensing
finding grants, you might be eligible for
recruitment, apprenticeships, internships and working with schools
expanding or relocating your business
food safety
environmental issues
waste and recycling
sharing your good news via our social media platforms

For further information, please contact us at economic.growth@north-norfolk.gov.uk.

Business grants and funding

Grants provide finance to allow your business to undertake a specific project that, without financial assistance, it would not be able to proceed. Such projects might involve the initial start-up of the business, developing a new product or buying equipment.

A grant is usually a one-off payment and provides funding that covers a percentage of the project's costs - normally, you or your business will have to meet some of the costs too. Unlike a loan, a grant does not usually have to be repaid unless your business fails to comply with the specific eligibility requirements and conditions of the scheme. You will need to check that you meet the eligibility criteria for a particular grant and consider what will be required to satisfy the funders' requirements.

Current grant schemes

In this section, we highlight current grant schemes that are available for businesses in Norfolk.

Business Transition to Net Zero (BTNZ) Grant

Are you a growing business and want to improve your operational efficiency?

Do you need to invest in plant and machinery to become more productive?
Would you benefit from a fully funded specialist 'clean growth' consultancy to measure your carbon emissions and plan future carbon reduction investments?

The BTNZ scheme provides grant support to help businesses improve operational efficiency on their road to Carbon Net Zero.

For more information, please visit Business Transition to Net Zero Grant.

Growth Through Innovation Grant (GTI)

Do you want help towards the costs of designing, building, and testing prototypes of new or better products?
Do you need to invest in external specialist knowledge to improve your business' products, services or processes?
Do you need to invest in research and development (R&D) testing testing equipment?
Do you need to adopt new or innovative digital technologies to become more efficient and productive?
Do you need to patent your ideas or inventions?

The grant is to part-fund projects to help businesses invest in innovative projects to develop better products, processes and services that will help them become more productive and grow.

For more information, please visit Growth Through Innovation Grant (GTI).

Go Digital

This programme offers free digital business support to small and medium-sized businesses in Norfolk. It provides a one-to-one consultancy with a digital advisor and a grant of up to £500 to help you set up a digital action plan.

For more information, please visit Go Digital.

Green Heat Network Fund

What does it offer?

The Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF) is a 3-year, £288 million capital grant fund that will support the commercialisation and construction of new low and zero-carbon (LZC) heat networks (including the supply of cooling) and the retrofitting and expansion of existing heat networks. It aims to develop and grow the heat network market and address some of the challenges of decarbonising the UK’s heat sector.

Who funds and administers it?

This government grant is delivered by Heat Network Transformation Programme (HNTP).

Closing date

29 November 2024 at 10:59pm

Small Grant Scheme (SGS)

Are you a growing business that wants to become more productive?
Do you want to create new products and move into new markets?
Do you need to invest in new technology to become more competitive?

Norfolk County Council has grants available of up to £25,000 to part-fund projects.

For more information, please visit Small Grant Scheme (SGS).

Loans

Business loans are available through the main high-street banks and the recently established challenger banks, such as Monzo, Revolut and Starling. Shopping around for the best deal for personal and business circumstances is important. Factors to consider are the:

amount you need to borrow
rate of interest charged
repayment period that you can afford

For a business start-up, the loan will likely need to be secured against a personal asset such as your house or other property.

Current loan schemes

In this section, we highlight national loan schemes that are available for businesses.

Start Up Loans

Start Up Loans is a national scheme that provides loans to people aged 18 and over to help them start up or develop a business that has been trading for less than 24 months.

Loans are repayable over one to five years, and the interest rate is currently fixed at 6%. Loans of up to £25,000 are available, and the average loan amount is £7,200.

Recovery Loan Scheme

The Recovery Loan Scheme is a government-backed scheme which supports access to finance for UK businesses as they recover and grow following COVID.

Small businesses with a turnover of up to £45m may obtain loans from £25,001 up to £150,000, with terms from three to six years.

Let's Do Business Group Finance is currently accepting applications from businesses based in Norfolk.

Community grants

In this section, we highlight current community grant schemes that are available in Norfolk.

Armed Forces Community Fund

The Armed Forces Community Fund offers grants of up to £300 to voluntary and community organisations aligned with the armed forces and community, town and parish councils, whose projects are based within North Norfolk.

Community Action Norfolk

Community Action Norfolk can help you find, prepare and manage funding applications and projects of all sizes. They have extensive experience in helping groups access funding and a range of tools and resources and can help you find the right partner.

Hornsea 3 Community Fund

Ørsted currently provides approximately £1.3 million each year to projects in the regions where they operate.

In support of their Hornsea 3 project, they are looking to launch the Hornsea 3 Community Benefit Fund, subject to the final investment decision (FID) being made to proceed with the development.

A community consultation exercise was carried out between April 2022 and March 2023 to seek views and support from local stakeholders on how this new fund should be set up.

Ørsted is currently working with a local advisory panel to finalise the details of the fund. The fund is expected to open to applications in the summer of 2023.

National Lottery Community Fund

View more about the latest programmes.

Norfolk Community Foundation

We award grants through various funds, made possible by donations from local people and organisations who want to make a difference. Most of our grants are for groups, but we also offer some grant opportunities for individuals.

Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone Community Fund

RWE's Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone is working with Norfolk Community Foundation to deliver an exciting funding opportunity to help build sustainable, resilient and 'future bright' rural communities in Norfolk.

The first discovery round of the fund is now open. This phase will invest £100,000 in grassroots projects to explore key challenges identified by communities, ranging from transport and connectivity to community facilities, nature and gardens.

Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone will bring £15 million of funding over its 25-year lifetime for communities across rural Norfolk to help create places where people want to live and thrive now and in the future.

Sheringham Shoal Community Fund

The Sheringham Shoal Community Fund will support projects proposed by groups inspired to do something new and positive in their community. Projects should focus on one or more of the following:

Contribute to reducing climate change.
Assist North Norfolk communities' sustainability by stimulating their ability to solve issues and create opportunities, for example, by providing educational or community business facilities.
Have a marine environment or marine safety focus.
Promote environmental sensitivity, sustainability or the benefits of renewable energy.
Contribute to education or employment in the renewable energy industry or related arenas through access to courses and community activities.

The fund aims to award half of the funding to Wells-next-the-Sea and the surrounding area, with the remaining funds being available to the North Norfolk district.

The fund has not set an upper grant limit, but as a guide, the largest grant awarded to date is £25,000.

Norfolk Community Foundation manages the scheme.

Vattenfall Community Benefit Fund

On 25 November 2021, Vattenfall announced plans to invest more than £15 million in community projects across Norfolk through its offshore wind farms.

Vattenfall will unlock the first round of funds from the Norfolk Zone Community Benefit Fund in late 2023, when cable laying work is expected to begin.

Contact details

To find out more about the fund, contact their community engagement team directly:

Denise Hone, Stakeholder and Community Engagement, Manager for the Norfolk Zone Projects

Email: denise.hone@vattenfall.com
Phone: 07773 122025

Will Sealey, Local Liaison Officer for the Norfolk Zone Projects

Email: william.sealey@vattenfall.com
Phone: 07773 661068

Search for grants

Find a grant

Find a grant is a service that allows you to search government grants.

Grants4Norfolk

Norfolk County Council offers a free search tool for businesses and communities seeking funding opportunities.

Starting a new business

If you are considering starting a business, buying into a business opportunity or becoming self-employed, our team can help.

What you need to do to set up depends on your type of business, where you work and whether you want to employ staff.

We work closely with support organisations across the district and county that offer training, advice and funding. We can support you directly or act as a facilitator for business enquiries across the Council. For example, we can:

provide advice on starting up a new business venture
give support and advice on finding business premises
help with business planning, networking and connections with like-minded businesses

Where to get business support for new businesses

NWES

NWES is a not-for-profit enterprise agency providing business support to boost self-employment and encourage enterprise. They offer advice, training and mentoring for those wishing to start their own business.

MENTA

MENTA is a not-for-profit company providing business advice, training, networking and office space to established and new businesses in Norfolk.

Selling or closing your business

You might decide to sell or close your business for many reasons, such as retirement, illness, inadequate profits or the need to raise capital for another project. Whatever the reason, it is important to begin planning the process well in advance to help you get the best price (if the business is sold) and comply with your legal responsibilities.

This section outlines some key considerations when planning the sale or closure of your business, such as:

preparing for the sale
finding potential buyers
notifying HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) that you are leaving self-employment and finalising your tax returns.
a summary of your statutory duties towards any employees

Preparing your business for sale

If you decide to sell your business, ensuring that your accounts and other records are up to date is essential. This is so that potential buyers (and their accountants and solicitors) can carry out the financial and legal due diligence checks to enable them to make an informed decision.

Buyers will typically look for evidence of increasing profits and turnover, healthy cash flow, a growing customer base, and compliance with any legal or regulatory issues affecting your business.

Records that they may ask to see, for example:

profit and loss accounts, balance sheet and cash flow forecasts
tax and VAT returns
employee contracts and policies
supplier and customer contracts
details of business assets

Finding potential buyers

You can find potential buyers for your business in a range of ways. These include:

Listing your business on business sales platforms such as:

Using a business broker or commercial property agent, who will typically have access to multiple business sales platforms and their own database of potential business buyers.

Leaving self-employment

If you are leaving self-employment when you sell or close your business, you must tell HMRC by completing an online form covering self-assessment and National Insurance contributions.

You must also submit a self-assessment tax return for the tax year in which your self-employment ended. For example, if you cease trading in August 2024, you must submit a return for the tax year 2024/25.

Ending a partnership

If you are a member of a business partnership, the information that you must give HMRC depends on whether the entire partnership is being sold or just your share in it.

If it is only your share that is being sold, you just need to tell HMRC you are leaving self-employment and submit your personal self-assessment tax return by the deadline.

If the entire partnership is being sold or closed, you must also make sure that the 'nominated partner', meaning the partner with responsibility for dealing with the partnership's tax affairs, completes a partnership tax return by the deadline.

Selling or closing a limited company

You have additional responsibilities if you sell or close a limited company. For example, if the company is sold, you must appoint new directors before resigning. You must also notify Companies House by updating the registered details of your company.

If you have financed the company with a loan secured against your personal property, for example, if you have mortgaged your home to fund the business, you must tell the loan provider about the sale within 21 days.

Further information

Capital gains tax

When you sell your business or its assets (such as premises and equipment), you must check whether you need to complete the capital gains pages on your self-assessment tax return. If you make a profit on the sale, you may also need to pay capital gains tax.

You may be able to claim tax relief on any profits you make, such as Business Asset Disposal Relief.

VAT

If your business is registered for VAT, you must cancel your registration when the business is sold or closed. However, you can transfer the VAT registration to the new owner in some circumstances.

You can cancel your VAT registration or transfer your registration on the GOV.UK website.

Employers' responsibilities

If you sell your business, your employees have certain rights under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations (TUPE). For example, they must be kept informed about the sale, and they have some protection against dismissal or changes to their employment contract.

Visit business transfers, takeovers and TUPE at GOV.UK for more information about employee rights when a business is sold.

If you close your business, you must make your employees (if any) redundant. You must keep them informed and follow a fair redundancy process. Depending on how long they have worked for you, they may be entitled to redundancy pay.

Visit making staff redundant at GOV.UK for more information about your responsibilities when making employees redundant.

Useful resources

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