Whether you are starting a new digital business from scratch, or growing an existing business, we believe the UK Government is a global leader in the services it offers to help digital businesses grow faster and more efficiently. You’ll find support to fast track your business across each stage of it’s growth.

Check out this complete guide to Business Support Services available from the UK Government

The Tech Nation Visa Scheme Is Now Online!

Transforming an idea into a reality can seem overwhelming. Knowing where to start is one key to success. A range of Government support, initiatives and experts aim to guide you through the process.

• Starting a Business The first steps to get you going
• Plan ahead Help whilst you are planning your idea
• Great Business This site collates a range of useful Government resources for SMEs
• Running a Business Resources and documentation you will need to run your business smoothly
• Getting advice Talking to someone who has “been there, done that” can always help

Growing and expanding your business is the next natural step. These Government services are aimed at helping you scale up your business once you’ve set up.

• Growing a Business An overall step by step guide on how to start growing your business
• Small Business, Great Ambition The Government provides guidance for small business to get up and running
• GrowthAccelerator Connects you to external advisers who listen, diagnose and help you focus on delivering growth
• Manufacturing Advisory Service Does what it says on the tin. More than 12,000 manufacturers have benefited from free reviews and tailored action plans
• UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) The first port of call for all UK companies who want to expand overseas
• British Chambers of Commerce Provides you with extensive advice and publications about export services, documentation, training and trade missions
• The G Cloud, introduced to drive Government procurement, is one of the world’s most innovative tender systems in the world

Improving your skills, gaining expertise and training your co-workers will help you stay ahead of the curve in the long run. These initiatives can help you build your dream team:

• Apprenticeships More and more companies are hiring apprentices, to enhance their workforce and provide people with the chance to get upskilled
• Small Business Recruitment Service Provides you with support and advice about hiring schemes including wage incentives, youth contracts and the Work Choice programme
• UKCES A great starting point if you’re planning to develop leadership and management skills within your business
• ACAS Stay up to date with the latest employment laws and regulations

Having a clear grasp over finance is one of the cornerstones of a successful business. These resources will help you understand the range of financial support available to you.

• Business finance What kind of finance is available to fund your business? This guide explains the range of financing options available
• Public sector financial support A handy reference tool to identify Government-backed support and finance options for business
• Private sector finance Set up by a coalition of the largest UK Financial institutions, this site takes you through the possibilities for private funding
• Directory of financial support Learn about the different types of Financial Support offered by the Government
• ICAEW, ACCA and ICAS the Business Finance Advice Scheme is run by the three participating accountancy bodies. Find an expert finance adviser in your local area by searching their directories

The Government provides tax aid through a range of investment and support schemes which could benefit your business:

• Business Growth Fund offers long term capital for fast-growing companies
• Enterprise Capital Funds (ECF) The Government can provide two thirds of up to £2m capital investment
• Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) The Government provides a guarantee of 75% of individual outstanding loan amounts on loans of up to £1m
• The rate of R&D tax credit for companies with fewer than 500 employees is now 230%
• The Patent Box Scheme which lowers Corporation Tax to 10% on profits from the development and exploitation of patents and certain other intellectual property in the UK has been introduced
• The Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) provides 50% income tax relief for UK taxpayers investing in qualifying startups for the first £100,000 seed investment
• The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) offers 30% income tax relief for private investors – bringing the scheme in line with the relief available in contributions into venture capital trusts

If you‘re looking to expand your business from overseas, the UK is the ideal place:

• The UK has one of the lowest corporation tax rates in the G20
• You can register a company within 48 hours
• 4 of the world’s top 10 universities are based in the UK
• The labour force is the second largest in the Europe
• The UK government offers support to startups and entrepreneurs

Find out how the Government supports entrepreneurs and startups

Learn how to set up your business in the UK

Learn how to set up your business in London

Central Government spends around £43bn a year on goods and services, of which £6.8bn (over 15 per cent) was transacted through the Crown Commercial Service in 2013/14.

It has agreements with more than 2,600 suppliers to provide goods and services to the public sector, of which over 60 per cent are SMEs. The value of the contracts that government spends with SMEs has risen from around 6.5 per cent of the total spend in 2010 to over 20 per cent today. Procurement timescales are shortening – from an average of over 127 days to less than 100 days. Below you can find:

• Links to opportunities and calls for tenders
• Details of complaints procedures

This is part of the government’s plans to overhaul the way it procures and delivers services. It has introduced policies that are changing the way government procures IT such as:

• Limiting the size of IT contracts
• Cloud First and new data standards

Obviously there are still large IT contracts, but many of these will expire before the end of 2017, which presents a big opportunity to smaller firms. The Crown Commercial Service’s G-Cloud store is a marketplace allowing anyone in public sector organisations to buy off the shelf cloud-based services on a pay-as-you-go basis. It covers infrastructure, platform, software and support services. Of the £270 million spent so far, 54 per cent has been with SMEs. To explore the opportunities that are available check out:

• The UK’s procurement pipeline offers an overview of forthcoming tenders
• Contracts Finder lists most UK government contracts worth over £10,000
• Tenders Electronic Daily lists every government contract across the EU and beyond – approximately 1,500 new contracts per week

The government has built these processes in the hope that they will run smoothly, be open to innovation, and sufficiently agile both to creatively deliver what is procured and to offer value for money. However, sometimes not everything will run according to plan. Two innovations have been introduced to counteract potential issues:

1. Procurement officers will provide feedback on the reasons behind the refusal of a tender within 20 days of the request
2. Mystery Shopper service provides an informal route for suppliers to feedback anonymously about public sector procurement processes and practices, including potential barriers to entry. The service also carries out spot checks on procurement processes and practices by examining documents and adverts published online