Growth Hubs: Finding Free Business Support in Your Area
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Growth Hubs are local business support networks across England, part-funded by central government and delivered by Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) or successor bodies. They offer free advice, signposting to grants and finance, and connections to specialist support. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have parallel networks. This guide explains what Growth Hubs do, how to use them, and what to expect.
Key points
- Growth Hubs are 38 regional business support networks across England, originally part of the Local Enterprise Partnership network and now in transition as LEP functions move to combined authorities.
- Free initial advice for small and medium businesses on growth, finance, regulation, exporting, and innovation.
- Signposting to over 600 grants, loans, and finance programmes via the gov.uk Business Support Finder — Growth Hubs maintain local knowledge of regional schemes.
- Specialist programmes (Help to Grow Management, Made Smarter, exporting support, Innovate UK Edge) accessed through Growth Hubs.
- Each Growth Hub has different specialisms and resources — explore yours rather than assuming all are identical.
- Wales: Business Wales (businesswales.gov.wales). Scotland: Scottish Enterprise plus regional bodies. Northern Ireland: Invest NI for higher-growth SMEs.
- Growth Hubs are FREE for businesses to use — they do not charge for advice or signposting. Specialist programmes may have means-tested fees but most have no fee for SMEs.
What Growth Hubs do
Growth Hubs offer three main types of service:
- Initial business advice — a face-to-face, phone, or online consultation about your business issue. The adviser identifies the most relevant support and signposts.
- Signposting to grants and finance — Growth Hubs maintain knowledge of local grants, regional accelerators, the British Business Bank programmes, and national schemes. They help you identify what your business is eligible for.
- Specialist programmes — Help to Grow Management (12-week SME leadership programme, fees subsidised), Made Smarter (digital manufacturing transformation), exporting support, Innovate UK Edge (innovation grants).
The advice is typically generic at first (any small business gets the basics) but specialist Growth Hubs run sector-focused programmes — manufacturing, tech, life sciences, low-carbon — depending on the regional economy.
Finding your local Growth Hub
The directory is at lepnetwork.net/local-growth-hub-contacts. Each hub serves a defined region (e.g. Greater London, North West, Tees Valley, West of England). The hub closest to you is determined by your business postcode.
Hub names you might encounter:
- London Growth Hub.
- Greater Manchester Business Growth Hub.
- West Midlands Growth Hub.
- South West Growth Hub.
- NEL Business Growth Hub (Northeast Lincolnshire).
- ... and 33 others.
You can use any Growth Hub regardless of where your business is — though you usually get more relevant signposting from your local one.
Phone or use the online enquiry form. Initial response usually within 2 working days. The adviser will arrange a longer follow-up.
Help with finance and grants
Growth Hubs are particularly useful for:
- Grant scoping — they know which grants are open, which have closed, and what the eligibility criteria are. Many grant programmes are time-limited (annual or quarterly windows) and only locally publicised.
- British Business Bank programmes — Start Up Loans, Enterprise Finance Guarantee, regional funds. Growth Hubs are the local front door to BBB.
- Local Authority Reserve funds — many councils have small business grant pots that are not nationally publicised.
- UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) — successor to EU Structural Funds. Distributed by local authorities. Growth Hubs help signpost to the local programmes.
- Innovate UK grants — the largest UK government grant funder for innovation. Growth Hub Innovate UK Edge advisers help with applications.
The gov.uk Business Support Finder (gov.uk/business-finance-support) lets you filter all UK programmes by sector, size, and location. Growth Hubs help you interpret the search results and prioritise applications.
Specialist programmes worth knowing about
Programmes delivered or signposted by Growth Hubs:
- Help to Grow Management: 12-week leadership course for SME directors. Delivered by 50+ business schools. Subsidised at 90% — typical cost to business £750. Covers strategy, marketing, finance, innovation.
- Made Smarter: digital transformation grants and advice for manufacturers. Up to £20,000 grant per business. Available in North West, North East, Yorkshire & Humber, West Midlands, and other regions.
- UK Export Finance: government-backed export insurance and finance. Free advice through the Growth Hub network and the UKEF Helpline.
- Innovate UK Edge: free innovation advisers helping SMEs commercialise R&D, access innovation grants, and grow.
- UK Shared Prosperity Fund local schemes: vary by local authority but include skills bootcamps, growth grants, capital investment grants.
Each programme has different eligibility — Growth Hub advisers know which ones your business qualifies for and what the application timeline is.
Practical tips for getting the most out of a Growth Hub
Five things that help:
- Be specific about what you need. "Help to grow" is too vague. "I want a £20k grant for new equipment that will save 30% on electricity" gets a much faster, more useful response.
- Bring up-to-date business information — turnover, profit, headcount, plans for next 12 months. Most grants have eligibility thresholds.
- Use the Help to Grow Management programme if you have 5+ employees. The 12-week course is high quality and the network of cohort businesses is valuable.
- Apply for free things first. Vouchers, free training, free advisors. Grants take longer and have higher rejection rates.
- Be patient with grant applications. Typical timeline: 8-16 weeks from application to decision. Specialist innovation grants can take 6+ months.
Frequently asked questions
Does using a Growth Hub cost anything?
Will the Growth Hub apply for the grant on my behalf?
What happens if my business is in transition (e.g. moving to a different region)?
Are there Growth Hub equivalents in Wales/Scotland/NI?
What if I am not yet trading?
What to do next
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Official bodies and resources
HM Revenue & Customs
GovernmentResponsible for collecting taxes, paying some forms of state support, and administering national insurance.
Companies House
GovernmentIncorporates and dissolves limited companies, registers company information, and makes it available to the public.
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