Green Business Support programme

What is the Green Deal Business Support programme?

Glasgow City Council recognises that reaching net zero and building resilience to climate change is a challenge for businesses. To help meet this, and to help address the challenge of rising energy costs, as part of its Green Deal, the city council is introducing a new Green Business Grant and a programme of targeted Green Business Support for small and medium-sized enterprises.

The programme builds on national programmes to enable changes that will reduce the impact of the energy crisis whilst tackling climate change. It is part of Glasgow's Green Deal, a nine-year mission to transform the city's economy to tackle the climate and ecological emergency.

What financial support is available?

Green Business Grant

• A non-repayable grant of up to £10,000 to reduce energy bills and help businesses make progress towards net zero carbon emissions.
• The grant can be used to fund up to 50% of the total cost of a project.
• It can be used for anything that will help a business make progress towards net-zero carbon emissions and result in long-term sustained reductions in energy bills.

The grant is now open for applications for businesses with a postcode registered in Glasgow. It will close to new applications on 30 June 2023 or when budget is fully allocated (whichever is earlier). All projects must be completed by 31 December 2023.

What can the grant be used for?

The Grant can be used to fund anything that will help a business make progress towards net-zero carbon emissions and result in long-term sustained reductions in energy bills. Suggested uses include: 

Improvements to building fabric and equipment such as: 

• Upgrading the efficiency of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. 
• Renewable heat technologies such as installing an air source heat pump, ground source heat pump or biomass boiler.  
• Improving insulation, draught-proofing, or installing new doors, or double/secondary glazing. 
• Installing renewable electricity such as solar panels or wind turbines
• Installing LED lighting.
• Improving the energy efficiency of business equipment or machinery.

Supporting the switch to active travel or Electric Vehicles:

• Provision of shower facilities or active travel infrastructure such as cycle racks
• Installing EV infrastructure on premises

 Waste Minimisation, Recovery and Reprocessing:  

• Projects that will result in a reduction in waste production. 
• The installation of equipment to assist with recovery and reprocessing of waste streams.
• Projects that close the loop on resources that would otherwise be wasted (circular economy).

Grant Eligibility

To be eligible for the grant, your business must meet the following criteria:

• You must be a small or medium-sized enterprise (as defined in the Companies Act 2006, see here and here for more information)
• Businesses must have been trading for at least 6 months
• Your business must own your own premises in Glasgow or provide written permission from your landlord to make changes to the premises including seeking planning permissions where this is necessary from Glasgow City Council Planning Division to implement the works detailed in your application if applicable
• Your business must be located in Glasgow (i.e. with a Glasgow postcode) and paying non-domestic rates in Glasgow.
• Your business must be headquartered in Glasgow - premises of an organisation based outside Glasgow will not be considered. Businesses whose main base is within the city boundary cannot use the grant to improve premises or create jobs outside Glasgow
• Businesses that are owned by another business with more than 25% stake are not eligible

A full list of eligibility criteria is  available here [239kb]. The final grant will be subject to specific Terms and Conditions set out in an individual grant award letter.

If you're unsure whether or not your business would be eligible, you can get in touch with us by emailing Business Growth.

The programme cannot support projects that have already started. Any outstanding debts to Glasgow City Council will be taken into consideration.

How to apply

• Complete and submit the online application form.
• On the form you will need to specify the area of interest for the grant and/or business advice and support (e.g. energy efficiency, renewables, active travel/EV, or green job creation).
• As part of the application process, you will need to supply evidence that the project will result in reductions in energy use and/or carbon emissions. This could be from a Business Energy Scotland appraisal, or from evidence of current energy use/ conditions of products and the new type to be provided.
• Grant applicants will also need to supply supporting documentation. This includes evidence of growth projections, corporate targets and/or sustainability plan, an environmental statement and evidence of quotes for work.
   
• Apply here

What other support is available?

Green Business Support

In addition to direct Grant support, Glasgow City Council is funding a range of programmes to assist SMEs with the transition to net zero carbon, a circular economy and climate resilience.

Step up to Net Zero:

This initiative supports Glasgow businesses reach net zero through the funding of four-month work placements to help take action towards net zero and circular goals.

Step Up to Net Zero can support businesses looking to explore their net zero opportunities; adopt circular economy principles; or work towards decarbonisation ambitions; whether the business is at the beginning of its sustainability journey; needing more direction to create change; or seeking guidance to break down barriers.

Businesses: to be eligible for Step Up to Net Zero, businesses must have a Glasgow City Council postcode, have the capacity to host a participant on placement for four months, and be willing to implement the recommendations set out in the Action Plan and support the placement participant in progressing the Action Plan.

Participants: the programme is open to people of any age however, the initiative is looking to support people from three key groups: those who are returning to the work environment; individuals who have recently graduated; those who are currently working but looking for a career change. Participants must have a Glasgow City Council postcode, not currently be in full time education and be able to commit between 16-25 hours per week to the role.

The support is delivered by Glasgow Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Glasgow City Council. The application process and further information can be found on the Circular Glasgow Website here https://www.circularglasgow.com/step-up-to-net-zero/.
 

Webinars

In addition to the one-to one support, the Business Growth team will be organising a programme of webinars and events to build knowledge and capacity of businesses. To find out more, you can sign up to the Business Growth newsletter here.

Alongside the mainstream support to SMEs, Glasgow City Council has also funded a pilot to develop SME support on resilience to the impacts of climate change. Working with sustainability charity Sniffer, this pilot will test a variety of approaches to identify those approaches which are most effective.

Sniffer

Sniffer will deliver four innovative pilot projects to test different approaches to providing climate resilience and adaptation support for SMEs in Glasgow.

The pilot projects are:

• 'Becoming Climate Resilient':bespoke training and support for Glasgow City Council's Business Advisers, who have a crucial role to play in supporting SMEs to benefit from the transition to a green economy, including increasing climate resilience.
• Climate Ready Business Improvement Districts:work in-depth with SMEs and community members in one Business Improvement District to discuss the climate resilience challenges and opportunities that exist within their community and identify opportunities for increasing climate resilience in a way that delivers wider benefits for local businesses and the community. 
• Blended climate resilience and mitigation support: collaborate with the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute to deliver this pilot building on learning from their established Royal Bank of Scotland funded SME climate leaders support programme, Climate Springboard.
• Creative economy and screen sector: collaborate with the creative economy and screen sector to co-develop a series of engagement workshops and practical exercises and work with Film City Glasgow to explore sustainability and climate resilience within the screen sector. 
   

Other sources of support

The Green Business Support programme has been designed to complement existing national programmes. Further details on other sources of support  is available here. [224kb]

Additional information

Sustainable Glasgow Charter: all businesses participating in the Green Business Support programme are encouraged to sign up to the Sustainable Glasgow charter to contribute to the council's ambitions around net zero carbon and climate resilience. Find out more about the charter here.

Shared Prosperity Fund: The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government's Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. Find out more here.