CKLG BLOG

Government Support for SMEs to train, invest and innovate 

23.05.2022

Business

Government Support for SMEs to train, invest and innovate 

As businesses continue to recover from hard times, find out five ways SMEs can get financial support for their business. 

Here are five ways SMEs can get financial support for their businesses: 

1. Claim up to £5,000 with the Employment Allowance Eligible businesses can reduce their National Insurance contribution liability each year by claiming Employment Allowance. Businesses can claim this if their employer's Class 1 National Insurance liabilities were less than £100,000 in the previous tax year.  Previously businesses could claim £4,000 so this has been increased by £1,000 for the 2022/23 tax year.  
2. Get a discount of up to £5,000 on software, with Help to Grow. Help to Grow: Digital is a UK-wide government-backed scheme that aims to help businesses choose, buy and adopt digital technologies that will help them grow their business. Eligible businesses can receive a 50% discount on buying new software worth up to £5,000 per SME, alongside free impartial advice and guidance about what digital technology is best suited to boost their business performance. 
3. Help to Grow: Management scheme provides small businesses with access to world-class business expertise on everything from leadership and financial management to marketing and digital adoption. This is delivered through leading UK business schools and one-on-one support from a business mentor. This scheme is 90% funded by the government and by the end of the programme businesses will have developed a business growth plan to help them lead and grow their business.  
4. Business rates reduction From April 2022, small retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses can benefit from 50% off business rates. From April 2022 there will be no business rates due on a range of green technology, including solar panels and batteries, whilst eligible heat networks will also receive 100% relief.  
5. Super-deduction and Annual Investment Allowance To encourage business investment, the government has introduced 130% super-deduction capital allowance on qualifying plant and machinery investments. For more details, please see our earlier blog https://cklg.co.uk/capital-allowances-super-deduction?start1=12&category_id=0&id=117 for further details. 

Alongside this, the temporary £1 million limits for Annual Investment Allowance have been extended to the end of Mar 2023. 

Benefit from the cut in Fuel Duty 

The government has cut fuel duty on petrol and diesel by 5 pence per liter for 12 months – effective from 23 March 2023