Business Productivity and Digitisation Grant Scheme
Important update for South Yorkshire-based manufacturing, engineering and environmental businesses.
The current Business Productivity and Digitisation Grant Scheme financed by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), has now received extra funding, with the deadline for new applications extended to October 2025 from the original closing date of March this year.
This is great news for SMEs based in South Yorkshire, who are seeking help to boost productivity or digitise systems for improving efficiency and competitiveness.
This is especially relevant in the light of recent difficult trading conditions.
The Business Productivity and Digitisation Grant Scheme has a track record of success in supporting the growth of small to medium sized business by helping them to become more productive, while ensuring that improvements are monitored and measured against success.
More than 200 Sheffield-based businesses have already received productivity grants of up to £10,000 each.
This has have resulted in the creation of 100 more jobs, and the launch of 120 new products or processes.
What you need to know before applying for the Business Productivity and Digitisation Grants
There are two types of grants available:
- Business Productivity Grants of between £2,500 and £10,000
- Digital Innovation Grants of between £2,500 and £5,000
The grants are available to help SMEs invest in improvements that will increase innovation and productivity, and drive growth.
The grants are available to help fund projects for capital investment in new/updated machinery and/or equipment or to pay for specialist business support.
Individual South Yorkshire councils, in Sheffield, Doncaster, Barnsley and Rotherham provide business advisors to support applicants in understanding what the blockers are in their business, and how to change them.
They will implement metrics to understand the effect of the changes, helping business owners to plan the next steps for continued growth.
Funding for the Business Productivity and Digitisation Grant Scheme is limited, and time is short, so here are the main eligibility criteria:
- Applications are limited to one grant per business.
- Grants are match-funded, so whatever size of grant you apply for, you have to match it with your own funds, e.g. £5,000 grant plus £5.000 from you = £10,000 project.
- Your business must have been trading for a minimum of 12 months for grants over £5,000.
- Your commercial premises should be located in the South Yorkshire location where you are lodging your grant application i.e., Sheffield, Doncaster, Barnsley or Rotherham.
- You must be able to cover the full price of the project before claiming the grant.
- You must be able to pay for (i.e. cover the cost of supplier invoices) and complete the project in full by November 2025.
- You must be able to meet the above timescales for project completion.
- You will need to confirm that you have not received more than £315,000 of state aid/subsidy (less the amount of the current grant application), in the last three fiscal years (including this year.)
How can Rebus Creative help your business make the most of Business Productivity and Digitisation Grants?
At Rebus Creative, we’ve spent the last 20 years helping manufacturing, engineering, and environmental businesses in South Yorkshire turn big ideas into results.
We’ve worked with everyone from business owners to boards of directors, and we’ve seen first-hand how the right support at the right time, can drive growth, transforming a company’s future.
At Rebus Creative, we don’t do cookie-cutter solutions. Everything we recommend is driven by you, our client.
All our solutions are built around your business, your goals, and your budget. No upselling. No fluff. Just straightforward, transparent advice that delivers impact, value for money, a return on your investment into Rebus Creative services, and measurable results.
If you’re successful in securing a Business Productivity and Digitisation Grant, we can help you to make every penny spent on the project, count. Whether it’s:
- Building or refreshing your website to work harder for you
- Linking a CRM system into your website to personalise and improve the customer experience
- Using Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to connect software, sharing data to make processes faster, smarter, and more efficient
Whatever the project, we’ll make sure it delivers impact and clear results you can measure.
What does the future hold?
Going beyond the Business Productivity and Digitisation Grant project
A grant can be the start of something great – a spark to really get things moving, but long-term growth needs a plan.
This is where the Rebus Creative strategic marketing planning service can help you to maximise the impact of the project and deliver your long-term goals.
We’ll work with you to develop a strategic marketing plan that:
- Defines your business goals
- Assess sales targets to reach those goals
- Define your ideal customer and detail how you are going to engage them
- Align your marketing activities to business goals, so every action produces results
We’ll review and improve the strategic marketing plan as we go along, ensuring it delivers ROI, guaranteeing you stay on track even when your business, trading conditions or the market changes.
Looking ahead: One, three and five-year planning
We will help you to visualise where your business needs to be in the short, medium and long term, setting priorities for:
- Brand development and market positioning
- Marketing activities and tech investment, like automation and reporting tools
- An implementation plan for API-driven data sharing and efficiencies, freeing up time for your team, boosting productivity
- Future innovations
- New product launches
- Driving digitisation projects that will drive sales’ growth
Every project the Rebus Creative team undertake will be costed, time-scaled, and regularly reviewed so you always know what’s working, and what to focus on next.
Start with a Free Marketing Audit
Not sure where to begin? Our FREE marketing audit is the perfect first step.
It will reveal:
- How long it’s been since your last marketing review
- Whether your current efforts are delivering results, and whether they match your business goals
- Any changes in your business that may affect marketing performance
- How your marketing channels are performing, and where improvements may be required
- How to optimise your budget
What we uncover in the FREE marketing audit will become the foundation for a strategic marketing plan that puts you in the best position for sustained growth.
If you own an SME in Sheffield, Doncaster, Barnsley or Rotherham, check your local authority’s website for all the grant details and application info.
And remember, the Rebus Creative team is here to help ensure your Business Productivity and Digitisation Grant funding delivers real impact and drives long-term growth for your South Yorkshire-based manufacturing, engineering, and environmental business.
