Businesses urged to get digital help to grow

Published: August 8th, 2022

More small businesses in the Marches area are being urged to apply for help with the cost of upgrading their digital systems.

The Help to Grow: Digital scheme offers discounts of up to £5,000 on approved software for businesses.

It was previously only available to businesses with more than five employees, but the government has now expanded the scheme to those with between one and 249 employees.

The range of software available has also been expanded to include e-commerce packages, which are designed to help business sell online and target new markets.

The scheme offers up to 50 per cent discount or £5,000 towards the cost of one software package, covering 12 months’ worth of the software’s costs.

To be eligible for help, businesses should

• UK registration. Your business must be registered in the UK and be registered with either Companies House or be a registered society listed on the Financial Conduct Authority’s Mutuals Register.
• Have traded for over 12 months. Your business must have been actively trading for over 12 months prior to the date of application.
• 1 – 249 employees. Your business must have a minimum of 1 employees, but no more than 249.
• New software. Your business must be purchasing the approved software for the first time.

There are now 30 different software packages available from 14 leading names, covering e-commerce, accounting and customer relationship management (CRM). These can help businesses with everything from taking payments to gathering data on customers’ needs.

The Help to Grow: Digital scheme can also offer one-to-one advice for SMEs on how best they can adopt digital technology.