Local Factsheet - Isles of Scilly

The Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Growth Hub works with local businesses, including self-employed people, not-for-profit organisations and people that want to start a business.

The Hub offers free, independent, and impartial business reviews with one of their connectors to help identify and access the right funding, support and training to help the business achieve their growth ambitions.  Businesses looking to develop and grow can access a range of business support initiatives and local programmes through the Growth Hub. 

A friendly team of locally based experts, they work directly with you to help identify and access support, skills training and grant funding to help start or grow your business.  Local businesses can also register with the Growth Hub website and get a free local business directory listing, share news and add events to the business calendar.

Eligibility: Available for all stages of business including businesses not yet trading (with ambitions for growth).

Website: https://www.ciosgrowthhub.com/

Tel: 01209 708660 (10am-3pm Monday-Friday)

E-mail: hello@ciosgrowthhub.com

Are you looking for support for your business?

The Council of the Isles of Scilly can provide information and advice on business rates, licensing, environmental health, animal health and welfare.

Eligibility: Available for all stages of business including businesses not yet trading.

Website: http://scilly.gov.uk/business-licensing

Tel: 0300 123 4105

E-mail: enquiries@scilly.gov.uk

A programme designed to help new businesses overcome common obstacles and lay strong foundations for future growth.  Tailored to your business needs, support will help to build capability and knowledge across a range of areas, to build confidence to take the business to the next level.  The programme is funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and delivered by Unlocking Potential on behalf of the Growth Hub.  To express your interest and discuss eligibility, contact the Growth Hub team.

Eligibility: Available to businesses that have not started, or trading less than 18 months, with a turnover below £75k.

Website: https://www.ciosgrowthhub.com/business-support/breakthrough

Contact form: https://www.ciosgrowthhub.com/tell-us-about-your-business

Invest in Cornwall can provide hosted visits to Cornwall with leading businesses, property searches, recruitment advice, industry insights, and access to market specialists, workspace, and sources of funding.

Eligibility: Available for all stages of business including businesses not yet trading.

Website: https://www.cornwallti.com/

E-mail: info@cornwallti.com

Business West offers a range of excellent business solutions, including mentoring, access to finance, digital hub resources, events and workshops, premises, exporting (including documentation), training and networking.

Some charges for services may apply.

Eligibility: Available for all stages of business including businesses not yet trading.

Website: https://www.businesswest.co.uk/

Tel: 01275 373 373

Are you thinking about starting a new business or becoming self-employed?

Free, fully funded, short courses offered online, providing an introduction to the key considerations of starting a business or becoming self-employed.  Learners will gain two enterprise qualifications, and receive ongoing support for three months afterwards.  To register your interest, complete the online form.

Following completion of the course, participants have the option to join further free programmes focussed on digital promotion and digital skills in the business, covering areas including using digital technologies and software for word processing, presentations and spreadsheets and digital skills career progression.

They also provide access to a fully funded, self-paced online Functional Skills course to help people build on their abilities in English and Maths, equivalent to a GCSE qualification.

For ex-offenders who have left the prison service, Through the Gate Support, provides learners with the opportunity to gain a recognised business qualification.  Through a series of engaging sessions, the course covers all the basics of starting up, and supports learners to work with other specialist ex-offender agencies as part of their resettlement journey.  To make an enquiry contact the team by emailing referrals@kickoffinbusiness.co.uk. 

Eligibility: Available for people over the age of 19, not started trading or within the first 12 months of trading.

Website: https://www.kickoffinbusiness.co.uk

General contact form: https://www.kickoffinbusiness.co.uk/contact

A programme supporting established businesses to achieve their ambitions and reach new heights.  Businesses are provided with a clear and detailed analysis and understanding of what stage they are at, then supported to confirm strategic direction and develop clear plans to ensure sustainability and growth in the long term.  The programme is funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and delivered by Unlocking Potential on behalf of the Growth Hub.  To express your interest and discuss eligibility, contact the team.

Eligibility: Businesses trading over 12 months, with an annual turnover above £75k.

Website: https://www.ciosgrowthhub.com/business-support/infocus

Contact form: https://www.ciosgrowthhub.com/tell-us-about-your-business

Farmers looking to boost their environmental credentials can access a range of programmes to help.  Support is available for measuring the carbon footprint at a farm and developing a decarbonisation plan, assessments of water usage in the business and how that relates to local watercourses, guidance on accessing grant funding, and environmental management support to explore biodiversity and recovery of the natural environment at the farm.

The project is part-funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and delivered by Duchy College, Westcountry Rivers Trust, Cornwall Wildlife Trust, the Farm Carbon Toolkit and the Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Growth Hub.  To access support and find out more about these opportunities, contact the Growth Hub team.

Website: https://www.ciosgrowthhub.com/agri-carbon-kernow

Online contact form: https://www.ciosgrowthhub.com/tell-us-about-your-business

The programme supports organisations to understand their environmental impact and accelerate their journey to Net Zero. Sustainability experts can help with understanding impact and Carbon Footprint and creating custom Carbon Reduction Plans to map a route to reducing emissions, with access to market-leading software to monitor impact.  The programme is funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and delivered by The University of Exeter on behalf of the Growth Hub.  To express your interest and discuss eligibility, contact the team.

Eligibility: Available to businesses that have started trading.

Website: https://www.ciosgrowthhub.com/business-support/green-futures

Contact form: https://www.ciosgrowthhub.com/tell-us-about-your-business

Led by serving police officers, the Cyber Resilience Centre for the South West provides guidance and support to small businesses and charities to protect themselves from cyber-crime. Their free core membership package offers simple and comprehensible guidance on reducing cyber risks. Other services such as vulnerability assessments and security awareness training are available at a cost – more information can be found on the website. 

They are also running a series of free cyber resilience workshops on behalf of The Growth Hub Gloucestershire.

Eligibility: Available to all stages of business. 

Website: https://www.swcrc.co.uk/

Online contact form: https://www.swcrc.co.uk/contact-us  

Cornwall & Isles of Scilly based businesses (SME and Larger Enterprises) that have a manufacturing and/or production process with their operation.

D4M can help businesses to improve efficiency and productivity, solve production challenges, harness technology, software and data, develop skills and confidence, scope and implement new systems and business processes, identify finance requirements to support digital adoption, define and develop a strategic digital roadmap.

The programme is funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and delivered by Oxford Innovation Advice on behalf of the Growth Hub.  To express your interest and discuss eligibility, contact the team.

Eligibility: All manufacturing businesses or those with a production process.

Website: https://www.ciosgrowthhub.com/business-support/Digitisation-for-Manufacturers

Contact form: https://www.ciosgrowthhub.com/tell-us-about-your-business

The programme helps businesses with recruitment, growing or retaining their team. Help is available to support good recruitment strategies and practices through regular workshops, as well as one-to-one coaching and support. Includes workforce planning, budgeting, skills mapping, recruitment processes, legal compliance and induction.  To express your interest and find out more, contact the team.

Eligibility: Available to businesses that have started trading with a turnover below £1 million.

Website: https://www.ciosgrowthhub.com/business-support/teams

Contact form: https://www.ciosgrowthhub.com/tell-us-about-your-business

An initiative designed to support businesses who have the potential to commercially exploit new ideas and technology, to scale and grow their business.  From intellectual property and R&D tax credits to game-changing scale-up endeavours – businesses are supported on their journey to make innovative processes and commercially viable products and services a reality.  There is a focus on businesses operating in the sectors of clean energy resources, geo-resources, data and space, visitor economy and agri-food. Support is funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and delivered by The University of Plymouth on behalf of the Growth Hub.  To express your interest and discuss eligibility, contact the team.

Eligibility: Available to trading businesses looking to scale and grow.

Website: https://www.ciosgrowthhub.com/business-support/stride

Contact form: https://www.ciosgrowthhub.com/tell-us-about-your-business

A programme for manufacturing companies in the West of England. Made Smarter is designed to help accelerate growth through access to a range of support.

This includes advice from digital specialists with a fully funded assessment and digital roadmap for your business, help with your strategy to implement new technologies, leadership development, access to digital skills resources and workshops, support for technological innovations, plus up to 50% match-funding (up to £20,000) towards the purchase of hardware and software.

To find out more and make an enquiry, visit the website.

Eligibility: Manufacturing businesses that have begun trading who are looking to grow.

Closing date: March 2026

Website: https://www.madesmarter.uk/adoption/in-my-region/south-west/

Innovate UK Business Growth (was Innovate UK EDGE) is a key part of the UK innovation agency’s investment in the innovative businesses that drive economic growth. It provides intensive, specialist-led support to ambitious innovation-led businesses to help them grow and scale.

Each high-potential, innovative business is supported by a dedicated innovation & growth specialist local to them. The specialist will consider a business in the round and, working closely with its leadership, identify the most productive ways to accelerate its growth. This could be by working on the core business plan and value proposition or through exploiting innovation, accessing funding and finance, and/or expanding into new markets.

In particular, the specialists can help companies to develop an innovation-driven business plan; understand how to protect and create value from their intellectual property; develop a strategy to fund and finance their innovation, growth and be investment ready; connect to new partners for commercial, technology and R&D collaborations; and discover opportunities in overseas markets learning how to capitalise on them.

Innovate UK Business Growth  also offer the Scaleup Programme for enhanced support, the Global Incubator Programme and the Global Business Innovation Programme.

Eligibility: Available for businesses that have begun trading (innovative businesses, looking to grow and scale their business in the UK market and internationally) with up to 500 employees (250 in Northern Ireland). It is not suitable for pre-starts, or for those businesses who have no ambition to grow through innovation or internationalisation.

Website: https://iuk.ktn-uk.org/business-growth/

Online Contact Form: https://iuk.ktn-uk.org/business-growth-contact/ 

Tel: 0300 123 3066  (National Gateway)

Do you need legal advice? Lawyers for your business is a scheme offering a free half-hour consultation with a member of the Law Society.

The lawyer will not be able to deal with existing legal issues but can help with general legal enquiries about starting a business, employing people, contracts with customers and suppliers, taking on leased premises, business structures, health and safety and raising finance. When contacting a solicitor for a 30-minute free consultation you must advise you are calling regarding the Lawyers for your business scheme and use the named contact on the sheet sent to you from the service.

Eligibility: Available for businesses trading up to 12 months including businesses not yet trading.

Website: https://solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk/

Tel: 020 7320 5650 - If you need help with using the find a solicitor section, Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm

E-mail: lfyb@lawsociety.org.uk - please include postcode or town/city in the e-mail.

For solicitors interested in joining the LFYB scheme
https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/career-advice/individual-accreditations/lawyers-for-your-business

Good Growth represents the range of opportunities for Levelling Up through the Shared Prosperity Fund, for organisations wanting to deliver projects in the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly area. 

Focus areas include strategic infrastructure, R&D, and innovation that contributes to green and clean energy, digital connectivity and growth for sectors such as space, the visitor economy and agri-food. 
Other programmes also focus on helping with the cost of living for residents, developing community organisations and facilities, cultural events and heritage regeneration, high street regeneration, and support for companies who deliver high-quality business support.   

Applicants for any programme need to first complete an enquiry form and the team will be in touch to discuss the next steps.

Eligibility: Trading businesses, charities, social enterprises and community organisations with growth ambitions.  Additional eligibility may apply based on the programme.

Closing date: Programmes have different closure dates, check the website for details.

Website: https://ciosgoodgrowth.com/

Contact form: https://ciosgoodgrowth.com/contact/

Offering a range of finance options, SWIF aims to provide finance to new and growing small businesses that may otherwise struggle to access it, across the whole South West region.
Funded by the British Business Bank and delivered by selected finance partners, organisations can apply for a range of loans starting at £25,000, through to equity finance of up to £5 million.  They can support investments in various projects such as expansion, product or service innovation, and new processes, skills or purchase of capital equipment.  The individual funds support different areas of the South West, further details are available on the website.

Eligibility: Available for all trading stages, subject to the eligibility criteria of the specific fund.

Website: https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/finance-options/nations-and-regions-investment-funds/south-west-investment-fund

Tel: 0203 772 1340

Contact Form 

Cornwall Community Foundation provides small grants for local charities, community and voluntary groups based in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly making a positive impact in their area. - conditions apply.  

Eligibility: Available for all stages of business including businesses not yet trading. Charities, community and voluntary organisations.

Closing date: Ongoing, though some schemes have deadlines; please check the website.

Website: https://www.cornwallcommunityfoundation.com/

Contact form: https://www.cornwallcommunityfoundation.com/contact/ 

Tel: 01566 779333

E-mail: office@cornwallfoundation.com

Are you based in the South West of England and are looking for a business loan?

SWIG Finance provides a range of business loans to viable businesses. Loans range from £500 up to  £250,000.  To find out more, visit the website or contact the team who will connect you to the right options for your business.

Eligibility: Available for all stages of business including businesses not yet trading but may vary depending on the scheme.

Website: https://www.swigfinance.co.uk/

Tel: 01872 227 930 / 01872 227 932

E-mail: info@swigfinance.co.uk

Council of the Isles of Scilly
Details of procurement policies and tender opportunities.
Website: http://www.scilly.gov.uk/business-licensing/contracts

Isles of Scilly Growth & Skills Hub
The local growth hub offers a list of events in the Cornwall area.
https://www.ciosgrowthhub.com/whats-going-on

Cornwall Chamber of Commerce
Membership group offering networking and events.
http://www.cornwallchamber.co.uk

Institute of Directors (IoD) South West
Membership organisation for the South West area (fees apply).
www.iod.com/events-community/regions/south-west

Federation of Small Businesses (FSB)
Events calendar for UK based businesses.
https://www.fsb.org.uk/event-calendar.html

Newquay Business Club
Free networking group.
https://newquaybusinessclub.co.uk/ 

Business Cornwall
List of events in the Cornwall area.
https://www.businesscornwall.co.uk/events-networking-in-cornwall/cornwall-business-networking-calendar/

Network Cornwall
Networking events and online community for women only.
http://www.networkcornwall.net

Cornwall Council
Building and planning control information.
https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/
Tel: 0300 123 4151

Truro, Pool, Penryn Innovation Centres
Cornwall Innovation comprises the county's newest business acceleration facilities:
-The Pool Innovation Centre (start-up and existing businesses from a range of sectors)
-Tremough Innovation Centre (creative, media, eco and environmental science sectors)
-The Health & Wellbeing Innovation Centre based at Treliske in Truro (welcomes knowledge-based businesses within sectors that support health and wellbeing)
www.cornwallinnovation.co.uk