Support from government ‘Help to Grow: Digital’

Supercharge your business growth

The BFA have been chatting with our colleagues in the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.

Here is a new initiative to help business like yours take advantage of new software. We know that using and subscribing can be expensive but please do take a look at what is on offer after a conversation to BEIS (who offered this to companies with more than 5 employees) that our industry has, on average, less than 5 employees and we shouldn’t be left out.

With many businesses needing to adapt the way they do business during the pandemic, the support the Government is offering through Help to Grow: Digital will help them to improve their productivity and take the next step to grow.

Small and medium-sized businesses across the UK can now apply for a discount of 50% off the purchase of approved software from a range of leading technology suppliers, worth up to £5,000.

Help to Grow: Digital

• The government’s Help to Grow: Digital scheme is nearly tripling in reach, supporting up to 1.2 million UK businesses to adopt the latest digital technology
• businesses with 1 to 249 employees can now access discounts worth up to £5,000 on approved software
• from today, eCommerce software has been added to the scheme, helping businesses to sell online and reach new markets

A flagship government scheme that slashes the price of leading software, boosting productivity and growth of the UK’s small businesses, will benefit even more firms from Monday 25 July.

With Customer Relationship Management software proven to boost firms’ productivity by 18% on average, the Help to Grow: Digital scheme offers businesses discounts worth up to £5,000 on approved software.

Previously, only businesses with more than 5 employees were eligible for the scheme. From 25th July businesses with at least 1 employee are now eligible to benefit. This boosts the number of eligible businesses by 760,000 so that it now reaches up to 1.24 million.

Today it’s also announced that eCommerce software is available through the scheme to help businesses ramp up sales of products and services online. This includes helping them to manage their inventory, take payments and gather data and insights on customers’ needs. Businesses which adopt eCommerce software see on average a 7.5% increase in employee sales over 3 years.

This means businesses can now access a £5,000 discount on 30 software solutions from 14 leading technology suppliers for eCommerce, Digital Accounting and CRM software.

The digital services are:

• Digital accounting software (including Quickbooks and Sage)
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software
• eCommerce software

Do I qualify this?

• To qualify for the financial discount through Help to Grow: Digital, businesses can be from any business sector, but must meet all 4 of the following criteria:
  1. be a business based in the United Kingdom registered with Companies House or be a registered society on the Financial Conduct Authorities Mutuals Register
  2. have at least 1 employee who is not an owner, up to a maximum of 249 employees
  3. have been actively trading for over 12 months, and have an incorporation date of at least 365 days prior to application
  4. be purchasing the approved software for the first time
• Eligible businesses will receive one financial discount towards the purchase of one approved software product up to a maximum of £5,000 (not including VAT) in eCommerce, Customer Relationship Management and Digital Accounting software product categories.
• The financial discount covers 12 months’ worth of approved software product core costs, exclusive of VAT.
• The approved technology suppliers on the Help to Grow: Digital online website are:
• e-Commerce software:
  • Shopwired
  • Gob2b
  • Kentico
  • Comgem
  • EKM
  • Big Commerce
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software
  • Capsule CRM
  • Zymplify
  • Livepoint Software Solutions Ltd
  • Gold-Vision CRM
  • Deskpro Ltd
• Digital Accounting software
  • Sage
  • Intuit Ltd
  • Crunch
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software allows businesses to store their customer contact and order data all in one secure, central location. CRM has the capability to simplify business processes and enable businesses to be more profitable and efficient. Businesses who use CRM systems to manage their sales and customers see on average an 18% boost to their productivity.
• Digital Accounting software makes essential business finance tasks like raising invoices, tracking spend, and sharing information easier to manage. Businesses who adopt Digital Accounting software see on average an 11.8% increase in employee sales over 3 years.
• eCommerce software helps businesses sell their products and services online, including by streamlining management of their inventory and online shopfront, taking payments and providing data and insights on customer needs and experience. Businesses who adopt eCommerce software see on average a 7.5% increase in employee sales over 3 years.