Updates relevant to founders in United Kingdom. 45 in total.
On 11 September 2026 Innovate UK opened Round 3 of the Battery Innovation Programme, offering a share of up to GBP 25 million across its Concept Development and Feasibility Studies…
Innovate UK opened Engineering Biology Collaborative R&D: Round 3 on 8 September 2026, offering a share of up to GBP 8.5 million for collaborative projects to develop and scale eng…
On 7 September 2026 the British Business Bank revealed plans to commit up to £150m to a new fund backing high-growth scale-up businesses across the North of England, including univ…
Innovate UK opened the National Materials Innovation Programme CR&D Round 1 on 1 September 2026, offering UK registered businesses a share of up to GBP 12 million for collaborative…
Innovate UK opened the UK-Singapore Collaborative R&D 2026 competition on 24 August 2026, sharing up to £3 million among business-led projects, with individual UK grants of £100,00…
Innovate UK opened its UK-Singapore Collaborative R&D 2026 competition on 24 August 2026, with up to GBP 3 million shared across projects. A UK partner can claim between GBP 100,00…
On 7 August 2026, HM Treasury and the British Business Bank announced a £100m deployment under the Investor Pathways Capital initiative to launch up to 10 new UK venture capital fu…
On 7 August 2026, the government announced a £100m next phase of the £400m British Business Bank Investor Pathways Capital initiative, backing as many as 10 new venture capital fun…
On 7 August 2026 Innovate UK announced its largest-ever Women in Innovation cohort, recognising 100 UK female founders. 61 of them receive a GBP 75,000 grant plus 12 months of tail…
On 6 August 2026 the UK government expanded the Global Talent visa so that, for the first time, over 100 approved research-intensive businesses (not just universities) can support…
On 6 August 2026 the UK government expanded the Global Talent visa so more than 100 innovative research businesses (including AstraZeneca and Jaguar Land Rover) can now endorse int…
On 5 August 2026 the London Stock Exchange's most comprehensive AIM rule changes since 1995 took effect. AIM now permits special (dual-class) voting shares at admission so founders…
On 5 August 2026 Innovate UK named its largest-ever Women in Innovation cohort: 61 award winners each receive a £75,000 grant plus 12 months of tailored business support, with 39 h…
Defra's Farming Innovation Programme, delivered with Innovate UK, opened Round 2 of its Automation and Robotics R&D fund on 3 August 2026, offering UK businesses a share of up to £…
Defra and Innovate UK opened Round 2 of the Farming Futures Automation and Robotics competition on 3 August 2026, offering a share of up to GBP 20 million. Projects must be collabo…
From 1 October 2026, non-levy-paying employers (those with a paybill under £3m) can claim up to £2,000 for hiring an apprentice aged 16-24, provided the apprentice's practical star…
On 27 July 2026 the government announced that five major UK pension providers - Railpen, Nest, LPPI, LGPS Central and Border to Coast - are joining forces to explore a new UK Scale…
From 6 April 2026, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is mandatory for around 864,000 sole traders and landlords with gross self-employment/property income over £50,000. The first q…
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax became mandatory from 6 April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying self-employment or property income above £50,000. Over 864,000 p…
On 13 July 2026 HM Treasury announced an expansion of the British Business Bank's Growth Guarantee Scheme, adding £2bn of supported SME lending a year by 2028/29 to reach £3.35bn a…
On 13 July 2026 the government expanded the British Business Bank's Growth Guarantee Scheme, raising maximum loan terms from 6 to 10 years and turnover eligibility from £45m to £54…
On 12 July 2026 the Chancellor announced a major expansion of the British Business Bank's Growth Guarantee Scheme, unlocking a further £6.5bn of lending over four years and lifting…
The European Space Agency Business Incubation Centre (ESA BIC UK) at Space Park Leicester reopened applications, with the next deadline at 12:00 on 28 August 2026. Selected UK star…
Innovate UK's UK-Switzerland Collaborative R&D Round 3 opened on 1 July 2026 and closes at 11:00am on 3 September 2026, sharing up to GBP 3 million (matched by at least CHF 3 milli…
Innovate UK opened its 'Next Wave: Breakthrough Wave 1' competition on 23 June 2026, sharing £10 million for creative-technology (createch) research projects in England. UK-registe…
The British Business Bank is standing up two Nations and Regions Investment Funds for launch in summer 2026: GBP 210m for the South East (SEIF) and GBP 140m for the East of England…
The government's Commercial Payments Bill, described as the largest late-payment crackdown in over 25 years, imposes a mandatory 60-day cap on the payment terms large firms can set…
The government's Visa Fees Reimbursement Scheme for Scale Ups (VFRS4SU) opened on 9 June 2026 and runs until 1 March 2027 (or until funds run out). Eligible high-growth firms can r…
Start Up Loans Now Charge 7.5% Interest New loans have a fixed interest rate of 7.5%. Loans taken before 6 April 2026 retain the 6% rate. Eligible businesses must have been trading…
On 21 May 2026 the government-owned British Business Bank made a £25m cornerstone commitment to Antler's UK Fund II — its first backing of Antler. The fund invests in founders from…
From 6 April 2026 the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) annual company limit doubled to £10m (£20m for knowledge-intensive companies) and the lifetime limit doubled to £24m (£40m…
From 6 April 2026 the EIS and VCT lifetime company investment limit doubled to £24m and the annual limit rose to £10m, with the gross assets test lifted to £30m before a share issu…
From 6 April 2026 the Enterprise Investment Scheme annual company raise limit rose from GBP 5m to GBP 10m (GBP 20m for knowledge-intensive companies), the lifetime limit doubled to…
From 6 April 2026, the UK's Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) tax-advantaged share scheme qualifying limits were widened: companies can now have up to 500 full-time-equivalent…
From 6 April 2026 the British Business Bank's government-backed Start Up Loans scheme raised its fixed interest rate to 7.5% (up from the 6% set at launch in 2012). Eligibility was…
From 6 April 2026 the Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) scheme qualifies far larger companies: the gross-assets test rises from £30m to £120m, the employee cap from 250 to 500…
From 6 April 2026, HMRC's Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) rules loosened significantly: the employee cap rose from 250 to under 500 full-time-equivalent staff, the gross-ass…
From 6 April 2026, Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax is mandatory for sole traders and landlords whose combined gross income from self-employment and property exceeds GBP 50,…
From 6 April 2026 the government-backed Start Up Loans programme (delivered via the British Business Bank) extended eligibility to businesses trading for up to 5 years (60 months),…
For EMI options granted on or after 6 April 2026, the qualifying company gross assets limit rises from GBP 30m to GBP 120m and the employee cap from 250 to 500 full-time equivalent…
From 6 April 2026, sole traders and landlords with qualifying self-employment or property income over GBP 50,000 must keep digital records and send quarterly updates to HMRC using…
For the 2026/27 tax year (from 6 April 2026), employer Class 1 National Insurance remains at 15% and the secondary threshold at which it becomes payable stays at £5,000 per year, c…
Identity verification at Companies House became a legal requirement on 18 November 2025 for all new directors and Persons with Significant Control (PSCs). Existing directors and PS…
From 18 November 2025, identity verification at Companies House became a legal requirement, starting a 12-month transition period. All existing company directors and people with si…
Identity verification became a legal requirement on 18 November 2025 for new incorporations and director/PSC appointments. Existing directors and persons with significant control h…