Supporting Local Business

Supporting Local Business investment priority

The Supporting Local Business investment priority is designed to fund interventions that support local businesses to thrive, innovate and grow.

Indicative funding has been set to approximately £2.35 million for 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.

The Council has developed three priority areas which this funding is focused upon:

• Vacant and Vibrant - programmes to enable entrepreneurs to start and grow businesses into vacant city centre units in Derby
• sector and innovation opportunities - programmes that champion innovation in product, process, or service delivery, enabling company development in Derby's key sectors
• recruitment, skills, and growth advisory supporting roles – supporting roles that help with recruitment and skills provision and growth and scale-up advice

East Midlands Chamber – Derby UKSPF Accelerator

Provides business support to local businesses at all stages of development to sustain, grow and innovate. This project can provide your business with impactful support that will leave a lasting effect on your business.

View details of upcoming Accelerator events including workshops and webinars.

To learn more about the support on offer and how to access please contact the Chamber directly by email, info@emc-dnl.co.uk or telephone - 0330 0530639.

University of Derby – Derby Innovation Accelerator

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund was launched in April 2022 to replace EU funding. The fund aims to boost communities, support local businesses and improve skills.

The Derby Innovation Accelerator will provide:

• Innovation Vouchers - to support access to the University of Derby innovation assets, facilities, knowledge and expertise
• Capital grants - to stimulate private sector investment in capital assets that support research and development
• Business Challenge workshops - for launching challenges and drawing together potential collaborators. The challenges focus on strengthening the identified key sectors for Derby
• Start up support - focussing on creating sustainable, investable businesses and strengthening Derby city's entrepreneurial networks
• Incubation space - opportunity for funded residency programmes, hotdesking, incubation space, meeting rooms or studio space and group coaching and mentorship

The Derby Innovation Accelerator will provide innovation support to:

• companies within Derby city only
• established businesses and third sector organisations with high growth* potential
• pre-start and newly founded organisations with high growth* potential

(* high growth defined as evidence of, or ambition to grow, by at least 20% staff and / or turnover).

Target sectors

• Rail and the sub-sectors of planning design and project delivery, rail infrastructure and equipment, rolling stock, asset management, safety and security, operations, ticketing.
• Nuclear across activities including new build, nuclear infrastructure, waste management and decommissioning.
• Aerospace across activities including design, manufacture, maintenance, modelling, simulation, materials, acoustics, guidance and control systems.
• Life sciences and the sub-sectors of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices, biomedical technologies, nutraceuticals, cosmeceuticals, food processing and environmental science.
• Creative industries including:
  • advertising and marketing
  • animation and VFX/SFX (visual and special effects)
  • architecture
  • crafts
  • design (product, graphic, fashion)
  • film and TV
  • galleries and libraries
  • heritage
  • IT
  • museums
  • music, performing and visual arts
  • publishing
  • radio and photography
  • software and computer services
  • video
  • video games
• Digital across manufacturing and service industries that capture, transmit and display data and information electronically and as an underpinning enabler of growth and innovation across all sectors. 

The Derby Innovation Accelerator is now live. If you would like further information about any area of support, or want to book onto a workshop, visit the website University of Derby: Innovation Accelerator.

Derby Jobs

Derby Jobs offers a solution to the employer recruitment challenge:

• Advice on inclusive recruitment.
• Delivering a range of services including newsletters, webinars and events, that create a connection between employers and unemployed people to support employers to recruit their talent.
• Connecting employers to a range of partners and providers to support their unemployed cohorts into work.
• Supporting Derby City Council priority groups into employment.

It will also offer support to employers looking to access the Derby City Council Apprenticeship Levy.

To learn more about the support on offer please go to our Derby Jobs section and also the Derby Jobs: Business recruitment support page.

You can also contact the team by e-mail at employmentandskills@derby.gov.uk.

This project will help to reduce barriers some people face to employment and support them to move towards employment and education by:

• targeting priority groups
• careers advice and guidance
• job coaches, which will provide the support to beneficiaries and will work seamlessly with the employment engagement coordinators
• funding interventions that support employment and skills

Ascend Vacant and Vibrant

Our Vacant to Vibrant scheme aims to reduce vacancy, address dereliction and support local independent businesses in Derby. 

The scheme provides grants to incentivise and support property owners and potential occupiers in bringing vacant properties back into use in the Cathedral Quarter and surrounding area, including strategic premises within the city centre.

For more information please visit our Ascend pages or email economic.growth@derby.gov.uk.