Finance & Funding

Grants for Tourism Businesses

The Toolkit Grants Database

Browse the Toolkit Grants Database on the right to find funding that matches your businesses needs.

Grants are organised by locations:

• North East (applies to businesses across the region)
• County Durham
• Northumberland
• Tees Valley
• Tyne and Wear

There are many organisations that can give you face-to-face help with your finance and funding needs. Click here to view sources of help.

You can also search for grants, loans, awards and sources of venture capital:

• using the Business Link Grant and Award Finder
• using the GRANTnet database

About Grants

Grants are money that is 'awarded to your business for specific purposes and under particular conditions. They do not have to be repaid. Usually the funds for the grants are from local authorities, regional development agencies, charities, sector bodies (like the Arts Council or the Learning Skills Council) and central government departments.

Grants are almost always discretionary - this means the body that manages the fund has the final say over who does and doesn't get awarded money. They base their decisions, usually, on the location of the business (or proposed business), the size (how many staff you employ or might employ), how much you need the money in order to proceed, how well thought out and planned your proposal is, how many jobs you might create or safeguard and what the return of your project might be to the local economy.

Usually a grant is not for a fixed amount of money - it is for a percentage of the eligible costs of your project, up to a maximum amount. Not all the costs of your project will be eligible - often only capital costs (the set up costs) are allowable, not ongoing costs like rent, rates, wages, utilities etc.

Sometimes grants are highly specific, for example to cover the costs of modifying your building in order to accommodate staff or customers with disabilities, or for research or the use of new technology.

Check the Toolkit's grant database on the right for up to date information on relevant grants for tourism businesses across the North East and also visit Business Link's grant, award and loan finder pages and the GRANTnet database.