Business decarbonisation grant

These conditions applied to the 2025/26 round.

• Your business had to be within Nottingham City Council’s administrative area, and the project had to be in Nottingham. Your business had to have traded for more than 12 months. It also required a lease with at least 12 months remaining; leaseholders had to supply a copy and its expiry date.
• You had to be registered at Companies House, or have an HMRC Unique Tax Reference as a sole trader or partnership, and have no outstanding debts or arrears with the council.
• Pawn brokers and money shops, adult/private shops, betting shops, vape shops, off-licences and national chain stores were excluded.
• Funding covered capital purchases rather than ordinary business operations. It excluded running costs, repairs and maintenance, like-for-like replacements, accredited training and training materials, energy-saving installations on residential-use property, statutory permission costs, VAT and vehicles. Activities that could bring the council into disrepute and enterprises subject to an outstanding recovery order for illegal State Aid were also excluded. The project team could exclude other costs outside the scheme’s scope.
• Your business had to qualify under the Subsidy Control Act 2022. The guidance used Minimal Financial Assistance rules, allowing up to £315,000 over a rolling period of three financial years; the limit applied to the whole business group for UK public-sector support. False declarations could result in recovery of assistance plus interest.
• Costs had to be incurred and paid by the applicant business itself, rather than another group company or third party. Suppliers could not be linked enterprises or have connections or interests involving your business, its directors or agents that created a purchasing conflict.
• For purchases below £25,000 excluding VAT, one written quote was required. At £25,000 or more, three quotes were required against the same written specification, with evidence it had been sent to each supplier. Individual items costing £25,000 or more also had to follow Public Procurement Regulations according to the total project-cost threshold. Quotes had to show prices with and without VAT; suppliers not registered for VAT had to confirm this by email. You had to explain your preferred supplier’s value for money.
• Project purchases could not use PayPal, personal credit cards or cash. The general eligibility list also excluded cheques. Bank transfers and debit-card payments identifying the supplier were the preferred methods. You needed prior council approval and a new quote before changing an approved supplier.
• Do not order, buy, commission work or enter a financial or contractual supplier arrangement before approval and the council’s signed, dated and returned grant agreement. Earlier expenditure could not be claimed. The council could withhold, vary or recover funding for inaccurate, misleading or incomplete application information.

Status

unavailable

The 2025/26 round’s project and claim deadlines have passed. Its route began with an expression of interest, obtainable from Nottingham City Council’s UKSPF team at ukspfgrants@nottinghamcity.gov.uk. Eligible projects were then invited to submit a full application and supplier quotes. Applications and supporting documents had to be emailed to that address by the applicant organisation directly.

The full application had to explain the need for the investment and grant, its fit with your carbon-reduction plans and its value for money. It required energy consumption and tariffs, current and projected emissions, the estimated annual carbon savings and how they were calculated, together with expected operating-cost savings and realistic milestones. Previous council decarbonisation grants had to be disclosed, explaining how the new project’s outputs differed.

The council checked eligibility, due diligence and compliance, then assessed carbon savings, business growth and productivity, value for money and deliverability. A panel made the final decision in writing, with no appeal process.

Projects were normally expected to take less than three months from the offer letter, with a supplier contract entered within two months of receiving it, after the required approval and signed agreement. The fixed 2025/26 completion and claim deadlines still applied.

Successful applicants received a grant agreement explaining how to proceed and which documents to retain for their claim. After approved purchases, they submitted invoices and bank statements as payment evidence. Claim processing and payment could take up to one month, and missing information could delay payment.