Business Energy Advice Service grant
Grants cover 50% of energy-saving investments for eligible small and medium-sized businesses in the West Midlands Combined Authority area.
The Business Energy Advice Service (BEAS) offers free energy assessments and grants to help businesses cut energy bills and carbon emissions. Funded measures must appear in your energy audit report and have a payback period of at least two years: the expected energy savings must take at least two years to recover the investment cost.
Examples include solar panels and battery storage, energy controls and software, LED lighting, more efficient process equipment, heat recovery, heating and cooling systems, compressed air generators, and improvements to insulation or other parts of the building that reduce heat loss. The list is not exhaustive.
The general grant is £1,000–£100,000 at 50% of project costs. Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have a separate £50,000 grant cap, also at 50% of costs.
Eligibility
- Your business must be in Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall or Wolverhampton.
- You must be a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise. The council states the size test as fewer than 250 employees and annual turnover below €50 million, or a balance-sheet total below €43 million.
- Annual energy consumption must be at least 25,000 kWh. Annual gas and electricity costs must exceed 6% of turnover; if you do not meet that cost threshold, you need an independent energy assessment by a qualified assessor to apply.
- You must be a commercial or profit-seeking enterprise, such as a partnership, limited company or community interest company. Sole traders cannot receive a grant.
- You must operate from a registered commercial address rather than a home, have been officially registered and active for at least 12 months with financial records showing that activity, and have been responsible for paying your business energy bills for at least 12 months.
- The grant is aimed at businesses that own and occupy their premises. If you lease the premises, at least three years must remain on your lease.
- If you received BEAS funding in the 2024–2025 programme, you can apply again if you did not receive a grant above £100,000 and still have audit recommendations you have not implemented.
- Consulting or third-party services used to help with the grant application cannot be included in project costs.
How to apply
- Status
- Dates not announced
Check the council’s business-eligibility page and email Birmingham City Council at BEAS@birmingham.gov.uk for information about the programme and grant application. Your proposed energy-saving items must be identified in the energy audit.
Secure your contribution to the project cost before your application is approved. It can come from private-sector funds, loans, overdrafts, savings or company funds. Other public-sector funding cannot provide this contribution. Asset finance or similar arrangements are also excluded if instalments extend beyond the project’s three-month period, because they do not show that the full cost has been paid.
The grant is paid after expenditure. You must provide invoices and proof of payment and demonstrate the financial capacity to complete the project. Complete the project and claim the grant within three months; timescales may be negotiable for high-value, more complex projects.