If you’ve gone looking for help with your energy bills, you’ve probably noticed the same thing I have: most of what comes up is either aimed at homeowners, or at “energy intensive” manufacturers with seven-figure turnovers. Precious little of it is written with an ordinary small business in mind.
The good news is there is support out there for SMEs — it’s just scattered across HMRC, Ofgem, your energy supplier, your local council and, if you’re outside England, your devolved government too. No single scheme covers everyone, so the trick is knowing which of the following actually apply to a business your size, in your part of the country.
Here’s what’s realistically on the table right now.
1. Boiler Upgrade Scheme — £7,500 towards a heat pump
If you own your premises and you’re due to replace an ageing gas boiler, this is probably the single best-value scheme going. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays a flat £7,500 towards an air source or ground source heat pump, replacing fossil fuel heating. It’s open to SMEs in England and Wales, your MCS-certified installer applies on your behalf, and the scheme is funded through to 2028 — so there’s no mad rush.
The catch is straightforward: you need to own the property, and it only covers heat pumps, not other efficiency measures. But if a boiler replacement is coming up anyway, it’s worth building into the cost.
2. Tax relief on the equipment itself
This is the one most SMEs miss, because it doesn’t feel like a “grant” — but it can be worth more than one.
- Full Expensing lets you deduct 100% of the cost of qualifying equipment — solar panels, heat pumps, battery storage, EV chargers — from your taxable profits in the year you buy it. It’s a straight tax saving at your corporation tax rate, and for solar, battery storage and heat pumps it’s permanent.
- Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) does much the same thing for the first £1 million of qualifying plant and machinery spend a year, and acts as the fallback if full expensing rules ever change.
Neither requires an application. Your accountant handles it through your tax return, which is precisely why it’s worth asking about rather than waiting for it to be offered.
3. Smart Export Guarantee — get paid for solar you don’t use
If you’ve already got, or are considering, solar panels, energy suppliers are required to pay you for any electricity you export back to the grid — currently in the region of 4–5.5p per kWh. You’ll need an MCS-certified installation and a smart meter, but it’s an ongoing income stream rather than a one-off grant, and it runs indefinitely.
4. Business rates relief
Two reliefs worth knowing about if you own or occupy commercial premises:
- Renewable energy relief — up to 40% off business rates, capped at £110,000, for properties with qualifying renewable installations.
- EV charging infrastructure relief — 100% rates relief for 10 years on charging equipment, from April 2026.
These sit on top of any capital grant or tax relief you’ve already claimed, so they’re worth flagging to whoever handles your rates.
5. Workplace Charging Scheme
If you’re putting in EV charge points for staff or fleet vehicles, this covers £500 per socket, up to £20,000 (40 sockets), through an OZEV-approved installer. It’s in its final year, running to March 2027, so if this is on your radar, don’t leave it too late.
6. Climate Change Agreements
Worth a mention even though it won’t apply to most: if your business is genuinely energy-intensive (certain manufacturing, food processing and similar sectors), a Climate Change Agreement can cut the Climate Change Levy on your electricity bill by up to 92%, in exchange for committing to efficiency targets. It’s a six-year scheme now running to 2030. If you’re not sure whether your sector qualifies, it’s worth a quick check with the Environment Agency rather than assuming either way.
7. Don’t skip your devolved or local scheme
This is where things get genuinely fragmented — and where a lot of SMEs give up too early. A handful of examples to show the shape of what’s out there:
- Scotland — Business Energy Scotland offers interest-free loans up to £100,000 alongside cashback grants up to £30,000 (only the cashback is non-repayable). Several councils, including Glasgow, run their own green business grants on top.
- Wales — The Development Bank of Wales runs a Green Business Loan with up to £10,000 in non-repayable grant funding attached, and there are regional renewable energy funds covering 50–75% of project costs on a smaller scale.
- Northern Ireland — Invest NI’s Energy Efficiency Capital Grant covers 30–50% of costs up to £150,000, and NISEP offers a 20% grant on eligible technologies.
- England — support is more councils-and-growth-hubs territory. Some, like Bolsover’s Net Zero Growth Grant, offer up to £25,000; others run smaller, rolling pots. There’s no substitute for checking what your specific local authority or growth hub is currently offering.
None of these are things a national directory will always catch in time, which is exactly why your local council, growth hub or devolved enterprise agency is worth a direct call.
8. If you’re struggling with bills right now
This isn’t a grant, but it’s worth knowing: energy suppliers are expected to offer support to business customers in genuine financial difficulty — payment breaks, more time to pay, or access to hardship funds, particularly for microbusinesses. It’s handled case by case, so it’s a conversation to have directly with your supplier rather than something to apply for centrally.
Where to start
Realistically, most SMEs will get more value from the tax reliefs and rates relief than from chasing a headline grant — they require no application and stack with everything else. From there, check the Boiler Upgrade Scheme if you’re facing a heating replacement, and use GOV.UK’s business finance and support finder alongside a call to your local council or growth hub to see what’s live in your area right now, since the local and devolved schemes shift more often than the national ones.
One more thing worth knowing if you lease out any commercial property: from April 2027, let commercial buildings will need to hit at least an EPC C rating. If that’s on your horizon, it’s worth timing any efficiency work to make use of the grants above rather than doing it later at your own cost.