Free or subsidised online and in-person training in advanced manufacturing topics such as 3D printing, robotics and AI, for employed, self-employed and other learners in Lancashire.
Amount
Self-employed: fully funded. Employed: free to the learner, employer covers the cost. Small businesses: £360 per employee. Large organisations: £1,080 per employee. Prices exclude VAT.
Area
Cheshire and Warrington, Cumbria, Lancashire, Liverpool City RegionRating 7/10Local Landscape rating 7 out of 10
For all of North West England, or the whole North 2 schemes
Support for small and medium-sized manufacturing and engineering businesses in the North West to adopt industrial digital technologies, including expert guidance, match funding, digital interns and leadership training.
Amount
Up to £20,000
Deadline
Open all year
Area
North West EnglandRating 8/10Local Landscape rating 8 out of 10
A funded programme for senior leaders and managers in SMEs, mixing online and face-to-face sessions on digital strategy, identifying priorities and where digital tools can help.
Amount
Described as funded; no amount stated.
Deadline
Next cohort: January 2027
Area
North West EnglandRating 7/10Local Landscape rating 7 out of 10
National schemes 48 schemes
Open to businesses across England or the UK, including Cheshire and Warrington.
iX programme, Innovation Exchange, Innovate UK, Innovate UK Business Connect
A competition to find innovators who can build a configurable industrial software solution for MBSE simulation within openSPDM. Winners get a chance to pitch and then apply for a grant of up to £60,000 for a 3 month project.
Amount
Up to £60,000
Deadline
Closes 6 November 2026 at 5pm (5 days)
Area
United KingdomRating 8/10Local Landscape rating 8 out of 10
iX programme, Innovation Exchange, Innovate UK Business Connect, Innovate UK
Tekh is seeking a hardware development partner to design and prototype a series of low SWaP-C computing boards for Edge AI inference. Open to established businesses, academic institutions, start-ups, SMEs and individual entrepreneurs that are UK based or intend to set up a UK base.
Amount
Up to £60,000
Deadline
Closes 6 November 2026 at 5pm (5 days)
Area
United KingdomRating 9/10Local Landscape rating 9 out of 10
Innovation Exchange, Innovate UK Business Connect, Innovate UK
A challenge seeking a secure, cost-effective way to use cloud-based AI, engineering and manufacturing tools with sensitive customer and defence data. Open to established businesses, academic institutions, start-ups, SMEs and individual entrepreneurs.
Amount
Up to £60,000
Deadline
Closes 6 November 2026 at 5pm (5 days)
Area
United KingdomRating 8/10Local Landscape rating 8 out of 10
Feasibility study funding for UK registered SMEs developing frontier artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies with a clear route to defensible scale-up. Part of a three-phase pipeline.
Amount
£150,000 to £250,000
Deadline
Closes 11 November 2026 at 11am (10 days)
Area
United KingdomRating 10/10Local Landscape rating 10 out of 10
Funding of up to €30,000 and a 9-month training programme for early-stage founders with pre-incorporation business concepts in Materials and Built Environment (fashion and architecture). Includes an in-person Startup Sprint and an online Spark Incubation Programme.
Amount
Up to €30k per project (up to €30,000 in funding per selected venture)
Deadline
Closes 16 November 2026 at 5pm (15 days)
Area
United KingdomRating 7/10Local Landscape rating 7 out of 10
UK registered research and technology organisations or academic institutions can apply for up to £4 million to establish a hub improving the targeting and commercial impact of grant-funded manufacturing digitalisation activity.
Amount
From £3,800,000
Deadline
Closes 18 November 2026 at 11am (17 days)
Area
United KingdomRating 8/10Local Landscape rating 8 out of 10
Funding for UK SMEs to experimentally validate prototype novel reusable AI mechanisms for efficient, structured and controllable AI systems. Projects must start at TRL 1, 2 or 3.
Amount
£50,000 to £150,000
Deadline
Closes 18 November 2026 at 11am (17 days)
Area
United KingdomRating 10/10Local Landscape rating 10 out of 10
EEuropean Space Agency (ESA), ESA Business Applications
A non-competitive BASS call for operational solutions using space-enabled technologies to improve the resilience of electricity grids.
Amount
Up to 50% of activity costs can usually be funded for UK applicants. Proof-of-concept studies up to €600,000 max cost per project: case-by-case assessment for pilot projects.
Deadline
Closes 27 November 2026 (26 days)
Area
United KingdomRating 9/10Local Landscape rating 9 out of 10
A Department for Education challenge seeking scalable, cost-effective digital tools and methods to capture structural condition data from school buildings immediately before demolition and analyse it for defect trends. The successful applicant(s) may be invited to pilot the methodology in up to 3 schools scheduled for demolition.
Deadline
Closes 4 December 2026 at 5pm
Area
United KingdomRating 8/10Local Landscape rating 8 out of 10
Funds consortia to develop innovative AI deployment use cases for assurance and compliance systems, progressing towards full deployment and replication. Lead organisations must be businesses or other eligible UK organisations, with a deployer in a listed sector.
Amount
£100,000 to £200,000
Deadline
Closes 8 December 2026 at 11am
Area
United KingdomRating 10/10Local Landscape rating 10 out of 10
Funds consortia to develop innovative AI deployment use cases in the Decision Critical Systems strand, progressing towards full deployment and replication. A UK deployer organisation in an eligible sector must be part of the consortium.
Amount
£100,000 to £200,000
Deadline
Closes 8 December 2026 at 11am
Area
United KingdomRating 10/10Local Landscape rating 10 out of 10
Funds consortia to develop innovative AI deployment use cases in the Operational Systems strand, progressing towards full deployment and replication. The deployer must operate in one of the listed sectors.
Amount
£100,000 to £200,000
Deadline
Closes 8 December 2026 at 11am
Area
United KingdomRating 10/10Local Landscape rating 10 out of 10
A UK Space Agency grant call to fund innovative, near-to-market commercial solutions that use space-enabled technologies to improve the identification, monitoring, reporting and verification of emissions and environmental impacts for non-space UK businesses. Projects should involve an end-user business piloting a space-derived solution.
Amount
Up to £400,000
Deadline
Closes 11 December 2026 at 4pm
Area
United KingdomRating 8/10Local Landscape rating 8 out of 10
DDepartment for Science, Innovation and Technology, UK Space Agency
A UK Space Agency grant call for end-user businesses to lead consortium pilot projects using space-enabled data to address environmental intelligence or emissions monitoring challenges. Part of the Unlocking Space for Business programme.
Amount
£2,000,000 grant funding available (total funding envelope); no per-project amount stated in this part
Deadline
Closes 11 December 2026 at 4pm
Area
United KingdomRating 9/10Local Landscape rating 9 out of 10
Grant funding for coach operators to purchase transferable audio-visual equipment for rail replacement services to comply with accessible information regulations.
Amount
up to £2 million; reimbursing up to 75% of the cost of purchasing transferable audio-visual equipment
Deadline
Closes 18 December 2026 at 12 noon
Area
England, Scotland, WalesRating 9/10Local Landscape rating 9 out of 10
EIT Health funds up to 50% of the total project budget, up to €850,000 per project, for digital and AI-powered medical technologies ready for real-world clinical validation and approaching market launch. Consortia of at least two organisations from different countries are required, led by a commercialising company.
Amount
Up to €850,000 per project; EIT Health will fund up to 50% of the total project budget
Deadline
Closes 13 January 2027
Area
United KingdomRating 8/10Local Landscape rating 8 out of 10
EEuropean Space Agency (ESA), ESA Business Applications
A non-competitive BASS call for proposals, developed with ENTSO-E, for space-enabled solutions that help grid operators anticipate, detect and respond to disruptions.
Amount
Up to 50% of activity costs can usually be funded for UK applicants. Proof-of-concept studies up to €600,000 max cost per project: case-by-case assessment for pilot projects.
Deadline
Closes 29 January 2027
Area
United KingdomRating 9/10Local Landscape rating 9 out of 10
A part-funded security review that helps early-stage UK technology businesses identify and manage key security risks, including those linked to state threats. Participating businesses also receive a £300 Cyber Essentials voucher after the report is submitted.
Amount
Up to £2,500
Deadline
Closes 31 January 2027
Area
United KingdomRating 8/10Local Landscape rating 8 out of 10