Don’t miss out on the ‘Help to Grow: Digital scheme’

Has your business applied for its discount on pre-approved digital software yet?

The Government’s Help to Grow: Digital scheme allows eligible businesses to get a discount worth up to £5,000 on certain software.

However, if you have not applied, we recommend moving quickly as the Government has announced plans to close the scheme in early 2023, with 2nd February 2023 being set as the last date for new applications.

This represents a relatively small lifespan for the scheme, with it only being launched in January 2022, to give “100,000 SMEs free and impartial advice on how technology can help their business [via articles and case studies] and vouchers worth up to £5,000 to cover up to 50% of the costs of buying pre-approved software”.

In this post, we’ll look at everything you need to know about the Help to Grow: Digital scheme, including how your business can apply for its software discount.

What discounts are available?

You ‘can apply for a discount of up to 50% or up to £5,000 (excluding VAT)’ on software in three categories – accounting software, customer relationship management (CRM) software and eCommerce software.

Below is a comprehensive list of every software provider that has signed up for the scheme and the packages that discounts are available on. For more information about the terms of each discount, take a look at the dedicated software discount page.

Accounting software:

• Crunch Premium – Full accountancy solution
• Crunch Pro – Full accountancy solution
• Sage Business Cloud Accounting – Start
• Sage Business Cloud Accounting – Plus
• Sage Business Cloud Accounting – Standard
• QuickBooks Online – Essentials
• QuickBooks Online – Plus
• QuickBooks Online – Simple Start

Customer Relationship Management software:

• Capsule (Enterprise Plan)
• Capsule (Professional Plan)
• Capsule (Teams Plan)
• Deskpro Professional – On-premise
• Deskpro Team – On-premise
• Deskpro Enterprise
• Deskpro Team
• Deskpro Enterprise – On-premise
• Deskpro Professional
• Gold-Vision Sales Professional – Cloud
• Gold-Vision Marketing Professional – Cloud
• Gold-Vision Service Professional – Cloud
• SwiftCase
• Zym Lite
• Zym Pro
• Zymplify Grow

eCommerce software:

• BigCommerce – Pro
• BigCommerce – Standard
• BigCommerce – Plus
• Comgem Plus
• Comgem Standard
• Comgem Professional
• EKM – Advanced
• EKM – Standard
• EKM – Pro
• GOb2b Grow
• GOb2b Professional
• GOb2b Advanced
• Kentico
• Pembee – Standard
• Pembee – Lite
• Pembee – Premium
• ShopWired – Premium
• ShopWired – Pro
• ShopWired – Advanced

How to apply

Making the application is simple and should only take you a few minutes:

1. Locate the software that you wish to purchase from the pre-approved software list and select the ‘Get discount’ button
2. Select ‘Apply now’
3. Complete the short questionnaire and provide the necessary information, including your name, company number, relationship to the company, email address and phone number

Your application will then be reviewed.

If successful, you will be emailed the software discount link which you can use to complete the purchase. The purchase must be made within 30 days of the link being issued, so the last date to make a purchase via the scheme will be around the beginning of March 2023, depending on when the link was issued.

Is your business eligible for the Help to Grow: Digital scheme?

Your business is eligible if it meets all of the below criteria:

• Your business is registered with Companies House or a registered society listed on the Financial Conduct Authority’s Mutuals Register
• You have been trading for more than 12 months
• You have 1 – 249 employees
• You are not an existing user of the software that you intend to purchase

The person making the application must be aged at least 18 and should be an employee of the company, who can agree to the terms and conditions of the scheme.

Why is the Help to Grow: Digital scheme being discontinued?

The general consensus is that the scheme has been a flop, with less than 1,000 vouchers actually being redeemed by the SMEs that were targeted.

GOV.UK: “The scheme has supported businesses to grow, but with take-up lower than expected, the government cannot justify the continued cost of the scheme to the taxpayer. The decision has been taken to refocus efforts towards other support mechanisms for small businesses, ensuring businesses get the backing they need in the most efficient and productive way possible.”

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has been critical of the Government’s decision to scrap the scheme. Tina McKenzie, FSB Policy Chair: “The Help to Grow scheme is the Government’s flagship small business productivity policy. It has barely been around for a year and although uptake is low, firms should be given the time to reap the benefits instead of having it snatched away during a time of economic crisis.”

“This decision creates a vacuum in public policy tech adoption. If this is cancelled, what is the Government’s plan to boost digital productivity?”

“Turning Help to Grow into Help to Slow – at Christmastime no less – is a Scrooge move. We would urge small businesses to consider if they can use the scheme before applications close on 2 February.”

So there you have it

To echo the sentiment of the FSB, we recommend that all businesses that qualify for the scheme apply and then use their discount as soon as possible to avoid missing out.

We hope you have found this post helpful. Please leave a comment if you have any questions.

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