1.2m businesses now eligible for UK gov's software discounts

The UK government is opening up its Help to Grow: Digital scheme to businesses with at least one employee.

Previously, SMBs needed at least five people on their payroll to qualify for the initiative. Still, the change has opened it up to 760,000 more companies - 1.24 million in total - according to the government.

Help to Grow: Digital was launched alongside Help to Grow: Management in 2020 and they were aimed at smaller companies and startups that needed help with digital transformations or for those looking to learn more about scaling up. The Digital scheme offers discounts of up to £5,000 for government-approved software - mainly CRM and e-commerce products.

Approved software includes e-commerce companies Shopwired, Gob2b, Kentico and EKM, while CRM products are available from Zymplify, Livepoint Software Solutions and Gold-Vision CRM. These are all UK-based businesses and there are also digital accounting products available from Sage, Intuit and Crunch.

The scheme is open to all sectors and industries, though each company will need to have been registered in the UK with Companies House or at least be a registered society on the Financial Conduct Authorities Mutuals Register. The minimum number of employees is down to just one, but this needs to be someone who is not the owner and the maximum is 249 employees. Firms must also have been actively trading for over 12 months and have an incorporation date longer than 365 days before their application.

Each eligible business will receive one discount towards the purchase of just one approved software product worth up to £5,000, which doesn't include VAT. And, this must also be the first time they have purchased the approved software.

The government also plans to increase the number of approved software available in the coming months.