Business support in Somerset in 2026: the Growth Hub, the new hospitality grants and what else is open

Business support in Somerset has one obvious front door: the Somerset Growth Hub. Behind it, in September 2026, there is a new hospitality grant scheme about to open, two national schemes that apply here as everywhere, and a chamber of commerce with a busy events calendar.

Here is what each offers, taken from the organisations' own pages on the date shown above. Funding opens and closes, so check each link before you plan around it.

Start here: Somerset Growth Hub

The Somerset Growth Hub, run through Somerset Council, says it provides fully funded, impartial support to help businesses at every stage of their development. That includes:

• One-to-one guidance.
• Connections to specialist support programmes, expertise, events and networks.
• Help across starting a business, running and growing one, finance and funding, skills and workforce, innovation and technology, and sustainability and net zero.

It also publishes business news through Somerset Council's Business Updates newsletter. For a small business, that newsletter is the simplest way to hear about a scheme while it is still open.

About to open: the £10 million hospitality grant scheme

On 24 September 2026, the Growth Hub reported a new £10 million government grant scheme for independent pubs, restaurants and cafés. According to the Growth Hub:

• It is a three-year programme.
• It aims to support new hospitality businesses, bring vacant premises back into use, and fund training that helps people gain skills and employment.
• More than £3 million has been allocated to Pub is The Hub, a not-for-profit organisation that helps rural and disadvantaged communities expand the services offered by local pubs.
• Guidance is available now, with applications expected to open from the end of September 2026.

For a rural pub or a café in a small Somerset town, this is the one to watch this autumn. Read the guidance before applications open, so you know whether your plan fits.

Open: two national schemes that apply in Somerset

The Youth Jobs Grant. Launched on 30 June 2026 across Great Britain, it gives an employer £3,000 for hiring an eligible young person: aged 18 to 24, out of work and on Universal Credit for six months. The GOV.UK guidance says it is open to employers of any size, including sole traders intending to hire, that have been trading for six months, for jobs of at least 25 hours a week. It is expected to close to new participants in October 2028.

The Workplace Charging Scheme. For electric vehicle charge points for staff or fleet vehicles, GOV.UK's chargepoint grants guidance says the scheme is available until 31 March 2027, worth up to £500 per socket for installations completed from 1 April 2026, for up to 40 sockets across your sites.

For hospitality businesses: a free energy tool

In August 2026, the Growth Hub highlighted the Zero Carbon Company, which offers small and medium hospitality businesses in England a fully funded energy and carbon reduction tool, to help identify savings, cut energy bills and reduce emissions.

Networks: Somerset Chamber of Commerce

Somerset Chamber of Commerce describes itself as a 500-strong network of member businesses, and the voice of local business since 1995. It runs networking events, workshops and training. Before joining any network, it is worth asking whether you can attend an event first, to see whether the people in the room are the ones you want to meet. We wrote about how to choose local networks worth your time.

Your council is already one council

Somerset went through the change Surrey is going through now. Somerset Council came into being on 1 April 2023, bringing together the services of the former district councils, including South Somerset, and Somerset County Council. If your website still links to old district council pages for licences, markets or local services, it is worth checking those links still work.

Before you plan around any of it

The ticks are saved in this browser.

• I have checked the scheme's own page, today, for whether it is open.
• I have read the eligibility conditions, not just the headline amount.
• If I run a pub, restaurant or café, I have read the hospitality grant guidance.
• I have contacted the Growth Hub about what fits my business.
• I have signed up to Somerset Council's Business Updates newsletter.

If a grant is paying for a new website or a push for customers, the marketing still needs planning. Our marketing for businesses in Somerset page sets out how we work locally, with fixed prices published up front.