Small business grants selection checklist: choosing the right adviser or tool

Select a grant provider against the actual project, scheme and deadline. Record evidence beside each check. A tick based on sales copy does not equal verification.

What to take away

• Select a grant provider against the actual project, scheme and deadline, and record evidence beside each check.
• Registration alone does not prove competence, financial resilience or grant success, so apply checks proportionate to dependency and value.
• Reject guaranteed-award claims and false-information requests, and keep applicant approval over answers and declarations.
• Test shortlisted providers with the same realistic brief, and record whether evidence came from a call, demonstration, paid sample or live delivery.
• Do not sign until material conditions are met or formally accepted by someone with authority.

Need and scope

• Define the grant, applicant, project stage and missing capability.
• Separate opportunity search, application review, financial advice, claims and delivery.
• State outputs, dates, applicant work and acceptance criteria.
• Confirm the service does not duplicate internal or partner capability.

Identity and experience

• Confirm the contracting legal name and payment details.
• Check filed information through Companies House where applicable.
• Name the people who will deliver and verify relevant experience.
• Contact references for sufficiently similar work.
• Distinguish provider claims from independent records.

Registration alone does not prove competence, financial resilience or grant success. Apply checks proportionate to dependency and value.

Method and integrity

• Ask how eligibility, costs and factual claims are verified.
• Keep applicant approval over answers and declarations.
• Reject guaranteed-award claims and false-information requests.
• Record referral fees, commissions, free access and conflicts.
• Ask how errors and complaints are handled.

UKRI's Innovate UK guidance assigns submission responsibilities to the lead applicant for its application service. An adviser does not remove them.

Test and references

• Give shortlisted providers the same realistic brief.
• Record whether evidence came from a call, demonstration, paid sample or live delivery.
• Test poor-fit identification as well as persuasive writing.
• Verify reference identity and scope.
• Keep account-only or untested features marked unknown.

Security and data

• Map personal, financial and commercially sensitive data.
• Check authentication, access, hosting, subprocessors and incidents.
• Review retention, export and deletion.
• Put required controller and processor terms in writing.
• Test access removal and backup recovery.

Use the ICO guidance hub and NCSC small organisations guide for current UK guidance.

Price and contract

• Obtain the full fee, expense and VAT schedule.
• Define any success trigger and calculation base.
• Model no award, reduced award, delay and full award.
• Check scope, revisions, subcontracting and post-award work.
• Review intellectual property, confidentiality, liability, cancellation and exit.
• Confirm whether the live scheme permits the proposed cost.

Decision and monitoring

• Score against criteria written before proposals arrived.
• Apply mandatory conditions separately from weighted totals.
• Have another person challenge evidence and arithmetic.
• Record conditions, owner, expiry and approval.
• Recheck after ownership, staffing, scope, price or security changes.

Award-specific checks

• Map the supplier's work to an approved project activity and cost heading.
• Confirm start and end dates before commitment.
• Follow quotation, competition and connected-party rules.
• Obtain written funder approval where the agreement requires it.
• Define which evidence the supplier must produce for a claim.
• Flow audit, confidentiality, publicity and data duties into the contract where needed.

The Cabinet Office Model Grant Funding Agreement illustrates the breadth of terms that may affect suppliers. Use the recipient's signed agreement, not the model, for the actual decision.

Final approval record

Summarise the compared options, evidence, scores, mandatory failures, total cost, conflicts and residual risks. Name the person approving the selection and their authority. Store unsuccessful proposals according to the business's retention and confidentiality rules.

Set mobilisation conditions with owners and dates. Do not sign until material conditions are met or formally accepted by someone with authority. After contract, compare delivery with the selection evidence and record whether references or claims proved accurate.

The CMA's reviews and endorsements guidance explains duties around genuine reviews and incentives. This draft has no live internal links and requires legal, finance and security review for the actual procurement.

Before you act

• Define the grant, applicant, project stage and missing capability.
• Confirm the contracting legal name and payment details.
• Ask how eligibility, costs and factual claims are verified.
• Give shortlisted providers the same realistic brief.
• Obtain the full fee, expense and VAT schedule.
• Score against criteria written before proposals arrived.

Common questions

What should I do if a provider guarantees a grant award?

Reject guaranteed-award claims and false-information requests. The text states that you should reject such claims and keep applicant approval over answers and declarations. An adviser does not remove the lead applicant's submission responsibilities under Innovate UK guidance.

How can I test a provider's ability to identify poor-fit opportunities?

Give shortlisted providers the same realistic brief. Test poor-fit identification as well as persuasive writing. Record whether evidence came from a call, demonstration, paid sample or live delivery. Keep account-only or untested features marked unknown.

What should I check before signing a contract with a grant adviser?

Obtain the full fee, expense and VAT schedule. Define any success trigger and calculation base. Model no award, reduced award, delay and full award. Review intellectual property, confidentiality, liability, cancellation and exit. Confirm whether the live scheme permits the proposed cost.