Better Business Grant Frequently asked questions

Skills, Productivity and Visitor Economy Development grants are all available as:

Major Grants: £5,001 to £75,000 for businesses operating for 18+ months.
Minor Grants: £1,000 to £5,000 for businesses operating between 6 and 18 months.

Note: It’s important to remember that the grants are on a 50/50 matched funding basis. This means that if you apply for a grant for an initiative that will cost your business £10,000 in total then the business will need to pay £5000, and the grant will fund the other £5000.

There are also Apprenticeship grants. A £2000 grant per apprentice is available to all eligible businesses that pay their apprentice to attend regular training from the list of government-supported apprenticeships. 

Your business must meet the following criteria:

• Be registered in Jersey and hold a business licence
• Trading for at least 6 months
• Employ at least one person (owner/s + 1) for at least three months, with a minimum weekly wage of £128
• Be up to date with all government contributions or on a repayment plan
• To access the Visitor Economy Development Grant, you must be part of the Visitor Economy. This means that a significant amount of your revenue must come from the Visitor Economy 

The application will be rejected unless they can clearly demonstrate why they believe they are part of the visitor economy.

Yes, they are.

No, the assets purchased with the grant must remain in Jersey.

A portion of grant applications will undergo auditing, and all applicants will be required to sign an acknowledgement that assets purchased with the grant funds cannot be transferred off the island or sold without notifying Jersey Business.

Individuals on fixed term contracts do qualify as employees under the grant scheme if they are paid more than £128 a week (therefore paying social security) consistently for three months prior to and during the application process.

Yes, apprentices, can be an existing employee, their length of employment with you does not affect your application.  To be eligible for an apprenticeship grant:

1. Your apprentice must currently be studying with Highlands or another approved apprenticeship provider, when you apply. 
2. That course level, must have commenced in 2026

For example:

An electrician starts their highlands Level 3 electrical installation course in September 2025 finishing that level in July 2026. In September 2026 if they start level 4, they are then an eligible Apprentice, and you can then apply for a grant as they are on an apprenticeship course that started in the current year.

Please note for a small number of Apprenticeship courses, the course level (typically a degree course, and courses in child development) stays the same for multiple years. If this applies for your Apprentice(s), meaning their course started before 2026, add 1st February 2026 as the course start date on the application.

If your apprentice finishes their course in 2026, call us on 610300 for advice before submitting your application.

No. You cannot.

Yes, you can, but only for course fees. Travel, accommodation, and other expenses are not covered in the grant.

A project is considered started when a contract is signed or payment is made for any key component of the project.

Pre-viability studies are not classified as a started project, but this cost cannot be included in the grant application.

For skills applications, the same applies; the courses or training you are applying for must not have started.

The Better Business Grants have been designed to help employers invest in technology, skills development, and business changes aimed at improving profitability in 2025 and 2026 during the transition to a living wage.

Therefore, to be eligible for the grants, a business must be paying at least one employee a regular wage.

Arm’s Length Bodies, States Owned Entities, or similar government-funded organisations are not eligible due to their existing government support. Please contact the Jersey Business team for further clarification if needed.

For eligible businesses or charities that may receive other forms of Government support, such as via the Rural and Marine Support Schemes, the Better Business Grant can only be used for new and separate projects that are not already funded by Government.

The Application asks for company details followed by the project details. You can save your progress after each page, enabling you to return to the form if you don’t have all the necessary information to hand.

Step-by-step guidance notes are available for each type of grant applied for.

Yes. You can apply for multiple apprentices, across different courses all in one application.

No, you don’t. The apprenticeship application form allows for multiple names to be added.

We would encourage you to think about the project step by step, get quotes, and check costs for accuracy.

It’s important to consider this carefully as if particular costs are not listed in your application, they cannot be added later.

Jersey Business will check your receipts to ensure the funds were used for the items listed in your approved grant application. Here’s how it works:

• If your receipts show that you spent more than the approved project cost, you’ll get the remaining 50% of the approved grant amount.
• If your receipts show you spent less than the approved project cost, the final grant payment will be adjusted. This means you’ll get 50% of the actual verified expenses, minus whatever you’ve already been paid.
• If your receipts match the approved project cost exactly, the remaining 50% of the grant will be paid to you

If the courses or training are part of a connected skills building project for your business, you can apply for multiple courses in one application.

For the courses or training to be eligible for a grant application, they must: 

• Not have started or been paid for before the application is made.
• Must not start within two months of your application date (as we cannot guarantee to process a grant in less than two months).
• Courses/training must start in the year of your grant application.
• If approved, you must be able to pay for the full course/training fee applied for and provide a receipt within 12 months (courses can complete after that date).

Note - all course training/costs must exclude VAT, and if receiving off island training, travel and accommodation costs.

Yes, if each project is different, you can make an application for Skills, Productivity, and Visitor, Economy Development Grants, all at the same time. Apprenticeship grants should be applied for when your apprentice starts their 2026 academic study (for most this is September each year).

The applicant enters the number of zero-hour, part-time (defined as a contract below 25 hours a week) and full-time employees the business has.

This information is sent to the Government of Jersey for verification, using your last three months of manpower returns, or the last return if not submitting monthly.