By Jonny Ross, founder of Fleek Marketing

The quickest way to get business support in West Yorkshire is to book one free diagnostic conversation and let it route you. If your business has been trading for less than five years, register with AD:VENTURE, the fully funded programme for newer businesses across Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield. If you’re older than that, or not sure you qualify, call the West Yorkshire Business Growth Hub on 0113 348 1818. Either way, someone looks at your business, works out what you actually need, and introduces you to the right people. You don’t need to work out the whole map yourself first.

That matters because the map is bigger than most founders realise. Daneile Moore, Marketing and Events Manager at AD:VENTURE, put it to me this autumn: a single business might have six or seven organisations that could help it in different ways, but you only find out about them if you’re already in the club.

This guide is the list of who is in that club, what each of them does, and how to get in.

Who helps with what in West Yorkshire?

Nine organisations cover most of what a business in its first five years will need, and most of their core support is free or heavily subsidised. They’re listed alphabetically below. They do different jobs, so the useful question is which one fits your situation.

Every entry checked on the organisation’s own pages, 7 October 2026. Schemes change, so confirm eligibility with them directly. On a phone, scroll the table sideways.

Your local council’s business team is another way in.

Where should a new business start?

Start with whichever free, general service you qualify for, because its job is to diagnose before it prescribes. AD:VENTURE describes its diagnostic as a structured review of your business that ends in a support plan built around your priorities. The Growth Hub does the same job for businesses of any age. Neither expects you to arrive knowing which scheme you need.

Check one eligibility detail before you rule yourself out. AD:VENTURE counts your trading start from the date of your first invoice, not the date you registered the company, so a business incorporated six years ago that only started selling three years ago may still qualify. It’s also aimed at businesses planning to grow, trading business to business, or selling to consumers with plans to grow at least 50% of those sales outside West Yorkshire. If that isn’t you, the Growth Hub or BIPC is the place to start.

What do new businesses actually ask for?

Customers, by a distance. When Daneile looked at what the 400 businesses who joined AD:VENTURE since mid-July had asked for, the order ran: more customers first, then practical advice (is this a sensible decision, is this cash flow forecast realistic?), then connections with other founders to ease the isolation, then mentoring, then growth planning, recruitment and access to expertise. Funding came last.

That matches what I see. When a founder tells me they need funding, the conversation usually turns out to be about where the next ten customers are coming from. Money doesn’t fix a pipeline problem. If the enquiries aren’t arriving, a loan just buys you more time to wait for them.

The relaunch showed how easy it is to reach for money first. At least half the room put their hands up when I asked who had started trading in the last five years, and the questions that came to me afterwards were mostly about finance. Asked properly, through a diagnostic, the need usually comes out further upstream.

What if you do need funding?

Get the plan clear first, then talk to a lender, because every option below assesses whether the money fits a realistic plan. AD:VENTURE says plainly that funding is assessed separately and doesn’t come automatically with support.

One route for a business under five years old is a Start Up Loan. Through the Business Enterprise Fund, that’s £500 to £25,000 per founder at a 7.5% fixed rate over one to five years, with no arrangement fee, no security and 12 months of free mentoring. It’s a personal loan used for business purposes, so you’re personally liable for repaying it. BEF is a not-for-profit lender and AD:VENTURE’s finance partner.

If you’re 18 to 30, the King’s Trust Enterprise programme can include a small grant to test your idea and a start-up funding package of grants and loans. If you have five or more staff and have traded for over a year, Help to Grow: Management isn’t funding as such, but the 90% subsidy means you pay £750 for a 12-week course that ends with a growth plan. AD:VENTURE may also offer growth grants, subject to availability.

How do you get the most from the first conversation?

Go in with a clear sense of where you are and what’s stopping you, not a wish list. You’ll get better introductions in half the time.

Then do the thing that keeps you in the club: go to one of the events you’re pointed to, even if it’s slightly outside your comfort zone. Introductions compound. The founder you sit next to at a workshop may be the one who tells you about the next scheme before it’s advertised.

Questions founders ask

Is business support in West Yorkshire really free?

Most of the core help is. AD:VENTURE is fully funded for eligible businesses, and the Growth Hub, BIPC Leeds and the national Business Support Service are free. Loans have to be repaid, Help to Grow: Management costs £750 after its 90% subsidy, and the Chamber and FSB charge membership fees.

Can I get support before I start trading?

Yes, from some of them. BIPC Leeds, the Growth Hub and the King’s Trust all work with people before launch, and you can apply for a Start Up Loan before trading. AD:VENTURE is for businesses already trading, but it says it may signpost pre-start founders elsewhere.

My business is more than five years old. Where do I go?

Call the West Yorkshire Business Growth Hub on 0113 348 1818. It covers businesses of every age and stage, and has sector-specific support for areas such as creative, digital, manufacturing and professional services. Help to Grow: Management and the membership organisations are open to older businesses too.

Do I have to pick just one organisation?

No, and most founders shouldn’t. They do different jobs, and the first conversation should tell you which two or three fit you now.

A note on interest: Jonny delivers workshops as one of AD:VENTURE’s providers, and hosted its relaunch in October 2026. This guide isn’t sponsored, and the organisations are listed alphabetically rather than ranked.

If marketing is the gap the first conversation turns up, our guide to turning free Google Search Console data into growth is a good place to start on your own. And if you’re weighing up whether you need outside help at all, I wrote about the marketing gap I saw in four startup pitches.

Last reviewed October 2026