Growth Hubs and local training funding, what they offer and how to find yours
Growth Hubs, combined authority training pots and legacy LEP funds are one of the most under-used sources of training support in the UK. Here is how to find what is available in your area.
title: Growth Hubs and local training funding, what they offer and how to find yours summary: Growth Hubs, combined authority training pots and legacy LEP funds are one of the most under-used sources of training support in the UK. Here is how to find what is available in your area. date: 2026-07-05
Training funding in the UK is patchier than it should be. National schemes like the apprenticeship levy get most of the attention. The wider ecosystem of regional and local support is quieter, less consistent from area to area, and often overlooked by the businesses that could most benefit from it.
Growth Hubs are the closest thing the UK has to a single front door for this ecosystem. They exist in most parts of England, they are free to use, and they often know about training pots that never make it onto a Google search. This guide covers what Growth Hubs actually do, what other local funding sits alongside them and how to find what applies in your area.
What Growth Hubs are
Growth Hubs are publicly funded business support services covering different parts of England. They emerged from the Local Enterprise Partnership network in the mid-2010s and continued in various forms after LEPs were wound down in 2024. Most now sit under combined authorities, county councils or unitary authorities, depending on the region.
Their remit is broad. Business advice, access to finance, help with exporting, support for innovation, signposting to grants. Training and skills is one of the areas they cover, and it is one of the areas where they add the most quiet value.
A Growth Hub cannot deliver training itself. What it can do is know what training support exists in the region, connect a business to a specific scheme or provider, and help with the application paperwork if there is any. For a smaller business without the time to work through funding options, a Growth Hub advisor can save weeks of research.
Growth Hub services are free at the point of use. There is no catch and no obligation.
What kinds of training support Growth Hubs can point to
A Growth Hub advisor will typically know about several categories of training support in the region they cover.
Skills Bootcamps. Government-funded training in priority skill areas, delivered in short intensive blocks. Free for the learner, either free or heavily subsidised for the employer depending on business size. Common areas include digital skills, construction, engineering and green skills. Availability varies by region.
Local training grants. Some combined authorities run their own training grant schemes for businesses in their area. Amounts vary, but grants of £1,000 to £10,000 towards specific training investments are common. Eligibility rules and priority sectors depend on the local authority.
Sector deals and skills partnerships. In areas with a strong sector focus, industrial digital, life sciences, advanced manufacturing, agri-tech and so on, sector-specific training partnerships often exist. Growth Hubs know which sectors are actively supported in their area.
Apprenticeship levy transfers. Growth Hubs sometimes broker introductions between large levy-paying employers in the region and smaller businesses looking for transferred funds. Where this exists it is a valuable route.
Enterprise Advisory Board and Skills Advisory Panel activity. Regional structures that coordinate training and skills investment. Growth Hubs are usually well-connected into these networks and can flag upcoming opportunities.
Local Growth Fund. Launched on 1 April 2026, worth £1.5bn across three years. Available in the eleven Mayoral Strategic Authority areas with GDP per head below the UK average, split across infrastructure, business support and skills. Where a business sits inside one of those areas, this is now the main pot to ask about. UKSPF, which had been the successor to European Social Fund money, closed on 31 March 2026.
Not every Growth Hub will know about all of these, and not every region will have the full spread of support. But a first conversation with an advisor tends to surface at least two or three routes worth exploring.
The regional variation problem
The funding picture is unusually in flux at the moment. UKSPF closed in March 2026, the Local Growth Fund launched in April, the Pride in Place Programme is rolling out alongside, foundational apprenticeships launched in August 2025. Treat this guide as a snapshot of the position in July 2026. Anything you rely on for a live application should be checked against the current government guidance.
With that caveat, support varies significantly between regions, and this is worth being honest about.
Some combined authority areas run generous training grant schemes with dedicated skills teams. Others have almost nothing beyond signposting to national schemes. A business in Greater Manchester or the West Midlands typically has access to more local support than a business in a rural county with a smaller authority budget.
Devolution has increased this variation. The mayoral combined authorities have gained more control over adult education budgets, which means they can direct training funding to their local priorities. The upside is that support is more responsive to local sector needs. The downside is that a business's postcode determines what is available.
For a business owner working out what applies, this means the answer to "what training funding can I access" starts with "where are you based". A Growth Hub in Cambridgeshire will point at different schemes to a Growth Hub in Cornwall.
Combined authority training funds
Where a mayoral combined authority exists, it typically holds a devolved Adult Skills Fund. This is the main pot of central government training money passed down for local direction. Combined authorities decide how to spend it, which providers to fund and what qualifications to prioritise.
For a business, the direct implication is that free or subsidised training for adults in your workforce may be available through providers commissioned by the combined authority. Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications in priority areas are commonly funded. English, maths and digital skills nearly always are. Sector-specific training varies.
The current mayoral combined authorities include Greater Manchester, West Midlands, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Liverpool City Region, North East, Tees Valley, York and North Yorkshire, East Midlands and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. London is covered by the Greater London Authority. Areas outside these authorities work through their county or unitary councils, with more limited devolved control.
The best way into combined authority training funding is through the authority's own skills page or through a Growth Hub advisor. Direct enquiries to the authority skills team are also possible for larger employers.
Sector-specific training levies and funds
A handful of sectors run their own training levies alongside the general apprenticeship levy. These are set by statute and cover specific industries.
CITB. The Construction Industry Training Board levy applies to construction employers over a certain size. CITB funds training grants for a wide range of construction skills and courses.
ECITB. The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board levy applies to engineering construction employers and works similarly to CITB.
Film Skills Fund. The film industry runs its own training levy through the BFI on productions over a certain budget.
If your business is in construction or engineering construction and you are paying into one of these levies, you can and should be drawing training grants from it. The application processes are administrative but well-established.
Access to Work funding
Access to Work is a national scheme separate from the training funding landscape, but worth flagging because it is under-used. It provides grants to help employers accommodate disabled employees, including funding for training and mentoring specifically related to a disability. Grants cover things like mental health support, dyslexia training and workplace adjustments. There is no cost to the employer for the funded support itself. The scheme is administered by the DWP and applications are made by the employee, usually with support from the employer.
How to find your Growth Hub
The GOV.UK Growth Hub network page lists Growth Hubs by region, with contact details. The lookup is by postcode.
For businesses in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, the equivalent services are Business Wales, Business Gateway and Invest Northern Ireland respectively. Each has training and skills support built into its wider business support offer, with rules and eligibility set by the devolved government.
The initial contact is usually a form or phone call. Expect a first response within a few working days. A first meeting or call with an advisor is often free and unlimited in scope. Bring specific training needs to the conversation and be honest about your business size and situation. Advisors are more useful when they have a real problem to solve.
What this means in practice
For most small and mid-sized businesses, the practical answer to training funding beyond apprenticeships is: talk to your Growth Hub before assuming there is nothing available. A thirty-minute conversation typically surfaces at least one route worth exploring, and often more.
The support that exists is patchy, regionally variable and administratively fiddly. But it is real, it is often free, and it is under-used. Businesses that take the time to work through what applies in their area consistently find training investment they didn't know was available.
Where to look next
For the wider funding picture including the apprenticeship levy and its 2026 reforms, our levy guide covers the detail.
For finding independent UK trainers and coaches once you know what funding you have available, our category pages let you browse by subject.