Contents
1. About this fund
£450,000 has been allocated to Business Development for the Screen Sectors in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029.
We will continue to fund Business Development activity for the Screen Sectors in England via a separate award for 2026 to 2029. By separating the funds in this way, we can ensure the funded activity responds to identified local sector needs and engage relevant national screen agencies as appropriate.
The BFI will make a single award for a programme of activity that delivers across the three nations. A partnership approach is encouraged to maximise effective delivery.
This fund will support the design and delivery of a new programme of Business Development Training that supports the growth and development of screen sector businesses across Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Your programme should support companies that can identify a specific need for, and benefit from, National Lottery support. Primarily these would be small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) and start-ups in the screen sector that are producing creative content to tell a story and engage an audience such as film and TV companies, games companies, businesses working in immersive content (including VR and AR), as well as the distribution, exhibition, and digital technology businesses that support the screen sector.
This programme must respond to an evidenced need, and may build on learning gathered from previous programmes, including the Business Development Training Programmes funded during the BFI’s 2023-2026 funding plan. Activity should always avoid duplicating what is (or is set to be) delivered through other business growth funds and should not directly replicate previous activity. As such the case for National Lottery funding should be clearly articulated within your application.
All activity funded through the BFI National Lottery Skills Fund should deliver against the following outcomes of the BFI’s National Lottery strategy:
Primary outcomes
- People from under-represented groups across the UK can access the support they need to develop their careers and skills (3.2)
- Vital skills for the sector that cannot be delivered by the commercial market are developed (3.4)
- Better support available for small and medium-sized enterprises and independents to develop their businesses (4.1)
Secondary outcomes
- Workforce retention is improved by building inclusive, flexible and supportive workplaces (3.3)
- Evidence-based insight and analysis of the screen sector is readily available to all, supporting organisations and driving policymaking (4.3)
All proposed activity must deliver against our three principles for National Lottery funding: Equity, diversity and inclusion; UK-wide; Environmental sustainability.
2. Check if you’re eligible
Your organisation must be a legally constituted organisation centrally managed in the UK. This includes:
- limited liability company or partnership registered at Companies House
- community interest company registered at Companies House
- combined or local authority or statutory body
- charity or trust registered with the Charity Commission
You must demonstrate:
- evidence of an ability to deliver across Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales; we expect this to be demonstrated via partnerships with stakeholders in respective nations
- evidence of delivering similar business development training programmes at scale
- expert knowledge of the UK screen sector particularly in relation to Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales
- relevant commercial and business expertise required to deliver a high-quality programme
- understanding of barriers faced by those attempting to grow their business
- connections to relevant screen sector stakeholders, including investors and training providers
Applicants must be applying to deliver their intervention on a not-for-profit basis. Individuals cannot apply.
3. What you can use the funding for
You can apply for an award of up to £450,000 to deliver a multi-year training programme between 1 April 2026 and 31 March 2029.
Your programme should be designed to benefit screen sector companies that can demonstrate a need for National Lottery support. While your programme may be designed to support a range of SMEs and start-ups in the sector, you should identify any priority sub sectors in your proposal along with a clear rationale and corresponding evidence. Our priority is to ensure support is directed to companies engaged in feature film activity.
Deliverables
In your application you will need to identify the specific activity you will deliver (your ‘deliverables’) using the funding which will enable you to meet your KPIs. Your deliverables could include:
- training and mentoring programmes
- events, including international market attendance
- professional networking
- digital resources and guidance (for example, training packs, online training modules, toolkits)
- case studies and knowledge that can be shared with the sector to help address skills and business growth issues
Eligible costs
You can use this funding for project costs such as:
- direct training and any associated costs (for example, beneficiary travel)
- direct programme delivery staff
- programme events
- resource development
- research reports
- marketing that is directly related to promotion of the opportunities available through the business development training programme
- contribution to core overheads that support the programme (at a reasonable level)
All costs should be at a level to maximise the public benefit and value for money of the fund.
Costs we cannot support
Funds should not substitute or replace existing funding or income that would otherwise be available, or to fund similar activity that can start without an award or that is ongoing. National Lottery funds are only awarded to applicants that demonstrate need and a clear public benefit from the activity. BFI National Lottery Funding is project-based, time-limited funding, and you should not expect ongoing support beyond the term of any award made.
Examples of common ineligible costs:
- core costs for day to day running of your organisation not associated with the programme
- costs relating to an extension of ongoing work
- capital expenditure
- filmmaking projects and workshops including development of scripts or stories
- activity that is already specifically supported by another external source of funding
- proposals that focus on other art-forms such as literature, dance on film, poetry film, opera or artists’ moving image
- costs incurred prior to the offer of funding from the BFI
- promotional or other activity (like stands, printed brochures) which does not support an environmental sustainability policy
- grants or loans to the participating SMEs and start-ups
This list is not exhaustive, and we may tell you that other types of activity within your application cannot be supported by a BFI award or ask that you amend specific activities and associated budget allocations.
If you’re registered for VAT, your figures should not include VAT that you can claim back. If you’re not registered for VAT, or you’re registered for VAT but cannot fully recover the VAT you incur on costs, your figures should include irrecoverable VAT. Grants we make are ‘outside the scope’ of VAT and should be listed in your accounts as a grant and not, for example, as a fee for any services supplied to the BFI. You should get financial advice from your own accountant or the relevant tax office.
Cashflow
If you are successful, funding will be cashflowed in-line with spend over your proposed project delivery timeline subject to:
- satisfactory performance — you can continue to deliver your activity in line with your funding agreement and these guidelines
- receipt and approval by the BFI of routine reporting including progress against KPIs and costs to date, and which can include proposed changes to approved plans to adapt to learnings and changing circumstances
- receipt and approval by the BFI of updated annual delivery plans for 2027/2028 and 2028/2029
- demonstration that you remain financially viable through to the end of the term
The amount of funding that the BFI can make available for 2027/2028 and 2028/2029 may be impacted by the ongoing availability of National Lottery funds at predicted levels. If we have to reduce funding for any year, we will ensure that we provide sufficient notice and work with you to modify plans accordingly.
Partnership funding
You’ll need to demonstrate an element of partnership support which can include cash or in-kind support. Partnership contributions will be considered in application assessments and are an important demonstration that there is genuine support for your project from stakeholders, participants and other partners who will benefit from the programme.
We expect training programmes to include participation fees at a reasonable rate (where realistic and where this does not prevent engagement). This income must be included in your budget and must not be kept or redeployed by you, the organisation delivering the programme. Where a participation fee is charged, bursaries should also be made available to ensure equitable access.
Partnership funding does not have to be secured at the point of application, but where it is an intrinsic element of the programme, it needs to be secured in advance of payment of the award from the BFI and before the proposed activity start date. An update on securing partnership funding will be required as part of the quarterly performance reporting. Other BFI funds cannot be used as partnership funding and UK National Lottery Funding from another distributor should not be the only form of partnership funding.
4. What your programme needs to achieve
As a result of the programme activity, business leaders should be able to apply new and improved commercial, management and leadership skills to develop their screen sector businesses. The programme should also provide opportunities for networking and access to finance, enabling screen sector businesses to secure investment opportunities and increase revenue streams, leading to business growth and improved financial sustainability.
You’ll need to propose KPI targets and impact measures against which we will measure the success of the programme during the funded period. All KPI targets must be set at a scale that represents a reasonable return for National Lottery funding.
Key Performance Indicators
You’ll need to include the following KPIs in your application:
- partnership funding secured for programme – minimum target: 30%
- number of training interventions delivered, and type of approach deployed for example, one-to-one mentoring, masterclasses, workshops, group training
- number of SMEs benefitting from intensive or direct training – target: 45 (as a guide, to be confirmed as part of the assessment process)
- diversity of beneficiaries of intensive or direct training — (see the BFI’s Inclusion Targets below)
- location of beneficiaries – per nation
- level of online engagement with programme activity, for example, number of individuals accessing or viewing online resources
- programme reach, for example, social media engagement, based on applicants’ individual outreach and engagement strategies
Additional impact measures that you will need to measure at 12-month intervals may include the percentage of beneficiaries:
- securing increased investment
- reporting increased turnover or profit
- reporting an increase in workforce
- delivering a new product or service
- engaging in new content markets
Targets will be set according to the priorities of the successful application.
Equity, diversity and inclusion
All activity supported by our funding should address the BFI Diversity Standards. For BFI National Lottery Skills Fund, the areas we expect you to focus on are:
- what representation is considered and offered in your output
- who works for your organisation
- early career opportunities, training and career progression
- the diversity of beneficiaries and how you will reach them
- the overall accessibility considerations and commitments
If successful, you’ll need to report following the conclusion of your activity, evaluating how you’ve delivered against the aims of the Diversity Standards in practice.
Your activity will contribute towards achieving the BFI’s inclusion targets; you will be expected to set targets in line with these in your application for funding.
UK-wide
Our funding supports national, regional, and local activity to ensure that communities throughout the UK feel the benefit of the screen industries and culture. You’ll need to tell us where your proposed activity will be delivered and how this will support the BFI’s UK-wide principle.
Environmental sustainability
You’ll need to embed the principle of environmental sustainability throughout your funded activity. You’ll need to consider how you’ll apply environmental sustainability (ES) principles to the funded activity or your organisation more generally. This could include:
- implementing good environmental practice for the project e.g. travel and events
- delivering virtual training where appropriate to ensure wider reach of modules and to limit travel
- embedding sustainability within your organisation more broadly
- exploring environmental themes as part of the work, for example, programming, training or skills development
Due to the range of organisations and activity that we fund, we’re not prescriptive about what you should focus on. For guidance, you can refer to resources provided by Julie’s Bicycle, particularly the Sustainable Screen Resource Hub, which outlines good environmental practices. To support the beneficiaries of your programme, you can also explore resources provided by BAFTA albert.
If funded, you are required to submit environmental impact data and report how you have applied the environmental sustainability principle. Find guidance on reporting on Julie’s Bicycle website.
5. How to apply
When you can apply
The deadline for applications is midday on 15 December 2025.
Information you need to provide
The main application form will ask you for some basic information including:
- total budget, amount requested from the BFI and sources of any partnership funding
- a brief summary of your proposal
- how you will ensure Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales-wide provision, including any partners you intend to work with to achieve this aim
- how the proposal supports equity, diversity and inclusion
- how your proposal responds to the BFI’s Diversity Standards
- your approach to environmental sustainability within the programme design, including any proposed training modules that relate to this topic
Documents you need to provide
You will need to attach a full proposal to your application. Drawing on clear evidence, including data and intelligence, you must set out an evidenced need for your proposed programme of activity that focuses on supporting the business development needs of emerging and early-stage screen sector SMEs.
In the full proposal document, you’ll need to provide:
- an Executive Summary, providing an outline of your organisation’s overall business plan for financial years 2026 to 2029, to provide context for BFI funded activities
- your vision for the programme, evidencing a strong understanding of barriers to growth and key skills needs within SMEs in the screen sector and setting out:
- the current gaps in support that your proposed activity seeks to fill (citing evidence)
- what outcomes you hope to achieve by the end of March 2029
- the screen subsectors your will prioritise and why
- how you will ensure delivery across Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, including any priority areas for 2026/2027 (and why these have been selected)
- detailed programme delivery plan; a full breakdown of your proposed programme of activity including:
- any individual strands, their purpose and how they work together to achieve your vision
- proposed assessment criteria for selection of participants in your activity
- any stakeholders that will be engaged, and how you will engage them in your programme
- proposed deliverables that relate to achieving your KPIs
- any resources that will be developed
- any processes or systems to be used
- any accessibility considerations
- timeline for delivery, including key milestones 2026 to 2029
- beneficiary outreach and engagement plan, to support delivery against KPIs and across Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales
- monitoring and evaluation plan, which should include:
- proposed KPIs and targets in-line with the Fund KPIs outlined above
- intended outcomes and impacts in line with the BFI National Lottery Strategic Outcomes (section 1) and impact measure (section 3) above
- a robust plan for how you will measure, track and evaluate progress over the course of the programme, including any systems to be used to collect and collate data and milestones for reporting back to the BFI
- experience and proposed management structure, detailing:
- why you are well placed to deliver this programme of activity
- key team member bios
- an organogram showing the proposed management structure for programme delivery
- what portion of each role will be spent on delivery of the programme (as .FTE) and how this is funded
- your governance structure and oversight mechanisms, including the Board and any steering or advisory groups to support your activity
- your process for escalation of issues, should they arise in relation to delivery of the funded activity
In addition, you will need to attach the following:
- a detailed programme budget, clearly setting out proposed use of BFI funds and detailing the status of all partnership funding, as well as indicative cashflow
- an updated programme risk register
- your last set of independently certified/audited accounts
- if more than 12 months has passed since the year-end covered in your last filed statutory accounts, please additionally provide draft accounts for the intervening auditable period as approved by your board (including both income and expenditure reporting and a balance sheet)
- your most recent budget and management accounts for the current financial year as approved by your Board (including both income and expenditure reporting and a balance sheet), as well as any subsequent budget reforecast since board approval was provided
- budget/forecast for your organisation for financial years 2026 to 2029, accompanied by notes highlighting the assumptions made and key risks (for instance around renewal of funding from other sources)
- your organisational risk register
- your organisation’s sustainability policy or other relevant document
Equality monitoring form
You may be asked to provide equality monitoring data relating to your organisation’s leadership or project staff at the point of application or during your project. The data you submit on this form will be confidential, anonymous and not seen by the fund staff.
Submitting your application
To apply, you’ll need to create an account. You’ll then need to complete and submit the online application form. You can save your application and return to it when you need to.
Make sure you complete all the sections as incomplete forms will be automatically ineligible.
For guidance about how to use our new BFI applicant portal:
You can view a PDF preview of the application form to see the questions you will be asked in full:
6. What happens after you apply?
You’ll get confirmation we’ve received your application within 1 to 2 working days.
You’ll be sent a unique ID number for your application.
You’ll get a decision within 12 weeks.
Once submitted, we will review your application and if necessary, may write to you or request to meet with you to obtain more information about your application. If we need additional information from you, it may take us longer to reach a decision on your application.
If your application is ineligible, we will email to tell you we will not be able to consider it. We may allow you to fix a mistake if this is the only reason the application is ineligible.
How your application is assessed
When assessing your application, we consider the public benefit from your proposed programme of activity and need for National Lottery funding along with the following:
- approach including the quality and feasibility of your proposal – you should provide a clear, strategic proposal that identifies:
- where key interventions are needed (citing evidence) and how these seek to address sectoral failures and gaps in provision
- an open-access participation and assessment process to ensure activity supports those that will benefit the most
- how the proposed programme responds to the National Lottery Funding Plan Outcomes and Principles of funding
- how the proposed programme complements existing provision (if applicable)
- how the proposal addresses the principles of EDI, environmental sustainability and enabling UK-wide benefit
- quality and ambition of your engagement plan outlining how you will reach underrepresented groups as well as beneficiaries across Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
- quality of monitoring and evaluation plans including:
- reach and ambition of proposed KPIs, noting the specific geographical focus of this funding is for Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales
- evidenced understanding of impact
- a robust framework for collection of key qualitative and quantitative information, with identified touchpoints during the programme delivery timeline
- a clear plan for how and when data will be collated and reported back to the BFI
- proposed budget and expenditure, including the level of partnership funding secured, and whether the programme represents value for money
- evidence of the organisation’s ability and capacity to carry out the programme of activity, including:
- experience in delivering similar programmes at an appropriate scale and to a high quality
- knowledge of barriers to growth and key skills needs across the sector
- financial viability of the organisation
- ability to deliver across Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales
- commitment to environmental sustainability, and equity, diversity and inclusion
- how you have managed any previous BFI awards where applicable
We may share parts of your application with other BFI teams or external consultants to help us assess it.
How we prioritise applications
Only one application will be successful. We will make our decision based on the proposal that:
- best delivers on the relevant National Lottery outcomes
- best addresses the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion; environmental sustainability; UK wide – noting a specific focus of the proposed activity across Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales
- uses an innovative and creative approach
- offers value for money and has the greatest potential to unlock additional partnership funding
We may also ask you to provide more information on your organisation’s approach to counter-fraud, including any organisational policies you have in place, before making a final award.
Identity checks
We undertake due diligence assessments of the applications we are recommending to our decision-making committee for funding. We will request the personal address and date of birth of the CEO or Managing Director of the organisation applying. We will use this data to run an identity check. Please note that our request for this information is not an indication or confirmation of funding and you will be informed separately of the funding decision on your application. Please note that this is not a credit check. We will be unable to submit your application to our decision-making committee until we have received your completed form.
Lottery Finance Committee Consideration
Following assessment of the applications, a recommendation will be made to the BFI Lottery Finance Committee. This is the final stage of the funding decision process. You will be informed in writing of the decision.
7. Getting a decision
If you’re successful, you will:
- receive a written offer of funding
- need to sign the offer of funding and return it to the BFI within 21 days
Your offer of funding will set out details of how you will receive the funding, how to use it and how we expect you to report to us.
Read the General Conditions of National Lottery Funding and the conditions of funding below to find out what you will have to do if you are offered an award.
If you’re unsuccessful
We may have turned down your application because we determined that the proposal:
- did not sufficiently meet our funding objectives and outcomes
- did not demonstrate a strong enough commitment to one or all of the following Principles: equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI); environmental sustainability; UK-wide (with a specific focus on delivery in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales)
- did not include a strong rationale for the activity
- did not include support for companies engaged in (or seeking to engage in) feature film activity
- did not represent value for money
- was too ambitious for the budget
- did not demonstrate enough relevant experience
- was not yet developed enough
- did not demonstrate sufficient need for National Lottery support and should be financed by other means
- did not meet with the BFI Diversity Standards
You will not be able to resubmit an application to this round of funding, unless we invite you to do so.
Feedback on an unsuccessful application
If we had a meeting with you to discuss your application, you can ask for feedback on your application. We’re a small team and unfortunately that means we’re unable to give feedback to other applicants.
We will keep the data and supporting materials you sent to us in line with our records retention policy.
We welcome your feedback on the application process and how we might improve it.
8. Conditions of funding
If we offer you an award, in addition to the General Conditions of National Lottery Funding, the following conditions will apply to your award:
You will be required to report on progress against all KPIs on a quarterly basis and attend annual performance reviews as well as other routine or specific meetings with BFI colleagues to discuss progress.
Where you have included unsecured partnership funding within your budget, you will need to provide updates on securing this finance to the BFI (normally as part of your performance reporting but, where such partnership funding is intrinsic to delivery of the activity, as a pre-condition to the funding agreement). The BFI may elect to withhold or withdraw your award if you are unable to secure the level of partnership funding required to deliver the activity as planned, or require that you submit revised plans and budget showing how the activity could be delivered without the planned partnership funding.
You will be required to work collaboratively with relevant BFI departments and partners, including the awardee for the Business Development Training Programme in England and the BFI Good Work partner, to support the sharing of key learnings and potential joint working to maximise outcomes for the BFI Skills Funds.
You will be required to gain BFI approval for any marketing or related materials for your funded activity, in line with branding guidelines that the BFI will provide to you.
You will be required to take part in an evaluation of the Fund by the BFI (or its contracted party).
You will be required to provide any resources (including research, insights and data reports) that are developed under the funded activity to the BFI and ensure any resources developed using National Lottery funding are made publicly available.
You will need to adopt safeguarding provisions for protecting children and vulnerable adults and ensure that data on all participants in, and beneficiaries of, the Skills Fund activity can be shared with the BFI in compliance with UK data protection legislation.
All awardees will be required to work with our designated cultural sustainability partner to assess their environmental impact. Further guidance and support will be provided to you once the award period begins.