Best Grant Writing Services in the UK
We run one of these services, so read this with that in mind. We have tried to be useful rather than flattering — including the cases where someone else is the better choice.
Which UK grant writing service is best?
There is no single best UK grant writing service, because the market splits into segments that barely overlap. For innovation and deep tech funding — Innovate UK, UKRI, Horizon Europe — GrantUp, Streets Innovation and GrantTree specialise there, with GrantUp covering life sciences and deep tech particularly heavily. For large companies combining R&D tax relief with grant advisory at scale, ABGi and Ayming operate internationally across manufacturing, aerospace and automotive. For charities and community organisations, Charity Excellence runs a free funding platform that most small charities should exhaust before paying anyone. For checking an application you have already drafted, EchoGrant charges a fixed £250. The practical difficulty when comparing them is that almost none publish prices: of the providers here, only GrantUp and EchoGrant state their fee model publicly, and only EchoGrant publishes actual figures.
1. Innovation and deep tech grants
If you are applying to Innovate UK, UKRI, Horizon Europe, ESA or ARIA, this is the segment you want. These firms live in the scoring criteria of those specific competitions.
GrantUp
Covers Innovate UK competitions, UKRI research councils, Horizon Europe, the European Space Agency, ARIA, Eurostars and UK Defence Innovation, with declared depth in health and life sciences, deep tech, net zero and creative industries. Their site states the fee is quoted before work starts with no percentage of the award, and that a no-win-no-fee option is available for qualifying companies.
Worth saying plainly: their range of funders is wider than ours, and if you want someone to write an Horizon Europe or ESA bid from scratch, they are a more appropriate call than we are.
Streets Innovation
Combines R&D tax relief advisory with innovation grant funding and patent box work, across agri-tech, aerospace, marine, energy and biomedical sectors, covering both UK programmes (Innovate UK, DASA, DEFRA, UK Space Agency, ATI) and European ones. They report £150m+ in R&D savings generated and note that past performance is not a guarantee. Fees are not published; they offer a free consultation.
GrantTree
Fifteen years old, covering R&D tax relief, innovation grants and innovation loans together, and reporting 2,000+ companies supported and £500m+ secured. The combination matters: if you want one firm handling both your tax relief claim and your grant applications, that is their model. Fees are not published.
2. Large companies and complex R&D claims
If you are a large company, or your grant work sits alongside substantial R&D tax claims and international operations, these firms are built for that scale and we are not.
ABGi UK
Part of an international group managing, by their own account, £1.7bn of global tax incentives, grants and subsidies annually with 520 experts. Services span R&D tax credits, grant advisory across European, Innovate UK and regional schemes, intellectual property, patent box and video games tax relief. No published fees.
Ayming UK
An international consultancy organised around R&D funding, direct funding and grants advisory, and strategic partnerships, including due diligence work for venture capital and private equity firms. Sector coverage runs from aerospace and automotive to financial services and construction. No published fees.
3. Charities and community organisations
Charity funding is a different discipline from commercial innovation funding — different funders, different language, different assessment criteria. A consultant strong on Innovate UK is not automatically strong on National Lottery or trust and foundation bids.
Charity Excellence — and it is free
A free platform for UK charities and non-profits with 60,000 members, offering a Funding Finder directory, company donations finder, AI-assisted bid writing, policy templates and health check questionnaires. If you are a small charity, start here. Exhaust a free resource of this quality before paying anyone, including us.
4. You have already written it and want it checked
This is the gap we built for. Most of the cost of grant support is the writing, and if you have already done that, you are paying again for work you have done.
EchoGrant
A fixed £250 Full Assessment: you send your drafted application and the funder's published requirements, and you get written feedback as a PDF scored against each criterion, with the gaps and what to change. Free scoring with no signup if you only want a fit check first. Done-for-you writing from £2,500 with no success fee. Prices are published because we think you should be able to compare without booking a call.
When we are not the right choice
If you need a Horizon Europe, ESA or ARIA bid written from scratch, GrantUp covers those funders in more depth than we do. If you are a large company whose grant work is inseparable from a substantial R&D tax claim, ABGi or Ayming are built for that and we are not. If you are a small charity, Charity Excellence is free and you should try it first. And if your application is a two-page local authority form, you almost certainly do not need any of us — write it yourself.
We are the right call in one specific case: you have drafted an application for a competitive scheme, the deadline is close, and you want to know where it falls short against the published criteria before you submit it.
The thing nobody makes easy: comparing fees
Of the providers above, none of ABGi, Ayming, GrantTree or Streets Innovation publishes rates. GrantUp publishes a fee model — quoted before work starts, no percentage of the award — without figures. We publish figures.
That is not a moral failing on anyone's part; grant work genuinely varies by scheme complexity, and success-fee models make the total depend on the outcome. But the practical effect is that comparing UK grant support means contacting several firms and waiting for quotes, which is why so few people do it.
The number to ask about is the success fee. Five to fifteen per cent of the award is common, and on a £500,000 Innovate UK grant a 10% success fee is £50,000 on top of the writing fee. Ask whether it applies to the full award or only the amount you draw down, and check whether the funder permits grant money to pay it — many do not.
Common questions
Who are the best grant writing services in the UK?
There is no single best provider, because UK grant support splits into distinct markets that barely overlap. For innovation and deep tech grants such as Innovate UK and Horizon Europe, GrantUp, Streets Innovation and GrantTree all specialise there. For large companies combining R&D tax relief with grant advisory, ABGi and Ayming operate at that scale. For charities and community organisations, Charity Excellence offers a free funding platform that most small charities should try before paying anyone. For checking an application you have already written, EchoGrant provides a fixed-price £250 assessment.
Do UK grant writers publish their prices?
Mostly not. Of the providers reviewed here, none of the large consultancies publish rates on their websites — ABGi, Ayming, GrantTree and Streets Innovation all quote on enquiry. GrantUp states that its fee is quoted before work starts with no percentage of the award, and offers a no-win-no-fee option for qualifying companies, but does not publish figures. This means comparing providers requires contacting several of them and waiting for quotes.
What is the difference between a grant writer and a grant consultant?
In practice the terms are used interchangeably in the UK, but there is a rough distinction. A grant writer focuses on drafting the application text itself. A grant consultant more often advises on funding strategy — which schemes to target, whether you are eligible, how to structure the project and budget — and may write the application as part of that. Larger firms such as ABGi and Ayming lean towards advisory; specialist writers lean towards drafting.
Should charities use the same grant writers as businesses?
Usually not. Charity funding and commercial innovation funding are different disciplines with different funders, language and assessment criteria. A consultant who is strong on Innovate UK Smart Grants is not automatically strong on National Lottery or trust and foundation applications. Charity Excellence, which is free, is the sensible starting point for small charities, and there are grant writers who work only with the charity sector.
Is a success fee normal for UK grant writing?
It is common but not universal. Many UK consultancies charge 5 to 15 per cent of the awarded grant in addition to their fee, which on a large award can be substantial. Some providers explicitly do not: GrantUp states it takes no percentage of the award, and EchoGrant charges fixed prices with no success fee. Before agreeing to one, check whether the funder permits grant money to be used to pay it, because many do not.
Details of other providers are taken from their own public websites as at 13 September 2026 and summarise how they describe themselves. Nothing here is a statement about the quality of their work. If you run one of these firms and something is wrong or out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
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