Tree Production Capital Grant (currently closed)

Funding available 

The The TPCG provides provides 50% funding for projects up to a maximum grant value of £175,000. Projects must have a minimum total cost of £10,000 (£5,000 grant value) to be eligible. 

You should consider the source of your match funding before applying and explain this in your application. You cannotmay not source match funding from another DefraNCF funded grant. grant.

FundingExample isprojects availablesuitable for thefunding 2025-2026could financialinclude:

• investments yearin only.machinery Agreementssuch areas likelytransplanting tosystems beand issuedgrading inmachines
• improved Augustpolytunnel 2025.

  Allinfrastructure itemsand mustirrigation besystems

• biosecurity receivedthrough improved water treatment and workrefrigeration completedequipment
• seed betweenprocessing theor startstorage ofequipment

You yourmay agreementsubmit andno 27more Marchthan 2026.one bid during each funding round.

Before applying, make sure you are confident that you can complete all activities and receive all items betweenbefore thesethe dates.project deadline. Any spend after 27this Marchdate 2026 will not be eligible to claim for. for.

Project eligibility

ExampleFunding projectswill suitablebe forsplit fundinginto can2 include: streams:

• investmentsStream inA: machinery,projects suchvalued asbetween transplanting£10,000 systems and grading machines £100,000
• polytunnelsStream andB: associatedprojects infrastructure 
• rainwatervalued harvestingat andgreater irrigationthan systems £100,000
• buildings, such as packing sheds or coldstores 
• biosecurity through improved water treatment and refrigeration equipment 
• seed processing or storage equipment 
• costs for purchasing or developing nursery management software  
• long-life trays 

YouProjects canmust onlyhave submita oneminimum bidtotal duringcost eachof funding£10,000 round.to However,be your bid can include multiple different investments. eligible.

Read

Funding ourStream	Project TPCGValue	Funding caseAvailable studies to(50%)
A	£10,000 findto out£100,000	£5,000 how funding benefitted previous grant holders. The TPCG intends to support£50,000
B	>£100,000	>£50,000 the supply of trees propagated and grown in the UK. If you buy plants to grow£175,000

Eligible on,costs youthat willmay be expectedclaimed to outline the source of those plants.  

You can claim for these eligible costs : 

include:

• costs of equipment and machinery  machinery purchased
• delivery and shipping costs of items purchased purchased
• personnel costs related to the construction or implementation of the items purchased at the applicant’s site of operation operation
• one-off costs for purchasing or developing software 

You

The cannotfollowing claimexpenditure for: 

is ineligible:

• retrospective funding for work already carried out or to be carried out before a grant agreement is signed signed
• maintenance costs of the items purchased purchased
• any training required for staff to make use of the items purchased purchased
• trees orof tree seed or to be delivered as the outputs of the project proposal proposal
• consumables, for example compost,compost fertiliser or single use trays/containers fertiliser
• software licenses or subscription fees 
• items bought on hire purchase or on lease 

The grant is paid in arrears. To claim for an item, you must have purchased and received it. MakeSo make sure you can purchase items up front before claiming. applying.

HowAm toI apply eligible?

Application form

In yourthe application form, you needwill be asked to provide details aboutabout:

• the yourproject organisationand the outputs expected
• how the project aligns with the scope of the grant and yourmeets proposedthe project.aim Youto mustincrease alsothe providequality, quantity, writtendiversity responsesand/or biosecurity of tree or tree seed supply in England
• your approach to 7delivering assessedthe questions,project whichand willany bedelivery scoredrisks
• the bycost of the TPCGproject evaluationand panel. 

  Financehow spreadsheet

  it represents value for money your organisation and for the taxpayer
• the source of your match funding 
• whether you have received, have applied for, or intend to apply for any other government funds

In your finance spreadsheet, you willshould need to itemise project costs and funding applied for. Where possible, base costs on quotes. All costs and financial details should be in £ Sterling and should be exclusive of any recoverable VAT.  VAT.

Evidence

All sections of financialthe viability

Ifapplication youform are amandatory localand authority,you universitymust orcomplete publicthe body,forms youin mayEnglish. needDo not make any alterations to submitthe evidencelayout or format of financialthe viabilityforms. withIf any part of your application.application Checkis theincomplete, TPCG applicationwe formwill guidancereturn foryour details. 

Businessapplication plan

Ifto you havewithin been3 tradingworking asdays afor treeyou orto treerevise seedand producerresubmit forbefore 1the yeardeadline. orIf less,any part of your application is unclear, we may contact you mustto alsorequest providefurther ainformation.

If businessyou planneed to supportamend your application.application Thisbefore shouldthe demonstratepublished deadline or withdraw your objectives,application strategiesat andany forecasts.time, Referemail: tpcg@forestrycommission.gov.uk

If toyou consider the GOV.UKinformation guidancecontained onwithin writingyour aapplication businessto plan. be commercially sensitive, you must notify us of this when submitting your application.

AssessmentHow process will applications be assessed?

All eligible applications will be evaluated and scored by ana evaluationpanel panel.with Findexpertise outand moreexperience aboutof howtree applicationsproduction aremethods assessedused in England. If the TPCG applicationgrant formis guidance. oversubscribed, funding will be awarded to the highest scoring applications.

WeAny willapplications notifydeemed youto fall outside the scope of our the fund or that do not meet the TPCG fundingeligibility decisioncriteria bywill 6not Augustbe 2025. evaluated and will be rejected.

If your application scores 0 for any of the panelscored needsquestions furtheror informationscores aboutless yourthan project16/32 beforeoverall, makingit awill decision,be weunsuccessful. Funding decisions may issuebe anconditional ‘offeron inthe principle’.outcome Weof willa sendphysical youinspection aby formthe withForestry Commission to ensure the panel’ssuitability commentsof the site and requests.proposals.

The YouForestry willCommission havereserves 2the weeksright to respond.not Youraward responseall of the funding available if insufficient bids of an appropriate quality are received.

All eligible applications will helpremain usvalid decidefor whether6 tomonths offerafter youthe aclosing fundingdate. agreement.If the funds are oversubscribed and additional funds become available, we may reconsider valid applications for funding.

Reporting and payments

If your application is successful, you will be issued with a grant agreement. You must not begin your project untilbefore youthe havestart signeddate of your grant agreement andor returnedbefore ityou tohave thesigned Forestryyour Commission.agreement. Expenditure outside of the funding period will not be eligible to claim back. back.

Reporting and payments 

You canmay claim at any time upbut are advised to aclaim maximumfor ofmultiple items at once where possible, and to submit claims no more frequently than once per month. You must have received an item or completed a piece of work before you can claim for it. The deadline for final claims is 27 March 2026. 

We will pay claims in arrears by BACS transfer following receipt of completed claim forms. Payment of the claim will be made within 2230 working days of us approving your claim. All claims must be supported by evidence of eligible expenditure (for(i.e., example, invoices/ timesheets) and photos and descriptions of purchased items or work carried out to date.

Items shouldWe notreserve bethe paidright forto byarrange cashsite andvisits all invoices must be addressed to theconfirm grantprogress recipientmade organisation.  on projects.

You must complete a post-implementation report within 3three to 6six months of submitting your final claim.  

Obligationclaim. period 

AllThis TPCGmust grantdetail agreementsachievement willagainst includestated anoutcome obligationand period,outputs, whichlessons willlearnt, starta fromcomplete thecost datebreakdown yououtlining submithow yourthe finalgrant claimfunding andhas lastsbeen forspent, 2and years.any Duringneed thatfor time,further youdevelopment. must: 

• maintainWe ownershipwill ofprovide itemsyou purchasedwith usinga yourtemplate TPCGfor grantthis funding 
• makereport.

  Payments usemay ofbe andreclaimed maintainif anyreports itemsare purchasednot usingsubmitted youron TPCGtime. grantYou fundingmay forbe theencouraged purposeto setwork outwith inus yourto grantpublish agreement 

• submit a post-implementationshort report 

Wearticle mayin conduct a sitesuitable visittrade duringpress thisafter periodthe andwork willhas clawbackbeen funds if you have not complied with these. completed.

Further information Information

The Forestry Commission reserve the right to change the deadline for applications or make changes to the application process at short notice.

The Forestry Commission reserve the right to amend, add to or withdraw all or any part of the funding application process at any time during the process.

All changes and updates are recorded onat thisthe page, readbottom of this page updates.(click ‘show all updates’). If you have already submitted an application, we will contact you by email to inform you of these changes.

Material changes (for example to the closing date or eligibility rules) will also be communicated via the Forestry Commission’s eAlert. 

If you need to query any application requirements or the application process, email  tpcg@forestrycommission.gov.uk. If we consider queries relevant to any applicant, we will provide additional guidance to all applicants (via point of contact provided) by email to ensure a fair and open process. We may be unable to respond to some queries or requests due to the competitive bid process. We reserve the right not to answer queries where we consider that the answer would or be likely to prejudice commercial interests. 

Applicants who canvass Forestry Commission or Defra employees associated with the TPCG may have their applications rejected from the process. Applicants who are unable to accept the standard terms and conditions of the funding may have their application eliminated from the application process.  

The Forestry Commission may carry out checks on each application using a variety of government tools including the Cabinet Office’s automated grants due diligence tool called ‘Spotlight’ and regulationsbank eAlert.  account verification software. As part of due diligence process, the Forestry Commission may share details of the organisations involved in applications with other parts of government.

The Forestry Commission is not responsible for any losses, breakages or injuries incurred by the applicant whilst engaged in activities associated with the TPCG.

Neither the Forestry Commission nor its respective advisers, directors, officers, members, partners, employees, other staff or agents: agents:

• makes any representation or warranty (express or implied) as to the accuracy, reasonableness, or completeness of this guidance guidance
• accepts any responsibility for the information contained in this guidance or for the fairness, accuracy or completeness of that information nor shall any of them be liable for any loss or damage (other than in respect of fraudulent misrepresentation) arising as a result of reliance on such information or any subsequent communication communication

Contact us us

If you have questions about the the TPCG or or the application process, email us at tpcg@forestrycommission.gov.uk.

To get the most up to date information on this grant sign up for our eAlert.

Find out about other grants from the Forestry Commission.

Find out how to make a a complaint or appeal.