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The Heritage Business Designation Scheme celebrates exemplar local heritage businesses that demonstrate efforts at preserving their heritage, have made significant community impact, and are committed to sustaining their businesses. Businesses designated under this scheme will be able to access tailored support to promote and sustain their businesses.
What is a Heritage Business
Heritage businesses provide time-honoured trades, goods or services that contribute to Singapore’s cultural landscape. They have forged deep community ties over its decades of operation and serve as important anchors in their community or neighbourhood.
Moreover, heritage businesses embody resilience and perseverance—continually evolving over time, while remaining steadfast in their commitment to heritage and traditions.
As such, heritage businesses provide us a glimpse into our unique identity and rich history. The Scheme aims to drive awareness and support for such businesses, so that they may continue to sustain our cultural heritage.
Why should I apply?
Designated businesses will enjoy various incentives that aim to increase consumer awareness, and uplift business capabilities. These may include the following:
- Brand visibility: Businesses will form part of a distinguished pool of designated heritage businesses that represent the hallmarks of local traditional trades and practices and, will be marketed nationwide.
- Marketing support: Businesses will receive rights to use a Designated Heritage Business mark to leverage for select marketing and promotional purposes;
- Business support: Businesses may also be offered support to undertake development or transformation efforts, depending on the business’s size and needs.
Who is the scheme for?
To be eligible for the Heritage Business Designation Scheme, the business must meet the following criteria:
- Registered and operating in Singapore;
- At least 30 years in operation, with no break in operations exceeding 2 years;
- At least 30% local equity held directly or indirectly by Singaporean(s) and/or Singapore PRs, determined by the ultimate individual ownership;
- Located in the Central Area (Please refer to the following attachment for the boundary areas).
In addition, businesses should meet the following criteria to be considered:
- Located in the same site or area for the past 30 years;
- Offers traditional trades, goods and/or services (Please refer to the following attachment for a list of examples);
- Able to demonstrate strong community ties or impact;
- Committed to maintaining its heritage.
Please note that fulfilling the criteria does not guarantee a successful nomination.
How to apply?
We welcome nominations from members of the public, and self-nominations from businesses who fit the eligibility criteria. Members of the public nominating a business are strongly encouraged to seek a business’s consent before submitting a nomination.
To apply, please complete the online nomination form, and prepare the necessary supporting documents for submission. Further details on the supporting documents and accepted formats can be found in the following section.
The nomination form supports the following languages: English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil.
Please refer to the following links for further details on the scheme and the online nomination form. For further enquiries, please contact us at .
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Online Nomination Form
- Submission Guidelines
- Digital brochure
- Central Region Map
- Examples of Traditional Trades, Goods and Services
Additionally, we may offer support for businesses that may find it difficult to complete applications by themselves. If you or a business requires such support, please contact with the following information:
- Business details (Business name, address, registration number, contact person’s name, and phone number)
- Reasons for request, and any relevant documents to support your request, where necessary.
Useful Resources
To learn more about heritage businesses, please refer to applicants of our other grants and initiatives in the following links:
- Organisation Transformation Grant
- Street Corner Heritage Gallery
- (Coming soon) Registry of Heritage Businesses
Nomination Period and Notification of Outcome
The nomination cycle runs from 1st November 2024 to 31st January 2025. Nominations submitted after the deadline will not be considered for this cycle.
The nomination results will be announced by March 2025 via email. Please note that all results of the scheme are final.
Contact
Email address:
Phone number:
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Nominations are to be done via our online nomination form. Please prepare the necessary supporting documents in advance before accessing the form. You may find the list of supporting documents in our submission guidelines here.
We offer additional support for self-nominations on a case-by-case basis. If your business faces challenges in using the online nomination form, please contact us at with the following details:
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Business details (Business name, address, registration number, contact person’s name, and phone number)
- Reasons for request, and any relevant documents to support your request, where necessary.
Incomplete submissions will not be considered for evaluation. We therefore strongly encourage members of the public to consult the relevant business before putting in an application.
No, the Heritage Business Designation Scheme does not provide direct financial assistance to designated businesses. However, the scheme offers valuable support in other areas, such as increased visibility, marketing support (e.g. exclusive digital marketing assets and a designation plaque), and, where necessary, tailored business support to address specific business needs and challenges.
Please refer to our list of examples of Traditional Trades, Goods and Services. Businesses that are not predominantly involved in the transmission or preservation of traditional trades, goods and services, or offer non-culturally specific offerings, may not qualify for the scheme. These may include:
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Non-local chain restaurants
- Mass-produced retail outlets
- Technology-based services
- Non-localised professional services
We accept other verifiable documents, such as a rental agreement or real-estate purchase agreement, as proof of the business’s age on a case-by-case basis.
The Organisation Transformation Grant is a one-off grant that encourages and support heritage businesses and organisations to adopt transformative and/or innovative projects that will contribute to the sustainability and long-term viability of their business. Unlike the Designation Scheme, the Grant is available to all locally registered heritage organisations and businesses (profit or non-profit).