One of the most established names in trading, IG has launched a welcome offer for new UK account holders investing at least £300. Use code WELCOME300 to get up to £300 of free UK shares. Sign up with our link, place trades of at least £300 in your first 30 days, and keep £300 invested for 3 full calendar months to be eligible.
Alternatively, invest £1,000 in May and use code MAYSHARES to get up to £1,000 of free US stocks. For that offer you’ll need to keep your £1,000 invested until the end of August. You’ll be randomly allocated a bundle of shares worth £50 – £,1000.
As you might expect, there are a few T&Cs to know about, which we outline here. We’ve focused on the £300 free shares offer, as the £1,000 minimum deposit requirement might put some preople off the large offer.
Sign up and open a share dealing account. 👤
You'll need to be a new IG customer joining before 31 December 2026, aged 18+, and using code WELCOME300 when opening your account. Opt for a GIA, ISA or SIPP.
Invest at least £300. 💳
Fund your account by card or transfer then invest at least £300 within your first 30 days.
Maintain £300 invested. ⏳
Sit tight! Keep £300 of investments for 3 full calendar months. Its value might change during this time.
Receive your free shares! 🎉
IG will randomly select and credit up to £300 in UK company shares by the end of the following month.
Capital at risk.
If that’s put you off, check out more free-share deals. Otherwise, let’s go through those “need-to-knows” one-by-one.
You must live in the UK, be over 18, and you cannot previously have traded in a GIA, ISA or SIPP with IG . Yes, that is rather a lot of abbreviations.
Specifically, the dealine is 11.59pm on 31 December 2026. You can open an IG account within just a few minutes, and providing it’s with market hours, placing a trade is near-instant too. Sometimes IG does extend its offers, but you can’t bank on that.
This means you’ll need to actually buy some stocks or ETFs. The good news is that share dealing on IG is commission-free, but expect to pay stamp duty of 0.5% if you opt for a UK stock, or a 0.7% FX fee for international shares (like US companies, for example). To trade US stocks you’ll need to complete a W-8BEN form (to certify your non-US tax residency status), which is a quick and easy task in the app.
If you place your trade on, say, the 20th July, you’ll need to stay invested throught August, September and October. You don’t have to hold your initial investment (i.e. not sell the stocks) but you do have to keep that £300 invested (so not just sitting as cash in the account). During that time, its value could go up or down.
It’s important to note that the value of the shares you receive is random, but weighted towards lower value stocks.
Your free shares will be credited to a general investment account (GIA) (not an ISA or SIPP, if that’s what you opened) by the end of the month after your 3-month holding period.
Both the £300 (minimum) investment you’re required to make plus any free stocks you receive can go up or down in value. That’s the nature of investing.
If you’re eligible and have satisfied the above conditions, IG will select and randomly allocate up to £300 from a shortlist of UK stocks.
| stock | Icon | 1-year performance (to May. '26) | 5-year performance (to May. '26) | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) |  |
30.31% | 72.92% | Invest Capital at risk |
| InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG) |  |
29.18% | 123.34% | Invest Capital at risk |
| Unilever PLC (ULVR) |  |
-15.44% | -6.74% | Invest Capital at risk |
| Experian PLC (EXPN) |  |
-31.02% | -2.81% | Invest Capital at risk |
| Greggs PLC (GRG) |  |
-18.28% | -42.53% | Invest Capital at risk |
| GSK plc (GSK) |  |
33.79% | 34.98% | Invest Capital at risk |
| Burberry Group PLC (BRBY) |  |
57.39% | -44.75% | Invest Capital at risk |
| Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust plc (SMT) |  |
51.22% | 25.76% | Invest Capital at risk |
| Auto Trader Group plc (AUTO) |  |
-39.67% | -7.22% | Invest Capital at risk |
| Rightmove PLC (RMV) |  |
-41.83% | -28.19% | Invest Capital at risk |
| EasyJet PLC (EZJ) |  |
-31.02% | -59.89% | Invest Capital at risk |
| Tesco PLC (TSCO) |  |
23.63% | 103.02% | Invest Capital at risk |
| Marks and Spencer Group PLC (MKS) |  |
-7.32% | 103.62% | Invest Capital at risk |
| International Consolidated Airlines (IAG) |  |
29.54% | 83.46% | Invest Capital at risk |
| J Sainsbury PLC (SBRY) |  |
13.49% | 22.49% | Invest Capital at risk |
Capital at risk.
It’s pretty straightforward! But it’s a bit of a waiting game. You just need to invest £300, and stay invested for 3 clear calendar months. Then you’ll get your free shares by the end of the next month.
You open a new account on 30 June and place a trade of £300 that same day. You hold for 3 full, clear calendar months: July, August and September. IG then funds your account at some point in October. The whole process has taken as little as 3 months and 2 days.
You open a new account on 2 June and place a trade 30 days later on 2 July. You hold for 3 full, clear calendar months: August, September and October. IG then funds your account at some point in November. The whole process has taken as much as 6 months.
IG is a comprehensive all-in-one investing platform, which has been around since 1974 and has over 300,000 customers. The provider caters to both beginners and experienced investors (with a dedicated “IG Invest” app for those starting out), offering a wide range of investments and ready-made portfolios.
The platform is commission-free, has no platform fee, and gives you access to plenty of trading tools and access to various accounts.
IG’s offer is great if you’re new to investing and you’re looking for something that will give you a kickstart. It’s also a good way to dive into IG’s extensive 0% commission investing platform. The only downside with the platform is that it doesn’t offer fractional shares.
Getting up to £300 worth of free UK stocks and shares with an investment of just £300 is a strong incentive if you want to dip your feet into the world of investing with a tidy welcome bonus to start building your portfolio. Just make sure you understand and are happy with the need-to-knows outlined above, and research any investments thoroughly before you put your money to work in the market.
You can check out the rest of IG’s offers here, or check out some alternative deals below:
Get free shares up to £100
Earn 4.51% AER variable tax-free with Finder's link
Get a free Barclays, Rolls-Royce, Tesco, Glencore or BP share
Sign-up welcome bonus of £20-£200 (deposit £100)
Free stock worth £10-£100 (deposit £50)
Get up to 3% cashback
Earn 3.8% on uninvested cash
Refer a friend and get up to £100 each
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