Assistance for the Scottish events sector
A funding package has been established to hep the events sector in Scotland. Direct support will be provided to organisers of cultural, community and sporting events, as well as to supply chain firms facing hardship, to help keep them in business while restrictions on events are in place.
The fund will also look to increase community engagement, and support adaptions to event delivery to enable a safe restart.
Further details of how to apply for funding will be issued in due course.
Assistance in Scotland for small businesses and the newly self-employed
A £100 million fund has been made available in Scotland to further support the newly self-employed and SME’s. This funding was announced on 21 April and is now open for applications. The funds are available via 3 separate pots:
1. Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund in Scotland
This £34 million fund will be allocated to the newly self-employed facing hardship through £2,000 grants. You need to apply to your Local Authority for this scheme.
In order to qualify, you must sign a declaration confirming that you meet the following criteria:
- You became self-employed on/after 6 April 2019 (ie you did not submit a tax return including income from self-employment for 2018-19)
- Over 50% of your individual income is from self-employment
- Your trading profits were below £50,000 in the 2019/20 tax year
- You have lost business due to coronavirus and are suffering financial hardship as a result
- You are ineligible for other COVID-19 related business support and other business support (including the Business Interruption Loan Schemes, Job Retention Schemes, Future Fund, Small Business Grants, Non-Domestic Rates Relief and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.)
- You do not receive working age benefit payments or have applied for but not yet started receiving Universal Credit
- You trade as self-employed, not as a limited company or partnership
- You have taken steps to limit costs and expenditure
- You do not have access to sufficient savings or other sources of income to meet basic needs.
You will need to provide documentation to show you had an active business prior to COVID-19 (such as bank statements, VAT registration, marketing materials etc.)
Payments are expected to take up to 10 working days from application for approved applicants.
2. Creative, Tourism and Hospitality Enterprise Hardship Fund
This £20 million fund is now open for applications and will be managed by the Enterprise Agencies in partnership with Creative Scotland and VisitScotland for creative, tourism and hospitality companies with up to 50 employees that are not in receipt of business rates relief. This fund is designed for companies that are ineligible for other COVID-19 grant support or are not yet in receipt of the funds they need to survive. Hardship grants of £3,000 will be available, aswell as larger grants of up to £25,000 where it can be demonstrated support is needed.
In order to be eligible you must meet the following criteria:
- Have up to 49 employees
- Have experienced at least a 50% loss of current or projected revenue
- You were not in financial difficulty before 31 December 2019
- You are not in receipt of other COVID-19 government support, except the furlough scheme
- You are not a pre-revenue company
- You have a business bank account.
In order to apply you will need to have detailed information to hand, including a bank statement from your business bank account that is less than 3 months old, your Companies Registration number if you are registered, your VAT registration number if you are registered, and information to complete a 3 month cashflow table.
Payments are expected to take up to 10 working days from application for approved applicants.
3. Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund
This £45 million fund is now open for applications and will be managed by the Enterprise Agencies. This grant is for businesses that can play a critical role in supporting Scotland’s recovery but need some immediate support. It might be to get back up and running or to maintain or diversify current operations.
In order to be eligible you must meet the following criteria:
- Have up to 249 employees
- Have less than €50 million turnover or balance sheet total of €43 million
- Can demonstrate the funding will support the business to be viable
- You were not in financial difficulty before 31 December 2019
- You are a Fair Work employer or working towards becoming a Fair Work employer
- You have a business bank account
Businesses must be involved in or meet the following conditions:
- Can drive economic prosperity through wages, employment, exports, supply chain etc
- Be a supplier or potential supplier to NHS or other COVID-19 vital services
- A supplier to other essential businesses
- Can scale up or diversify due to COVID-19 opportunities
- Have a plan to continue to trade in the coming months
- Can use the grant for working capital to help meet a cash flow gap or can be used to augment other furning from Government and other sources
- Can use the grant to contribute to cashflow such as wages, rent, creditor payments etc.
In order to apply you will need to have detailed information to hand, including a bank statement from your business bank account that is less than 3 months old, your Companies Registration number if you are registered, your VAT registration number if you are registered, and information to complete a 12 month cashflow table.
If your application is successful you will be notified and MUST formally accept the offer within 3 days.
Detailed guidance on the above funds can be found here: https://findbusinesssupport.gov.scot/Coronavirus-funds-guidance-for-applicants
The Scottish Government will also top-up Creative Scotland’s Bridging Bursaries for the not-for-profit sector by £1 million.
4.Dumfries and Galloway Discretionary Fund
This is to provide support to small businesses who have not been able to access funding support from other Covid-19 grants since October 2020. The fund is available from 16 February 2021 and will close to new applications on 15 March 2021 subject to demand. The grant will cover the three months to 31 March 2021 and will be a one off payment of £6,000, the grant should be processed within 15 working days of the application.
Any business who has received a grant through the Strategic Framework Business Fund or any other specific funding available from the Scottish Government are ineligible to apply.
Businesses must meet the following criteria:
- Have a business bank account
- Was trading on 9 October 2020 and intends to continue to trade post Covid
- Not breached wider Covid regulations/requirements
- Not connected to a tax haven
- Employ less than 50 staff
- Based within Dumfries & Galloway
If a personal bank account is used for the business then three months bank statements must be provided along with a letter from your accountant stating it is used for business purposes.
