Eligibility for £120m Covid support package widened to help new businesses
Economy Minister Vaughan Gething has confirmed that new businesses in Wales can now apply for financial support from the government’s recently launched £120m fund to help companies impacted by the latest Covid wave.
The package is available for retail, hospitality, leisure and tourism business and their supply chains affected by the move to alert level 2 announced by the First Minister on 22 December.
Eligible businesses can apply for grants of between £2,500k – £25,000, dependent on their size and number of employees.
In a written statement, Mr Gething said: “The Welsh Government recognises that there is a need to support those who started a new business in the summer months.
“The funding will provide a potential lifeline to those who have recently established their business and help them to continue trading through the period 13 December 2021 to 14 February 2022 despite being impacted by the spread of Omicron.”
To be eligible businesses must have been trading on or before the 1 September 2021.
The support package includes funding from the Economic Resilience Fund (ERF), with an eligibility checker for this now live on the Business Wales website.
The application window for the ERF element will open in the week starting 17 January 2022, with payments starting to reach businesses within days. The application window will be open for two weeks.
Local Authorities
Non-essential retail, hospitality, leisure and tourism businesses in Wales will also receive support from the Non-Domestic Rates (NDR) linked grant which will be administered by Local Authorities.
Businesses will be entitled to a payment of £2,000, £4,000 or £6,000 depending on their rateable value.
Local Authorities will also be administrating a discretionary fund for sole traders, freelancers and taxi drivers and businesses that employ people but do not pay business rates.
The registration process for the non-domestic rates linked grants delivered by local authorities will open on 13 January 2022 and the application process for the local authority delivered discretionary funding, opens on 17 January.
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I don’t think for one minute that this has anything to do with my appeal of the other day on behalf of the new Spanish deli and other new ventures in Dolgellau but diolch Mr Gething…I expect this is being echoed around the country…
If the Welsh Government treated us like adults this money could have gone towards child poverty or something similar.
Wales has the worst % of child poverty in the 4 nations. But its political dogma which is the priority of Drakeford being a supporter of Momentum, I suppose it makes sense.
Is it all there is, surely not, but you are right about poverty in Wales it should be well in the past, but we live in the past in this country some even voted to stay there !