£20m grant available for small businesses to cover professional costs
Small businesses in England are set to benefit from a new tranche of government grants designed to help them recover from the impact of coronavirus through professional advice.
Under the new initiative, small and medium-sized businesses will be able to obtain grants of between £1,000 – £5,000 that can be used to help them gain access to new technology and equipment and/or professional, legal, financial, or other advice, including additional support from an accountant.
Interested parties can access the funding – provided by the England European Regional Development Fund – as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020, through 38 growth hubs within their Local Enterprise Partnership (“LEP”) area. Each LEP has been awarded a minimum of £250,000 to get the programme rolling
The grants on offer will be fully funded by the Government and there will be no requirement for the business itself to contribute financially in order to obtain the grant.
The funding is available to be accessed now through Growth Hubs – the details of your local Growth Hub can be found at https://www.lepnetwork.net/local-growth-hub-contacts/ and clicking on your local area
Does your business have enough cash to survive a second lockdown?
The deadlines for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) are fast approaching on 23 September and 4 November respectively.
If you believe that your business may require additional cash flow support in the event of a second lockdown, you should look to apply for this support in plenty of time before the deadline (particularly if applying for CBILS) to ensure that your application can be processed in time.
Remember that monies raised through either scheme do not carry any interest or fees in the first 12 months, with interest then fixed for BBLS at 2.5% per annum for the remaining 5-year term.
If a second lockdown does not occur, and the loan is therefore not required, then it may be repaid in full within the first 12 months without any fees or interest at all.
If you require any further information on any of the above please do not hesitate to contact your usual RPG contact.
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