The criteria for grant support under the Welsh Government’s Economic Resilience Fund have been revealed and the application process is expected to go live this week on Friday 17 April.
A grant fund of £400m has been put together to support Micro businesses who employ between 1 and 9 employees, SME’s employing between 10 and 249 employees and larger businesses of 250 or more employees that are of critical social or economic importance to Wales.
The fund has been established to help those companies and businesses that have not been able to access the existing grants that have been made available and businesses are being asked to complete an ‘eligibility checker’ as there are restrictions on who can apply and how much an organisation may be entitled to. The first block of money worth £200m will be available on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.
Micro Business Criteria – Grants up to £10,000
- Employing up to 9 people
- Have experienced in excess of a 40% reduction in turnover since 1 March 2020
- Can demonstrate that efforts have been made to sustain business activity
- Are not pursuing other forms of Welsh Government non-repayable grant funding support
- Are not entitled to business rate relief
- VAT registered or exempt from VAT
- Pay staff through the PAYE system
- Operating address is in Wales and have employees in Wales
Small and medium sized firms – Grants up to £100,000
- Employ between 10 and 249 employees
- Have experienced in excess of a 60% reduction in turnover since the 1 March 2020
- Are not eligible for covid-19 business rate relief, or if it is, that amount would be deducted from their allocation from this fund
- Have a sustainable business plan to trade beyond the Covid-19 pandemic
- Confirm no future compulsory redundancies will be made while the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is in place
- Are not pursuing any other form of Welsh Government non-repayable grant funding support
- Operating address in Wales and have employees in Wales
- Pay staff through the PAYE system
- Inability to access funding needed from a bank (including DBW and the British Business Bank) is demonstrated
Larger sized firms – Unspecified amount
Funding will be available to support large businesses employing 250 or more people and will be considered on a case by case basis
Eligibility criteria details can be found below:
https://fundchecker.businesswales.gov.wales/
The application process for businesses qualifying for financial support from the Economic Resilience Fund will open on Friday 17 April on the Business Wales website.
