December 02, 2020 - 796 views
The Welsh Government is making a further £340m available through the Economic Resilience Fund to support businesses affected by the latest changes to the regulations which begin on Friday.
It will include a specific fund to support hospitality and tourism businesses.
The new Welsh Government support is split into two funds: a £160m Restrictions Business Fund and a £180m sector-specific Economic Resilience Fund grant scheme.
The Restrictions Business Fund will enable eligible businesses in the hospitality, tourism and leisure sectors which pay non-domestic rates (NDR) to access grants of up to £5,000.
It is estimated around 60,000 businesses, with a rateable value of under £150,000 will receive this support.
Businesses not on the NDR system, will be able to continue to apply to local authorities for the Lockdown Discretionary Grant of up to £2,000.
In addition, hospitality, tourism and leisure businesses will be able to access a sector specific Economic Resilience Fund grant scheme.
Small and medium sized businesses meeting the criteria could receive up to £100k. Larger Welsh-based businesses could receive up to a maximum of £150k.
This part of the package is expected to support up to 8,000 businesses in these sectors and a further 2,000 in the related supply chains.
More information about the funding and how it can be accessed will be published on the Business Wales website in the coming days.
Economy Minister Ken Skates said: "These are incredibly difficult days for businesses and these decisions have not been taken lightly.
"We expect today’s £340m announcement to support tens of thousands of businesses and help protect many more jobs and livelihoods. It must also be remembered that UK Government support is also available to businesses.
"We will continue to do everything we can to support our firms and our people through these challenging times."
