Business Advice and Support

Help for Businesses – COVID 19

Welsh Government Business Grants

Click here: Apply for a Welsh Government business grant 

Welsh Government has announced a £1.4bn support package for all businesses listed on the business rates register.

The Business Grant has 2 different components.

• For retail, leisure and hospitality businesses in Wales, a grant of £25,000 will be offered for businesses in these sectors with a rateable value of between £12,001 and £51,000.
• For all other sectors the Welsh Government package also provides a £10,000 grant to all businesses eligible for Small Business Rates Relief with a rateable value of £12,000 or less.

Please note: All applications will be checked and verified to avoid fraudulent claims. You will need your business rates number, please only enter the first 7 digits.

Welsh Government Economic Resilience Fund

Businesses may also benefit from a £400 million emergency pot providing:

• Grants of £10,000 for micro-businesses employing up to nine people. This includes sole traders employing staff. Qualifying businesses will be able to apply by mid-April.
• Grants of up to £100,000 for small and medium sized firms with between 10 and 249 employees. Qualifying businesses will be able to apply by mid-April.
• Support for larger Welsh companies, which are of critical social or economic importance to Wales. This element will be open to qualifying businesses within the next two weeks.

Details of the application process and eligibility are being finalised and will be published shortly.

For more information: Financial Support and Grants

Business Rates

Businesses in the Hospitality, leisure and retail sectors with a Rateable Value of below £500,000 are eligible for 100% business rates relief for the financial year 2020/2021.

Support for Employees

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Under the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, all UK employers with a PAYE scheme will be able to access support to continue paying their employees’ salary for those who would otherwise have been laid off due to COVID-19.

To access the scheme, employers need to designate affected employees as ‘furloughed workers’ and submit information to HMRC, which will reimburse 80% of furloughed workers’ wage costs up to £2,500 per month.

Statutory Sick Pay Support

Employers with fewer than 250 employees will be refunded by the Government for the cost of providing 14-days’ statutory sick pay for employees who can’t work or need to self-isolate due to COVID-19.

For more information: Guidance for employees, employers and businesses

Support for the Self Employed

Self-employment Income Support Scheme

The Self-employment Income Support Scheme will provide financial assistance to self-employed people who have lost income due to coronavirus.

Under the scheme, the self-employed can claim a taxable grant worth 80% of their trading profits up to a maximum of £2,500 per month for the next three months.

To be eligible, self-employed trading profits must be less than £50,000 and more than half of your income must come from self-employment.

For more information: Self Employment Income Support Scheme

Further financial Support

Covid-19 Wales Business Loan Scheme

The loan scheme will work alongside the UK wide Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, other Welsh Government and UK Government support offers, providing more vital options for Welsh businesses. Loans of between £5,000 and £250,000 are available to businesses who have been trading longer than 2 years and can demonstrate that they were able to service that level of debt before the outbreak.

Fund Details:
• loans between £5,000 to £250,000, maximum loan levels apply
• 12 month capital and interest repayment holiday
• no arrangement or monitoring fees
• 2% interest fixed for 6 years (includes the 12 month holiday)

Details of the fund, eligibility and application process can be found on the Development Bank of Wales’s website https://developmentbank.wales/

*Important update* Due to the unprecedented volumes of applications the Development Bank of Wales is now fully subscribed for the Covid-19 Wales Business Loan Scheme. 

Businesses seeking a loan should consider the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme available for SMEs through over 40 accredited UK lenders.

Business Interruption Loan Scheme

A new temporary Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, covering a variety of different products such as loans, overdraft, invoice finance and asset finance, delivered by the British Business Bank, has launched on the 23 March to support primarily small and medium sized businesses to access bank lending and overdrafts. The government will provide lenders with a guarantee of 80% on each loan (subject to a per-lender cap on claims) to give lenders further confidence in continuing to provide finance to SMEs. The government will not charge businesses or banks for this guarantee, and the Scheme will support loans of up to £5 million in value. Businesses can access the first 12 months of that finance interest free, as government will cover the first 12 months of interest payments. 

Further details can be found by clicking here

Support for Farmers

Welsh Government's Emergency Support Measures for Farmers During COVID-19

The Welsh Government has announced a series of emergency measures to support Wales’ farmers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, recognising the crucial role they play in feeding the nation. Acknowledging the challenges facing the sector as a result of coronavirus, and during what is normally a busy time of year even under normal circumstances, farmers will now have an extra month to submit their Single Application Form (SAF), with the deadline now extended to 15 June 2020.

In response to concerns about Crop Diversification requirements following the recent flooding and the added pressure and uncertainties coronavirus brings, the Welsh Government has also confirmed it is removing the requirements completely for the 2020 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS).

An additional £5.5 million has been allocated to the BPS and Glastir support scheme, which has reopened to support those farmers who are yet to receive their 2019 BPS and/or Glastir payments. Farmers will be able to apply for support through the scheme to alleviate potential cash flow problems.

 Further information is available by clicking here  

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