With the Covid 19 pandemic causing almost hourly changes for businesses and public services, we wanted to share what support is available to companies here in Blaenau Gwent.
The Welsh Government has announced a further package of support for Welsh Businesses. The Welsh Government has already announced £1.4 billion to support businesses dealing with the coronavirus impact, which includes rate relief schemes and business grants. A new £500 million fund builds on that funding and is primarily aimed at supporting those firms who would not qualify from previously announced support packages.
Economic Resilience Fund
Support: Grants
of £10,000 for micro-businesses and sole traders, Grants of up to £100,000 for
small and medium enterprises (SME’s), Larger Welsh companies
Eligibility: Micro-business
(up to 9 employees) and sole traders (employing staff), SME’s (between 10-249
employees), 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.
Qualifying
businesses will be able to apply by mid-April. Details of the application
process and eligibility are being finalised and will be published shortly.
Covid-19 Wales Business Loan Scheme
Support: 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 (inc. 12mth holiday)
Eligibility: 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.
For further details, click on the Development Bank Wales link
Protection for business who miss rent payments
Commercial tenants who cannot pay their rent because of coronavirus will be protected from eviction, the UK government has announced. These measures will mean no business will be forced out of their premises if they miss a payment in the next 3 months. Please visit the GOV.UK website for further information
Business Grant Support
Grant 1: 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.
Grant 2: 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 that the multiple property restriction which applies to the SBRR Scheme also applies to this grant. Therefore, the same ratepayer may only receive the grant for a maximum of two properties in each local authority area.
If you are currently paying your Business Rates by Direct Debit there is no requirement to fill in the online form because we already hold your bank details - click on link to online form.
If you pay by any other method please complete the online form and supply your bank details.
If you are successful, the grant will be paid directly into your bank account.
Once you’ve made your application, we ask you to be patient in not following-up by telephone as that will result in grants taking longer to process. We will contact you if we need to clarify anything. We aim to process your payment within 10 working days. We very much appreciate the major challenges being faced by businesses, and our staff will be making every effort to get your grant paid to you as soon as possible.
Business Rates Relief Scheme
Support: All retail, leisure and hospitality businesses will receive 100% non-domestic rates relief in 2020-21 regardless of their rateable value. (i.e. nothing to pay for the year). Please follow this link for further details on the scheme.
For further details on eligibility, click on the Guidance Non Domestic Rates link
Support for businesses through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
Support: All UK employers will be able to access support to continue paying part of their employees’ salary for those employees that would otherwise have been laid off during this crisis.
Eligibility: All UK businesses are eligible
For further details, click on the Job Retention Scheme links
Support for business through deferring VAT and Income Tax Payments
Support: Valued Added Tax (VAT) payments for 3 months will be deferred. If you’re self-employed, Income Tax payments due in July 2020 under the Self-Assessment system will be deferred to January 2021.
For Income Tax Self-Assessment, payments due on the 31 July 2020 will be deferred until the 31 January 2021.
Eligibility: All UK businesses are eligible
For further details, click on the Guidance for Employers and Businesses link
Support for businesses who are paying sick pay to employees
Support: Small-and medium-sized businesses and employers can reclaim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) paid for sickness absence due to COVID-19.
Eligibility: Your business is UK based and is a small or medium size with fewer than 250 employees as of 28th February 2020
For further details, click on the Guidance to Employers and Businesses link
The HMRC Corona Virus helpline for businesses and self-employed people and is available on 0800 0159 559.
Support for businesses through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme
Support: Temporary Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme will support SMEs with access to loans, overdrafts, invoice finance and asset finance of up to £5 million and for up to 6 years.
Eligibility: Business is UK based, with turnover of no more than £45 million per year and meets the other British Business Bank eligibility criteria
For further details, click on the Government Support to Business link
Development Bank of Wales - Capital repayment holidays
Support: three-month capital repayment holiday
Eligibility: Business customer of Development Bank of Wales
Support for businesses paying tax: Time to Pay service
Support: All businesses and self-employed people in financial distress, and with outstanding tax liabilities, may be eligible to receive support with their tax affairs through HMRC’s Time To Pay service. These arrangements are agreed on a case-by-case basis and are tailored to individual circumstances and liabilities.
Eligibility: Your business pays tax to UK government and has outstanding tax liabilities
For further details, click on the Guidance to Employers and Businesses link
Additional Information
To assist us in gathering intelligence for all businesses in Blaenau Gwent, please complete the COVID-19 questionnaire using the link on this page. The data gathered will be used to fully inform Welsh Government of required COVID-19 specific support.
If you have any queries regarding the impact of COVID-19 on your business which has not been covered by the information and guidance provided in the Business Wales links below, please contact us.
We also want to promote services available to businesses at this time. If you have any content or links you would like us to share on our Blaenau Gwent Business Hub, Council website or social channels please register on the Hub to share the information with the local business community. Alternatively, you can provide the information directly to using the following contact information.
Economic Development Team – 01495 355700 - business@blaenau-gwent.gov.uk