Scottish Government Coronavirus Business Support Fund

Business Rates relief measures have been announced by the Scottish Government to help owners of non-domestic properties in Scotland deal with the impact of COVID-19.  One off grants have also been introduced. 

Business Rates relief

These reliefs will be available to non-domestic properties in Scotland from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021.  You don’t need to apply for this relief and it will be applied to your bill by your local council.

All non-domestic properties in Scotland will get a 1.6% rates relief.

Retail, hospitality and leisure businesses will get 100% rates relief (i.e. they will not pay business rates in 2020/21), so long as the property is occupied.  Properties that have closed temporarily due to the Government’s COVID-19 advice will be treated as occupied.

Grants

One off grants have also been introduced.  Rate payers must have been in occupation of the non- domestic property as at 17 March 2020.  Initially only one grant was allowed for each ratepayer regardless of how many non-domestic properties they have (however - see Business Support Fund (Phase 2) below for further support from the Scottish Government).  It is possible to apply for the grants from 24 March 2020. Initially, these grants were to be available until 31 March 2021, however as the rate of applications for these grants has slowed down, the Scottish Government has decided to bring forward the deadline for applications to 10 July 2020 in order to allow this money to be used for other Covid-19 related purposes.

Retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with a rateable value on 17 March 2020 of between £18,001 and up to and including £50,999 will be able to apply for a one-off grant of £25,000.  A list of eligible businesses can be found at https://www.mygov.scot/non-domestic-rates-coronavirus/

Other businesses - A one-off grant of £10,000 will also be available to small businesses who receive Small Business Bonus Scheme relief (SBBS) or Rural Relief or who are eligible for SBBS but are in receipt of Nursery Relief, Disability Relief, Fresh Start Business Growth Accelerator or Discretionary Sports Club Relief.

To apply for the grant, you will need to fill in an application form which can now be found on your local council’s website.  Councils will aim to pay the grant within 10 days of receiving the fully completed application form.  A link to West Lothian Council’s website is provided below.

https://www.westlothian.gov.uk/article/51475/Coronavirus-Business-Support-Fund

Business Support Fund (Phase 2) 

On 15 April 2020 the Scottish Government announced a second phase of the Business Support Fund.  This phase opened to applications from Tuesday 5th May 2020 and is specifically aimed at businesses with more than one property and which were eligible for a single grant under the previous arrangements.  From 5th May 2020, businesses will be able to apply for a 75% grant for all of their subsequent properties, making available Small Business Grants of £7,500 and Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants of £18,750 on any additional qualifying properties that a ratepayer may have. 

You can also now apply for a small business grant if you have retail, hospitality or leisure properties with rateable values not exceeding £18,000, and the cumulative rateable value of all properties held is between £35,001 and £51,000.  From 8 June, the upper combined rateable value threshold increased from £51,000 to a new maximum of £500,000.

From 8 June 2020, you can also apply for the Small Business Support Grant if you are not a ratepayer but occupy certain types of space.  For example: - shared office space, business incubator or industrial space.  You must lease the space from a landlord who is a registered rate payer for the property.

To be eligible you must also:

  • Be a registered business of partnership

  • Have a lease signed before 17 March 2020

  • Employ at least one person

  • Have a business bank account

To apply for the rates grants, you will need to fill in an application form which can be found on your local council’s website.  Councils will aim to pay the grant within 10 days of receiving the fully completed application form and any necessary supporting documentation.  A link to West Lothian Council’s website is provided below.  You need to apply by 10 July 2020.

https://www.westlothian.gov.uk/article/51475/Coronavirus-Business-Support-Fund

Bed & Breakfast Hardship Fund

The aim of this fund is to support Bed & Breakfast and other small serviced accommodation businesses who run their business through their personal bank account and have not been able to access support through other schemes.  This funding is provided by the Scottish Government and administered by local authorities.  Successful applicants will receive a one-off payment of £3,000.

Further details of the fund and eligibility criteria can be found at:-  https://findbusinesssupport.gov.scot/service/coronavirus/bed-and-breakfast-hardship-fund

Additional Grant Support

A further £100 million fund has been made available from 30 April 2020 to protect self-employed people and viable micro and SME businesses in distress due to COVID-19, who are ineligible for other UK Government schemes or who are not in receipt yet of the funds they need to survive.

This fund has been broken down into 3 separate funds as follows:

  • £34m Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund, managed by Local Authorities, will be allocated to the newly self-employed facing hardship through £2,000 grants    

  • £20m Creative, Tourism & Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund, managed by the Enterprise Agencies in partnership with Creative Scotland and VisitScotland for creative, tourism and hospitality companies not in receipt of business rates relief

  • £45m Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund, managed by the Enterprise Agencies for vulnerable SME firms who are vital to the local or national economic foundations of Scotland

These grants are now open for applications. Here’s a link.

An additional £45m has since been provided by the Scottish Government to the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund due to the huge number of applicants to this fund.

Some of the key eligibility and information requirements have been set out below.

Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund

You need to apply to your Local Authority.  You may only apply once for grant of £2,000.

You will need to provide:

  • Documentation to show you had an active business prior to COVID-19, such as you VAT registration, bank account statements showing revenue and outgoings linked to self-employment, marketing materials etc.

  • Self-declaration that you are currently experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19 - see below.

  • Evidence of being resident in the local authority area of application

Eligibility

You must sign a declaration confirming that you meet all of the following criteria:

  • You became self-employed on/after 6 April 2019 (did not submit a tax return including income from self-employment for 2018-19)

  • Over 50% of your individual income is from self-employment

  • Your trading profits were below £50,000 in the financial year 2019-20

  • You have lost business due to COVID-19 and are suffering financial hardship as a result

  • You are ineligible for other COVID-19 related business support (including, but not limited to: Business Interruption Loan Schemes, Job Retention scheme, HMRC Self Employment Income Support Scheme, Non-Domestic Rates relief, Small Business Grant or other business support).

  • You traded as self-employed, not as a limited company or partnership

  • You have taken steps to limit costs and expenditure (including through schemes such as VAT deferral and seeking a mortgage holiday

  • You do not have access to sufficient savings or other sources of income to meet basic needs

  • You do not receive working age benefit payments (Universal Credit, Statutory Sick Pay, Employment and Support Allowance, Job Seekers’ Allowance, Income Support) or have applied for but not yet started receiving Universal Credit

If you receive the grant, you can continue to work or take on other employment including voluntary work.

Creative, Tourism & Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund - NOW CLOSED TO APPLICATIONS

This fund is for small Scottish creative, tourism and hospitality businesses who have experienced at least 50% loss of current or projected revenue as a result of COVID-19.  Grants of up to £25,000 can be accessed in addition to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.  However, you will not be eligible for this grant if you have already accessed the Retail, hospitality and leisure grant of
£25,000.

Eligibility   

  • Your company has up to 49 employees

  • You were not in financial difficulty before 31 December 2019

  • You are not in receipt of other COVID-19 government support, except the furlough scheme

  • You are not a pre revenue company

  • You have a business bank account

Information required

  • Business bank statement that is less than 3 months old

  • Companies House registration number if you are registered business

  • VAT registration number if you are VAT registered

  • Provide specific information so that a 3 month cash flow table can be completed – for example, debtor receipts, supplier payments, VAT, funding from any Coronavirus grants, any employee costs etc.

Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund - NOW CLOSED TO APPLICATIONS

This grant is a bespoke needs based grant for businesses that can play a critical role in supporting Scotland’s recovery but need some immediate support. 

Businesses must be involved in or meet the following conditions:

  • Support Scotland’s productive capacity

  • Be of local importance

  • Demonstrate leverage on wider business community

  • Be a supplier or potential supplier to NHS or other COVID-19 vital services

  • A supplier to other essential businesses

  • Demonstrate a need to scale up or diversify due to COVID-19