Scottish Government introduced £100m funds for the newly self-employed and firms suffering hardship. The applications and full guidance can be found on Find Business Support website and it is anticipated that the funds will be paid out in early May (10 working days from received application).
This amount is split between the following funds:
• £34 million Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund, managed by Local Authorities, will be allocated to the newly self-employed who are ineligible for UK support (as they became self-employed since April 2019) but are facing hardship with £2,000 grants
• THIS FUND HAS NOW CLOSED: £20 million Creative, Tourism & Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund, managed by the Enterprise Agencies with support from Creative Scotland and VisitScotland, is for small and micro creative, tourism and hospitality companies not in receipt of business rates relief with grants of up to £25K. The fund aims to support companies in tourism, creative industries and hospitality that are experiencing hardship, because they are ineligible for other COVID-19 Government grant support. The focus is to help companies manage cashflow commitment for the next three months, and those furloughing staff are still eligible to apply.
• THIS FUND HAS NOW CLOSED: £45 million Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund, managed by the Enterprise Agencies providing bespoke grants and wrap around business support to viable but vulnerable SMEs who are vital to the local or national economic foundations of Scotland
• THIS FUND HAS NOW CLOSED: £1 million goes towards Creative Scotland’s Bridging bursaries