I hope you have all been enjoying the sunshine today, making heading into another weekend of lockdown a little easier for some of us.

There has been a further announcement this week from the Scottish Government which will bring long awaited support to newly self employed individuals as well as further support for Creative industries, Hospitality and Tourism.  I have outlined the limited information that has been released so far, below, and I will send out another update as soon as the eligibility criteria becomes available or application process becomes live.

Newly Self Employed?

Several of our clients only registered for self employment in the 19-20 tax year, and this meant that they were previously excluded from any government support, but the Scottish Government has freed up a fund of £34 million to award those who registered for self employment AFTER the 5th April 2019, a one off grant of £2,000.
This will be awarded by your local authority and guidance on this will become available next week.

Creative Industries, Hospitality and Tourism Grants

A fund of £20 million has been setup to launch the Creative, Tourism & Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund.  This will be distributed by Visit Scotland and Creative Scotland.  The grant has two aspects, a £3,000 immediate hardship grant, or access to a grant of up to £25,000 where you can demonstrate that this level of support is required to maintain your business.  The eligibility criteria has still to be released, but this should be available next week.

Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund

There is little guidance on this, other than it will be available to vulnerable small to medium sized businesses, who are vital to the local or national economic foundations of Scotland.  There has been a fund of £45 million set aside to support this element of the relief package.  We will let you know as soon as we know more.