South of Scotland Enterprise is encouraging eligible businesses to prepare themselves to apply to the Scottish Wedding Industry Fund.
The Scottish Government has invested £25million in the new Fund, which opens on Thursday 28 January and is open until the funding is fully allocated.
The fund aims to help as many businesses as possible operating in the Scottish wedding industry – and their supply chain – to survive the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and then restart once restrictions ease, thus protecting jobs.
The Scottish Wedding Industry Fund is open to eligible businesses whose main income comes from the wedding sector, offering grants of between £5,000 and £25,000 depending on turnover. The fund is being provided by the Scottish Government and administered by a partnership of Scottish Enterprise, South of Scotland Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
At this extremely challenging time, the funding will be distributed in the order applications are received to ensure those businesses eligible for support are provided with it as efficiently as possible.
Eligible businesses are being encouraged to ensure they are prepared to provide evidence of:
- A bank statement from the last three months
- A bank statement showing you were trading before 31 December 2019
- Evidence of your pre-COVID turnover. This should be the last full year audited or unaudited accounts, or a tax return. If a business has not been trading a full year and do not have these documents, they should provide whatever documentation they can.
In addition, some eligible applicants will need to provide evidence of Unique Taxpayers Reference (UTR), such as an HMRC document, and for Trusts a copy of their Deed of Trust.
Businesses are encouraged to visit https://findbusinesssupport.gov.scot/ for further details including full eligibility criteria.
Professor Russel Griggs OBE, Chair of South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE), said:
“I would urge all South of Scotland businesses looking to apply to the Scottish Wedding Industry Fund to visit the Find Business Support website first to check the eligibility criteria, and if eligible prepare the supporting evidence which will be required as part of their application.
“This fund aims to support those businesses whose main income comes from the wedding sector, which is particularly vital to the South of Scotland.
“In 2019 alone the South of Scotland hosted almost 5,000 ceremonies – more than 18% of the national total – and in Gretna Green has one of the most iconic wedding locations in the world.
“In addition to the Scottish Wedding Industry Fund and Hotel Recovery Programme, we have already provided a total of £4.5million to the tourism and hospitality sector in the South of Scotland, including accommodation providers, through the Pivotal Enterprises and Resilience Fund and the Creative, Tourism and Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund.
“This is one of the most challenging times any of us has ever faced but South of Scotland Enterprise is fully committed to supporting as many local businesses as possible in to survive this pandemic and hopefully look forward to a brighter future.”
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