- 24/04/2020
- Posted by: Lesley Griffiths MS
- Category: News
Wrexham businesses are being encouraged to check whether they are eligible for the Welsh Government’s flagship £500 million support fund.
The second phase of the Economic Resilience Fund launched last Friday (17 April) and local Assembly Member, Lesley Griffiths does not want any Wrexham-based businesses to miss out.
The Fund is unique to Wales and aims to complement and fill the gaps left by UK Government initiatives, such as the Job Retention Scheme. It offers critical financial support to help businesses, charities and social enterprises deal with the coronavirus crisis and will be vital in helping organisations manage cash flow pressures.
Micro-enterprises can access grants of up to £10,000 and SMEs could be entitled to £100,000. The streamlined system is designed to ensure the money gets to businesses with the minimum of delay.
Due to massive demand, the Welsh Government has already released an additional £100 million to cope with the unprecedented rate of applications. More than 6,000 grant applications from small and medium sized businesses and social enterprises were received within 24 hours of the launch.
Lesley Griffiths AM said: “This global pandemic has created a massive economic shock and the Welsh Government deserves great credit for its handling of the crisis. In a matter of weeks, more than £2 billion has been outlined and a system has been implemented to make sure businesses receive the funding as quickly as possible.”
“The £500 million Economic Resilience Fund is only available in Wales and is in addition to the support provided by the UK Government.”
“Whilst it is providing vital to support to the smaller businesses, the extraordinary surge in demand, which resulted in the Welsh Government releasing an additional £100 million for the scheme, demonstrates the scale of the challenges facing businesses in Wrexham and across the country.”
“The Welsh Labour Government is doing everything in its power to support businesses and is determined to ensure firms weather the coronavirus storm and can prosper when this crisis is over.”
The first stage of the Economic Resilience Fund saw the £100m Development Bank of Wales’ loan scheme fully subscribed in little more than a week. It is anticipated that the Development Bank will have processed all applications received within the month.
This latest phase is targeted at micro businesses, SMEs and large businesses of critical social or economic importance to Wales.
To ensure that money reaches businesses as quickly as possible more than 120 additional Welsh Government and Business Wales staff have been diverted onto processing applications and supporting businesses and organisations in this latest stage of the Fund.
Applications can be made through the Business Wales website.
