Gateshead Council launches business resilience fund

PLEASE NOTE THIS FUND HAS NOW CLOSED 

SMEs looking to survive, diversify or grow their business during the coronavirus outbreak will be able to access funding of up to £5,000 thanks to a new grant scheme in Gateshead. 

The Gateshead Business Resilience Fund has been launched to help "plug the gaps" in the support schemes already announced by the UK government and other funders. 

It's funded by Gateshead's Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) programme, 'Gateshead Goes Local' as part of the 2014-2020 European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme.  

Business grants of between £1,000 and £5,000 are available (up to £10,000 in exceptional cases) to support up to 50% of the cost of professional services, building alterations or equipment, business resilience, job creation, or switching production or redirecting resource to support national need ie to manufacture PPE for the NHS.  

Councillor Catherine Donovan, Deputy Leader of Gateshead Council said: "During this period the Business Gateshead team has engaged with over 1,000 businesses, helping many to access government schemes. 

"However, it has become increasingly apparent many businesses are falling between the gaps. They are unable to access critical financial support because of set eligibility criteria which disqualifies them from schemes or the support is focused on immediate survival rather than sustained resilience. This fund goes towards supporting those businesses.

"If you haven't been able to access support elsewhere please do get in touch via our delivery partners UMI." 

To be eligible for the grant, businesses must be a registered company, employ no more than 250 staff and have an annual turnover of less than £44 million. EU funding means that geographic restrictions apply.  

Grants will be awarded by our delivery partners UMI. For more information or to apply visit https://gatesheadgoforgrowth.weareumi.co.uk/  

The programme Enterprise Support in the North East 2 is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund 2020.