Funding sources to support businesses in Scotland facing coronavirus
If you have applied for a grant through your local council, you need to contact them for an update. Our enquiries team have no access to their systems.
Newly self-employed support
The Scottish Government has announced a £100 million fund to support the self-employed and SMEs. It will be broken into three separate funds which will help a range of vulnerable SME businesses, those who are newly self-employed and creative, tourism and hospitality enterprises (21 April 2020)
If you're newly self-employed on or after 6 April 2019 and facing hardship, you will be eligible for a £2,000 grant through the Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund. Applications are now open and will be managed by Local Authorities.
Self-employment Income Support Scheme
The UK Government will support self-employed individuals (including members of partnerships) whose income has been negatively impacted by COVID-19.
Grants will not be available until June. The HMRC will identify eligible taxpayers and contact them directly with guidance on how to apply.
If you’re eligible and want to claim the first grant you must make your claim on or before 13 July 2020.
This scheme is being extended and you’ll be able to make a claim for a second and final grant in August 2020.
The online service for the second and final grant is not available yet. HMRC will update this guidance to let you know when you can make your claim.
If you’re eligible the second and final grant will be a taxable grant worth 70% of your average monthly trading profits. The grant will be paid out in a single instalment covering a further 3 months’ worth of profits. The second grant is capped at £6,570 in total.
If you're self-employed read HMRC's frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Find further guidance on GOV.UK (29 May 2020)
Am I eligible?
To be eligible for the scheme you must meet all of the criteria below:
- Be self-employed or a member of partnership
- Have lost trading/partnership trading profits due to COVID-19
- File a tax return for 2018-19 as self-employed or a member of a trading partnership. Those who have not yet filed for 2018-19 will have an additional 4 weeks from this announcement to do so
- Have traded in 2019-20; be currently trading at the point of application (or would be except for COVID 19) and intend to continue to trade in the tax year 2020 to 2021
- Have trading profits of less than £50,000 and more than half of your total income come from self-employment. This can be with reference to at least one of the following conditions:
- Your trading profits and total income in 2018/19
What can I claim?
- The scheme will provide a grant to self-employed individuals or partnerships, worth 80% of their profits up to a cap of £2,500 per month
- HMRC will use the average profits from tax returns in 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 to calculate the size of the grant
- The scheme will be open to those where the majority of their income comes from self-employment and who have profits of less than £50,000
- The scheme will be open for an initial three months with people able to make their first claim by the beginning of June
How to apply for a grant
- Individuals should not contact HMRC now. HMRC will use existing information to check potential eligibility and invite applications once the scheme is operational. HMRC will then pay the grant directly to eligible claimants’ bank account.
- HMRC is urgently working to deliver the scheme. Grants are expected to start to be paid out by beginning of June 2020. For eligible individuals who have not submitted their Income Tax Self-Assessment tax return for 2018-19, they must do so by 23 April 2020 to file their returns and therefore become eligible for this scheme
- Note: When invited to apply, you will access this scheme only through the GOV.UK. If someone texts, calls or emails claiming to be from HMRC, saying that you can claim financial help or are owed a tax refund, and asks you to click on a link or to give information such as your name, credit card or bank details, it is a scam.
Other support for the self-employed
If you're self-employed, you are not eligible to receive statutory sick pay (SSP)
If you're self-employed and not claiming any benefits, you may be entitled to claim Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Universal Credit.
If you're self-employed and claiming Universal Credit and have to stay at home due to coronavirus, you will not have a Minimum Income Floor (an assumed level of income) applied for a period of time while affected.
If you're self-employed with outstanding tax liabilities you may be eligible to receive support with your tax through HMRC’s Time to Pay service. However, arrangements are agreed on a case-by-case basis to account for individual circumstances and liabilities. (9 April 2020)
You can contact HMRC’s dedicated COVID-19 helpline on 0800 0159 559.
If you are between 18 and 30 years of age
The Prince’s Trust and NatWest have released a £5 million fund offering grants to self-employed people aged 18-30.
Register your interest via The Prince’s Trust website
If you have coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms
You will be considered unfit for work if:
- have coronavirus symptoms and are staying at home, according to government guidance
- if you're staying at home, or 'self-isolating', because you've been in contact with someone with coronavirus (COVID-19)
Claiming sick pay
You will be able to claim statutory sick pay (SSP) if you’re employed on a zero hours contract and earn over £118 per week.
If you have to take time off work due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) and you don’t get paid while you’re off, you may be entitled to claim government benefits.
Citizens Advice suggest that if you already receive benefits, such as Tax Credits or Housing Benefit you should speak to the office paying you and explain that you are unable to work due to illness.
Citizens Advice notes that you may be entitled to more money while you’re off.
Apply for a coronavirus Bounce Back Loan. Small and medium-sized businesses affected by coronavirus (COVID-19) can apply for a loan of up to £50,000 which will be guaranteed by the UK Government (4 May 2020)
The scheme has been designed to ensure that small firms, who need a vital cash injection to keep operating, can get finance in a matter of days:
- no forward-looking tests of business viability
- simple eligibility criteria
- a quick, standard form
- most firms should receive the loan within 24 hours of approval
- the UK Government will pay the interest for the first 12 months
- the UK Government will guarantee 100% of the loan
- it will be capped at £50,000
About the scheme
The UK Job Retention Scheme (furlough) that pays 80% of wages of workers on leave because of coronavirus has been extended by a further four months to October (backdated from 19 March). The UK Government will ask companies to "start sharing" the cost of the scheme from August. (12 May 2020)
Instead of making employees redundant, employers can furlough employees and apply for a grant that covers:
- 80% of their usual monthly wage costs, up to £2,500 a month, plus
- the associated Employer National Insurance contributions, and
- pension contributions (up to the level of the minimum automatic enrolment employer pension contribution) on that subsidised furlough pay
How does it work?
Read this step-by-step guide for employers which tells you what information you need to gather before you apply. (11 May 2020)
The furlough scheme cut-off date has been extended to 19 March 2020. This means thousands more employees will able to receive support through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. (15 April 2020)
Am I eligible?
You can check if you can claim for support. Employers with employees on the payroll at 19 March 2020 who have subsequently put them on furlough can make a claim.
How to apply
Make your claim through the UK Government site (21 May 2020)
About the scheme
Small businesses can now apply for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). They have changed eligibility criteria to make it easier for businesses to access funds.
The British Business Bank offers the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) which started accepting applications on 23 March.
This provides facilities of up to £5 million for smaller UK businesses experiencing lost or deferred revenues, leading to disruptions to their cashflow.
CBILS supports a wide range of business finance products, including term loans, overdrafts, invoice finance and asset finance. The scheme provides the lender with a guarantee backed by government, potentially enabling a ‘no’ credit decision from a lender to become a ‘yes’. The borrower always remains 100% liable for the debt.
Updates to the Scheme on 3 April 2020
- No personal guarantees for facilities under £250k
- Personal guarantees for facilities above £250k capped at 20% of outstanding balance
- Insufficient security is no longer a condition to access the scheme, opening up access to business who would previously have met requirements for a commercial facility and as such been ineligible for CIBLS
The first two changes will be administered retrospectively by lenders. Any companies who believe they have been rejected for a CIBL loan previously as they did not meet requirements in third bullet are encouraged to re-contact their lender.
Read the CBILS press notice (PDF, 119kB)
Am I eligible?
To be eligible for support, your business must be:
- based in the UK
- with turnover of no more than £45 million per year
- considered capable to trade out of any short-to-medium term difficulty with financial support via the lender
Find more details about CBILS using the following links:
- Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme factsheet (PDF, 66kB)
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about CBILS for businesses
- The application process - infographic
- Are you eligible checklist to help you understand if you can apply
How does it work?
CBILS is provided through a wide range of lenders and partners, offering more attractive terms for both businesses applying for new facilities and lenders.
CBILS provides the lender with a partial guarantee (80%), backed by government, against the outstanding facility balance, subject to an overall cap per lender.
The government will also cover the first 12 months of interest payments, so businesses will benefit from lower initial repayments.
How to apply
To apply for finance under the scheme, you should approach a lender directly.
Different lenders provide different types of finance. Here is a list of all lenders available in Scotland, who offer different types of finance.
Term loans
- Bank of Scotland
- Barclays
- Calverton Finance
- Clydesdale Bank
- Compass Business Finance
- County Asset Finance
- DSL Business Finance
- Hitachi Capital Business Finance
- HSBC
- Lloyds Bank
- Metro Bank
- NatWest
- Newable
- Royal Bank of Scotland
- Santander
- UKSE
Asset finance
- Aldermore
- Arkle Finance
- Compass Business Finance
- County Asset Finance
- Haydock Finance
- Hitachi Capital Business Finance
Invoice finance
Overdraft (revolving credit)
About the scheme
All viable businesses with a turnover of more than £45 million will be able to apply (16 April 2020).
Find full details on the British Business Bank website
How does it work?
The Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme will be delivered through regular commercial lenders, at commercial rates of interest.
Borrowers under CLBILS will be able to borrow up to 25% of turnover, up to a maximum of £200 million.
Lenders who wish to offer larger loans will need to undergo further accreditation checks.
The government will provide an 80% guarantee on individual loans to give lenders the confidence to support businesses that have been unable to secure financing from regular sources.
Lenders will conduct the usual credit checks, but will make allowances for businesses that were viable before the coronavirus crisis but are experiencing short to medium-term difficulties now.
Businesses will be responsible for repaying any loan they receive under the CLBILS scheme.
Am I eligible?
To be eligible for support, your business must be:
- based in the UK
- turning over between £45 million and £500 million
- unable to secure regular commercial financing
- viable, were it not for the coronavirus pandemic
- experiencing short- to medium-term difficulties that you will be able to trade out of with financial support
How to apply
Find details on how to apply on the British Business Bank website
You can now apply for grants to help with the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on your business via your Local Authority.
Your local council will process your grant application. If you want an update on its progress you should contact them.
You can apply if you are:
- a small business in receipt of the Small Business Bonus Scheme
- in receipt of Rural Relief
- a hospitality, leisure or retail business
- eligible for the small business bonus scheme but in receipt of Nursery Relief, Disabled Relief, Business Growth Accelerator Relief or Fresh Start
From 5 May 2020, small business rate payers will be eligible for a 100% grant on their first property plus a 75% grant on all subsequent properties.
Councils will aim to make payment within 10 working days from receipt of a fully completed application.
You need to apply directly through your Local Authority:
- Aberdeen
- Aberdeenshire
- Angus
- Argyll and Bute
- Clackmannanshire
- Dumfries and Galloway (on their website, scroll down to "Business Rates and Associated Grants"
- Dundee
- East Ayrshire
- East Dunbartonshire
- East Lothian (on their website, scroll down to "Business Support")
- East Renfrewshire (on their website, scroll down and click on "Business Support")
- Edinburgh
- Falkirk
- Fife
- Glasgow
- Highland
- Inverclyde
- Midlothian
- Moray
- Na h-Eileanan Siar
- North Ayrshire
- North Lanarkshire
- Orkney
- Perth and Kinross
- Renfrewshire
- Scottish Borders
- Shetland
- South Ayrshire
- South Lanarkshire
- Stirling
- West Dunbartonshire
- West Lothian
As well as accessing the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, your business bank can potentially help with other financial support. Here’s a list of the support available from the major business banks.
The Future Fund will issue convertible loans between £125,000 to £5 million to innovative companies which are facing financing difficulties due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The scheme is delivered in partnership with the British Business Bank and:
- has an initial commitment of £250 million of new government funding
- offers government loans ranging from £125,000 to £5 million to UK-based companies
- is unlocked by private investment on a match funded basis
- is for businesses who typically rely on equity investment and have raised at least £250k equity investment in the last 5 years
- is for businesses unable to access the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme
- is an investor led scheme and it is the investor who must create an account and apply at the online portal
Find full details on the British Business Bank website
Scottish Government
The Scottish Government has announced a £100 million fund to support the self-employed and SMEs. It will be broken into three separate funds which will help a range of vulnerable SME businesses, those who are newly self-employed and creative, tourism and hospitality enterprises (21 April 2020)
Creative, tourism and hospitality companies not in receipt of business rates relief can apply for the Creative, Tourism & Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund.
Companies of up to 50 employees will have rapid access to £3,000 hardship grants.
Larger grants up to £25,000 are available to those who can demonstrate that level of support is required.
It will be managed by the Enterprise Agencies in partnership with Creative Scotland and Visit Scotland.
Check creative industry sector categories
Creative Scotland
Funding programmes designed to provide further support to sustain the country’s creative community during the COVID-19 outbreak:
- The Open Fund: Sustaining Creative Development will provide support for individuals and organisations to sustain their creative development in the coming months
Screen Scotland
Screen Scotland has announced details of support on offer for the screen sector.
- The Screen Scotland Bridging Bursary Fund for freelance or self-employed screen practitioners who have lost income from their work due to COVID-19
- Scotland’s independent film and TV production companies can apply for newly ring-fenced development support of between £3,000-£50,000 to develop creative and ambitious projects over the next 3-6 months
Museums Galleries Scotland
Two funding programmes to help Independent Accredited museums affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak:
- The Urgent Response Fund will help cover urgent core costs for a maximum of 3 months. They will provide grants of between £3,000 and £60,000.
- The Digital Resilience COVID-19 Fund will cover up to £3,000 to buy equipment and software to help with digital working during this period of closure.
The Heritage Emergency Fund
Applications open for funding from £3,000 to £50,000. It should be used to support immediate actions and essential costs required to stabilise operations and manage unforeseen risks.
Applications close on 30 June 2020.
Wellbeing Fund
Apply for the Wellbeing Fund if you're a third sector organisation based in Scotland providing important coronavirus services for the community. (5 May 2020)
Funds can support the purchase and delivery of food, activities to support people’s mental health and wellbeing, co-ordination of local activity and staff and volunteer expenses.
Third Sector Resilience Fund
The Third Sector Resilience Fund is part of the £350 million support package announced by the Scottish Government. (8 May 2020)
This Fund will support organisations across the third sector who are at risk of closure due to disruption caused by COVID-19. The main intention of the fund is to help these organisations to stabilise and manage cashflows over this difficult period.
The Fund, delivered by SIS, Firstport and Corra Foundation, will provide grants between £5,000 and £75,000, as well as fully flexible, 0% interest loans starting at £50,000.
As part of this package, people most at risk from the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak are to receive further support following emergency investment in crucial services.
Charities Scottish Women’s Aid, Social Bite and other key partners will share up to £8 million to provide an emergency response and ensure services can react to coronavirus (COVID-19).
Community Response, Recovery and Resilience Fund
Foundation Scotland has announced funding is available between £1,000 and £5,000 for immediate community needs.
The RRR Fund will support local charities and grassroots organisations across Scotland to help them respond to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and recover from its impact.
Only constituted groups, with a governing document, can apply.
Read the fund's guidance notes before you apply
Apply via the Foundation Scotland website
Other sources of help
Find support and funding options on the Coronavirus Third Sector Information Hub via the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO)
Read their Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page. This site is continually being updated so check back for the latest info.
Read GOV.UK guidance on managing your charity during the coronavirus outbreak (7 April 2020)
Learn from leaders in the social enterprise and third sector, as they share their thoughts on how to navigate through these unprecedented times. These webinars are run by Social Investment Scotland.
Funding for early learning and childcare (ELC)
All private and third sector providers who provide funded ELC in their settings will continue to receive payments from their local authority for these funded ELC hours.
Private and third sector providers will be able to access:
- Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (1 May 2020)
- Business Support Fund (24 March 2020)
- Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme
- Statutory Sick Pay Rebate (27 April 2020)
Note: Local authorities will no longer be legally obliged to deliver 1140 hours of funded childcare from this August. This statutory requirement will be reinstated at an appropriate time in the future.
Your local authority will be in contact with you to confirm local arrangements of payments for funded ELC hours.
A further £3.5 million to help large sea fishing vessels brings the total made available to the seafood industry by the Scottish Government from new and existing funds to £22.5 million. (17 April 2020)
The latest scheme will provide capped payments of up to £21,370 per vessel to businesses with a vessel over 12 metres landing shellfish such as crab, lobster, scallop and langoustine to help them meet fixed costs like insurance. It will also provide up to £42,740 for businesses operating more than one vessel. Amounts will be graduated by fleet segment and length category.
The Scottish seafood sector is to receive an initial package of more than £5 million in financial support to assist businesses during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. (25 March 2020)
Funding will be offered to over 650 seafood fishing companies, many of whom have lost their livelihoods with the collapse of export and hospitality markets for Scottish delicacies like langoustine, prawns and crab.
The Scottish Government has announced that support for coastal businesses and third sector organisations affected by COVID-19 is being made available through a £7.2 million Scottish Crown Estate fund. (11 April 2020)
Funding will be administered by local councils in coastal areas, with details of distribution to follow.
Recent announcements
The Scottish government has launched a £100 million emergency loan fund supporting small and medium-sized housebuilders with liquidity issues due to the temporary closure of the housebuilding sector as a result of COVID-19. (18 May 2020)
The Scottish Government has announced a £100 million fund to support the self-employed and SMEs. It will be broken into three separate funds which will help a range of vulnerable SME businesses, those who are newly self-employed and creative, tourism and hospitality enterprises. (21 April 2020)
Newly self-employed
- If you are facing hardship, you will be eligible for £2,000 grants through the Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund
- If you are excluded from the UK Government scheme, you can apply
- It will be managed by Local Authorities
Creative, tourism and hospitality companies
- Creative, tourism and hospitality companies not in receipt of business rates relief can apply for the Creative, Tourism & Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund
- Companies of up to 50 employees will have rapid access to £3,000 hardship grants
- Larger grants up to £25,000 are available to those who can demonstrate that level of support is required
- It will be managed by the Enterprise Agencies in partnership with Creative Scotland and Visit Scotland
Vulnerable SME firms
- Vulnerable SME firms who are vital to the local or national economic foundations of Scotland can apply to the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund
- Grants will depend on the specific need of the SME firm
- It will be managed by the Enterprise Agencies who will also offer wraparound business advice and support
Business support package
The Scottish Government launched a second phase of its business support package to help mitigate the impact of coronavirus. This extended the current Small Business Grants Scheme and added new support for the recently self-employed. (15 April 2020)
Who will benefit from this?
The new package includes £120 million to extend the Small Business Grant scheme so that, in addition to a 100% grant on the first property, small business rate payers will be eligible for a 75% grant on all subsequent properties.
A further £100 million fund is also being made available for newly self-employed people and viable micro and SME businesses in distress due to COVID-19. This aims to protect recently self-employed people and businesses who are ineligible for other Scottish Government or UK Government schemes.
When and where will this support be available?
The new arrangements for the Small Business Grant will be open for applications on 5 May.
Applications for the £100 million fund will be open by the end of April and will be channelled through local authorities and enterprise agencies.
Other Scottish Government announcements
Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop has confirmed that Scottish businesses will get £2.2 billion of support. To break this down, support includes:
- small firms receiving the small business bonus or rural relief will be eligible for a £10,000 grant
- 12 months relief for businesses in hospitality, leisure and retail. Grants will also available for companies in this sector
- a £25,000 grant for buildings in those sectors with a rateable value between £18,000 and £51,000
- effectively freezing the poundage rate next year
State aid rules and coronavirus
State aid rules still apply in the UK until the end of 2020.
The European Commission has announced a number of temporary State aid measures. These measures aim to help with the financial pressures businesses face as a result of COVID-19.
The Scottish Government will work with the UK Government to make sure these measures can be adopted to help Scottish businesses where possible.
Find out what financial support you can get for your business:
- Find UK-wide coronavirus financial support for your business - a new service launched by the UK Government. Some support available only to businesses in Scotland is not included. Keep looking here for the latest updates (27 April 2020)
- Financial support for businesses during coronavirus (COVID-19) from the UK Government (27 April 2020)
Charities funding
Frontline charities across the UK will receive a £750 million package of support to ensure they can continue their vital work during the coronavirus outbreak – this includes hospices and those supporting domestic abuse victims.
£360 million will be directly allocated by government departments to charities providing key services and supporting vulnerable people during the crisis.
Where charitable services are devolved the UK Government has applied the Barnett formula in the normal way.
Devolved administrations are expected to receive £60 million through the charities pot, and further significant Barnett allocations, dependent on the final proposals funded, through the direct grant pot.
Know your finance options
Scottish Enterprise has useful guides on finance options and debt funding for business:
Use your business plan to secure funding
Finance options for your business
Debt funding for your business
Business Gateway has information on financial management and can advise you on how on to manage cash flow, taxes and more.
COVID-19 corporate financing facility (large firms only)
This new facility will help large firms to raise working capital via the Bank of England directly purchasing short-term debt.
It supports companies that are fundamentally strong but have been affected by a short-term funding squeeze and will allow short-term liabilities to be financed.
It also supports the corporate finance market overall, which eases the supply of credit to all firms.
Am I eligible?
- Companies – and their financial subsidiaries – that make a material contribution to the UK economy are able to participate in the facility
- In practice, firms that meet this requirement would normally be:
- UK incorporated companies, including those with foreign-incorporated parents and with a genuine business in the UK
- companies with significant employment in the UK
- firms with their headquarters in the UK
- We will also consider whether the company generates significant revenues in the UK, serves a large number of customers in the UK or has a number of operating sites in the UK
More on eligibility from the Bank of England
How to apply
The scheme is now open for applications.
In order to access this facility, you will need to contact your bank.
It's important to note that not all banks issue commercial paper (an unsecured, short term debt instrument).
If your bank does not issue commercial paper, UK Finance will provide a list of banks that are able to assist.
Find and apply for current innovation funding calls on the Scottish Enterprise website
These calls are focused on tackling coronavirus (COVID-19), including grants, prizes, accelerators, hackathons and collaboration platforms.
Applications for the following two funds have now closed:
- Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund
- Creative, Tourism and Hospitality Enterprises Hardship Fund
Read further information about the status of your application
Business continuity checklist (MS Word Doc, 196kB)
Last updated: Saturday 30 May 2020