Due to the continuing effect the COVID-19 pandemic is having on businesses, the government is offering a range of grants to help small and medium-sized enterprises adapt to the challenges presented by COVID-19.
Some of these grants are designed to help new businesses establish themselves in these difficult times and others are designed to help older businesses adapt to the challenges presented by the pandemic.
In today’s blog, we are going to discuss some of the grants that are available to Irish businesses along with giving a quick overview of who qualifies for these financial support packages.
If you have any questions regarding these grants, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our swords accountancy firm.
Priming Grant
The priming grant is essentially a business start-up grant. This grant is available to micro-enterprises within 18 months of the micro-enterprise being established.
This grant is available to sole traders, limited companies and partnerships, however, to draw down the grant the business must fulfil the following criteria:
- The business must be open and operating within a Local Enterprises Office’s geographic area.
- The business growth potential must fit enterprise Ireland’s portfolio, these include:
- The business has the potential to employ more than 10 people
- The business is in manufacturing or is an internationally traded service business
- The business is a domestically traded business with international trading potential
The maximum value of this grant is 50% of the initial investment or €150,000, whatever is lesser.
The primer grant can be spent on expenses like:
- Salary Costs
- Consultancy/Marketing Cost/Innovation
- Overhead Costs
- Capital Items
Trading Online Voucher Scheme
With COVID-19 accelerating the ever-growing trend towards online shopping, it’s never been more important for a business to be able to trade online.
The Trading Online Voucher Scheme aims to allow business owners to build or update their website to allow for e-commerce functionality.
Businesses who have already availed of the trading online voucher can now apply for a second voucher to assist in the costs associated with updating or marketing their website.
The trading online voucher scheme targets businesses who:
- Have limited or no e-commerce presence
- Are employing less than 10 people
- Have a turnover of less than €2 million
- Have been trading for at least 6 months
The business must apply to the LEO office that covers where their business is based.
For additional information on any of these grants or for advice on applying, get in contact with our Swords accountancy offices today.
