New £500 million Economic Resilience Fund launched for Wales

The Economic Resilience Fund aims to plug the gaps in the support schemes already announced by the UK Government, including the Job Retention Scheme and the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, which will guarantee 80% of people’s wages and income, and is in addition the grant funding already announced by the Welsh Government.

The new £500 million Welsh fund will support firms of all sizes, including social enterprises, with a focus on those which have not already benefited from the coronavirus grants already announced by Welsh Government.

This package of support provides further assurance to firms, charities and social enterprises that we will do just that – help them deal with the economic impact of the pandemic.

The £500 million fund is made up of 2 main elements:

New £100 million Development Bank of Wales fund:
Available for companies experiencing cash flow problems as a result of the pandemic and will provide loans of between £5,000 and £250,000 at favourable interest rates

£400 million emergency pot:
Grants of £10,000 for micro-businesses employing up to 9 people. This includes sole traders employing staff. Qualifying businesses will be able to apply by mid-April

Grants of up to £100,000 for small and medium sized firms with between 10 and 249 employees. Qualifying businesses will be able to apply from next week.

The welsh government is due to release details of the qualifying criteria and the application process later this week

The £500 million Economic Resilience Fund will support businesses forced to temporarily cease trading – to go into “hibernation” – or which need cash-flow support to adapt to a remote way of working.

The new fund is in addition to the £1.4 billion business support package announced by Welsh Government on 18 March, which provides a year-long rate relief holiday for all but the largest premises in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors and grant-support for small businesses.