New SME Brexit Support Fund

Michael Gove has this week announced a £20million SME Brexit Support Fund to help small businesses cope with changes to the trade rules with the EU.

Traders will be able to apply for a grant of up to £2,000 to pay for support for importing and exporting. This will include new customs, rules of origin and VAT rules when trading with the EU. The fund will also help businesses prepare for new import controls in April and July.

Businesses who trade only with the EU who are therefore new to importing and exporting will be able to apply for grants of up to £2,000, to pay for practical support including training and professional advice to ensure their trade can continue.

The fund will be open for applications from next month, and will be administered through the existing Customs Grant Scheme.

Who can apply?

Businesses must be:

• be established in the UK
• have been established in the UK for at least 12 months before submitting the application, or currently hold Authorised Economic Operator status
• not have previously failed to meet its tax or customs obligations
• have no more than 500 employees
• have no more than £100 million turnover
• import or export goods between Great Britain and the EU, or moves goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Your business must also either:

• complete (or intend to complete) import or export declarations internally for its own goods
• use someone else to complete import or export declarations but requires additional capability internally to effectively import or export (such as advice on rules of origin or advice on dealing with a supply chain)

How do you apply?

Applications for grants will be online, but aren’t yet available. More details around the scheme are here, which will be updated once the applications open.