The Government has established a £20 million Brexit support fund for smaller companies to help with the transition to new customs and tax rules when trading within the EU.
Smaller businesses can now apply for a grant of up to £2,000 to access training and professional advice to adapt to the changes they now face following Brexit.
Businesses will be eligible for the grant if they:
- are based in the UK and either have been established for at least 12 months prior to applying or currently hold Authorised Economic Operator Status;
- only import or export goods between Great Britain and the EU;
- are small or medium sized (i.e. have less than 500 employees and have turnover of less than £100 million); and
- have not previously failed to meet its tax or customs obligations.
The business must also either:
- complete (or intend to complete) import or export declarations internally for its own goods; or
- use a third party 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).
Before applying, the business will need to determine whether it would like to apply for the training grant, the professional advice grant or both. A maximum total amount of £2,000 can be claimed across the two grants.
To support the application, it will be necessary for the business to provide a quote for proposed expenditure, along with details of the training/adviser provider and the type of training/professional advice being sought.
An application for the grant can be made online here.