Scottish Seafood Business Resilience Fund

The Scottish Government have set up a specific £10m fund to help seafood and shellfish businesses affected by COVID-19.

The seafood sector has been particularly impacted by the ongoing pandemic given its reliance on exports and the collapse of the domestic food service market resulting in many seafood processors encountering severe hardship.

The grant is to help cover fixed costs for a three month period, such as rent, finance and office costs but specifically excludes staff wages, supplier payments, business restructuring costs or costs of winding up. The grant is calculated as a percentage of the prior three years average earnings, being 4% if average earnings are under £1.5m or 3% if over £1.5m, subject to a maximum grant of £100,000.

The Scottish Government have advised that the support will be administered as quickly as possible to enable owners to continue to operate or to remain closed but keep their business afloat until they are able to begin production. The current deadline is 5pm on Monday 20 April and owners are being encouraged to apply as quickly as possible.

The application form should be completed and submitted online via email along with the supplementary financial evidence required. Scott Greig, Partner in our Cupar office, has already assisted two clients in submitting their applications worth over £80k. Taking a pro-active approach he spoke with his clients on the phone whilst preparing the application form to ensure it was completed as quickly and as accurately as possible.

Scott commented, “The Scottish Seafood Resilience Fund has been well received across the whole seafood and shellfish industry as most businesses have seen their revenue streams all but disappear. The short deadline means owners have to act quickly to ensure their application can be processed and we are best placed to help provide the additional financial evidence required.”

To apply, download and complete the application form which can be found here.

For more information or if you need support submitting an application form with the correct financial evidence, please contact Scott or any of our EQ team.