Vouchers now available at £500 or £1000
If you’re an SME and based in the old Barrow, Eden or South Lakes area you can now apply for funds towards the cost of consultancy support.
Advice vouchers of £500 can be used with a consultant of your choice. No match funding is needed but you can choose to add more to enable more activity.
Vouchers can be used for a wide range of topics, including (but not limited to) marketing, website, accountancy, legal, HR, planning, agricultural consultancy, and to help towards the costs of our mentoring and export consultancy programmes.
All required paperwork and guidance notes can be viewed here
We’re hoping to launch funding from Cumberland Council on Monday 9th June.
Additional funding for Growth Guarantee Scheme
The Growth Guarantee Scheme will provide an additional £500 million of lending to help more smaller businesses. The extra funding is aimed at smaller businesses that may need support with cashflow issues due to changes in global tariff rates. The finance can be used for any legitimate business purpose including managing cashflow or working capital requirements.
Read more about the scheme here
Global tariff suspended for some products
The Government has announced that the UK Global Tariff will be temporarily suspended on 89 products until July 2027, saving UK businesses at least £17 million a year. The products affected include pasta, fruit juices, spices, plywood, plastics and gardening supplies. The UK Global Tariff applies to goods entering the UK that do not qualify for preferential treatment under, for example, a free trade agreement.
Read more about the tariff suspension here
