This week the Scottish Government announced further funding for the hospitality & tourism sector with a £14 million hotel recovery programme to support businesses until the start of next summer.

 The funding package is aimed at larger hotels and self-catering accommodation. It's hoped the funding will help to secure up to 3,000 jobs at larger hotels throughout the winter months. Eligible businesses can apply for individual grants of up to £250,000 as well as business support and advice.

As part of the funding, £1 million is dedicated to grants for self-catering businesses that have not received any other Scottish Government COVID-19 support. Businesses that apply and meet the criteria will be eligible for a one-off £10,000 grant to support them during the winter. 

I've set out the key points we know about the funding package so far as well as next steps for applying below:

Hotel Recovery Programme

• £14m fund providing grant funding of up to £250,000 to eligible businesses.
• A suite of wrap-around business support and advice will also be available.
• This fund is intended to help secure up to 3,000 jobs at Scotland’s larger hotels until the start of the summer 2021 tourism season.
• Expressions of interest (EOI) will begin to be taken in late August.
• Further details around eligibility and how to submit an EOI will be published in due course

Self-Catering Support Scheme

• £1m fund providing eligible self-catering businesses with one-off grants of £10,000 to support them through the winter season.
• These grants are intended for self-catering businesses that have not received any other Scottish Government COVID-19 support. 
• Applications will open early August.

Further details around eligibility and how to apply will be published in due course

The Sustainable Innovation Fund: Round 1 (Temporary Framework)

• This competition has now closed
• Successful applicants from round 1 will be notified by 28 August 2020.

Applying for the fund

Full details regarding eligibility criteria are still to be released but we do have a rough idea of when applications will open from the Scottish Government's website:

• Hotel Recovery Programme in late August

The Enterprise Agencies (Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, South of Scotland Enterprise and VisitScotland) will begin taking expressions of interest fin late August.

• Self-catering support scheme  

Applications for the self-catering support scheme will open in early August. VisitScotland will work with The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC) to review applications.

Get in touch

We'll publish more guidance as the information is released, but in the meantime if you have any questions please contact me Ryan Diplexcito at ryan.diplexcito@jcca.co.uk or your usual Johnston Carmichael adviser.