About Eirlys Jones

Eirlys is the Commercial Director at North Wales Tourism and can be contacted at eirlys.jones@gonorthwales.org.uk or connect with her on LinkedIn you can also follow her on Twitter @EirlysJones5

Culture Resilience Fund

Help for museums, libraries, archives and professionals affected by coronavirus: The Cultural Resilience Fund provides help with urgent short-term pressures to museumscollectionsself-employed conservation services, for example conservators and curatorsarchiveslibraries To apply, email CultureAndSport.Covid19@gov.wales with an outline of your requirements (no more than 200 words).

Further guidance on whether you can accept bookings before 26 September 2020

A number of queries has been received from businesses about the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (Wales) (Amendment ) Regulations 2020 and the subsequent guidance that was issued, especially in relation to accepting bookings between now and 26 September. Further details is available on the link below: https://businesswales.gov.wales/tourism/covid-19-frequently-asked-questions?fbclid=IwAR0bvC3OtTAkAA3g03q7lMxExOWZTCPcAqLCKkRMcB_tvvP31sZiPsgfFKQ

Important message for owners of self-catering accommodation

Welsh Government has published revised guidance in relation to self-catering accommodation.  In accordance with the new guidance, properties will not be eligible for grant unless the following criteria are met: •   The self-catering accommodation can produce two years of trading accounts to 31 March 2019 •     The self-catering accommodation must actually have been let for a period of 140 days or more in the financial year 2019-20 •      The self-catering accommodation business must be the primary source of income for the owner (minimum threshold is 50%). Local authorities have full discretion to request and examine trading business accounts, booking lists and self-assessment tax returns submitted to HMRC for the financial […]

Support for larger businesses:

The new Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) will provide a government guarantee of 80% to enable banks to make loans of up to £25m to firms with an annual turnover of between £45m and £500m.The Bank of England COVID-19 Corporate Financing Facility is designed to support liquidity among larger firms, helping them to bridge coronavirus disruption to their cash flows through the purchase of short-term debt in the form of commercial paper.

Furlough eligibility cut-off date extended to 19 March

The eligibility cut-off date for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (Furlough scheme) has been extended from 28 February to 19 March. Employers are now able to claim for furloughed employees that were employed and on their PAYE payroll on or before 19 March 2020. This means that the employee must have been notified to HMRC through a Real Time Information (RTI) submission on or before 19 March 2020. The scheme is due to be fully operational next week. If you made employees redundant, or they stopped working for you on or after 28 February 2020, you can re-employ them, put them on furlough and claim for their wages through the […]

Power Solutions

Power Solutions are a top 10 UK Premier Energy Broker who are helping all business entities take advantage of today’s energy prices. During the uncertain times we are in why not look to see whether you can save money by contacting Power Solutions.  Oil price history cost per barrel  In 2001 it was $28.29  In 2008 it peaked during the recession at $165.20  April 2020 it is $20.11 This week Russia and The Arab States have agreed to cut production to drive the price upward which means energy prices likely to rise plus look at what happened in 2008 during the last UK recession. The next one is global. Let […]

All Party Parliamentary Group for Hospitality and Tourism: Pathways to Recovery

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Hospitality and Tourism is today launching ‘Pathways to Recovery,’ our urgent inquiry into the measures that businesses in these two vital sectors of the UK’s economy will need in order to successfully reopen, recover and thrive in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis. The key focus of this inquiry will be assessing what is needed to get businesses in these sectors back on their feet at the appropriate time, providing forward-looking recommendations to guide Government and businesses as they move to thinking about recovery. The consultation questions will look broadly at what support measures businesses would like to see from Government, while also looking at […]

Economic Resilience Fund

Further details about support from the Welsh Government’s new £500m Economic Resilience Fund has been published today. To be eligible for this phase of support, businesses, charities and social enterprises, must meet criteria including: Micro businesses, including start-ups, employing up to nine employees could be eligible for up to £10k support. This includes sole traders employing staff. Businesses in this bracket could qualify for support from the fund if they: – Have experienced in excess of a 40% reduction in turnover since 1 March 2020;– Can demonstrate that efforts have been made to sustain business activity;– Are not pursuing other forms of Welsh Government non-repayable grant funding support;– Are not […]