BUSINESS NEWS

New £95m voucher scheme for consumers to support local shops in Northern Ireland

New £95m voucher scheme for consumers to support local shops in Northern Ireland
Dan Martin
Dan MartinDan Martin Content & Events

Posted: Mon 23rd Nov 2020

A new scheme providing consumers with vouchers to spend with local retailers is among new support announced by the Northern Ireland Executive.

The £218m business support package follows last week's announcement that Northern Ireland will enter a new two-week circuit breaker lockdown from this Friday.

The voucher scheme will give households around £200 as a pre-paid card to support traders in their area. Finance minister Conor Murphy said the initiative will launch in early 2021 as it will take around six weeks to set-up.

Other announcements include:

  • £55m to extend grants to include non-essential retail, leisure, and entertainment businesses now forced to close

  • £20m to support company directors excluded from other support

  • £20m to extend the 12 month business rates holiday to the manufacturing sector

  • £10.6m to support 1,000 wet pubs experiencing additional financial hardship

  • £5m to top-up the Tourism and Hospitality Scheme

  • £4.1m for bed and breakfast which previously missed out on business support because they pay domestic rates

  • £3m to help local businesses grow their online sales

  • £2.25m to expend the Social Enterprise Support Fund

Dan Martin
Dan MartinDan Martin Content & Events
I'm a freelance content creator and event host who helps small businesses and the organisations that support them. I have 18 years of experience as a small business journalist having interviewed hundreds of entrepreneurs from billionaires like Sir Richard Branson to the founders behind brand new start-ups. I've worked for a range of leading small business publications and support groups, most recently as head of content at Enterprise Nation where I was responsible for the prolific output of content on the company's blog and social media. I'm based in Bristol where I run and host regular events with the local small business community and have strong connections to major business organisations in the south west region. In total, I've hosted over 50 events; from intimate meet-ups to conferences with an audience of hundreds including events for international brands like Facebook and Xero. I'm also a big fan of podcasts having hosted Enterprise Nation's Small Business Sessions as well as lots of online events including Facebook Live interviews, webinars and three live web chats from inside 10 Downing Street. With my partner, I co-run Lifestyle District, a lifestyle blog focused on culture, art, theatre and photography. I'm here to help. I'm volunteering free advice calls of up to an hour as part of the Recovery Advice for Business scheme, over the next 6 months. Please get in touch to see how I can help your business. 

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