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

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
The latest coronavirus small business support information
We are keeping you updated on the latest information on how to access the government's coronavirus business support here. You can also find advice and ask a question on Enterprise Nation's coronavirus business advice hub. Follow Enterprise Nation on Twitter too for updates.