Minister Humphreys introduces new measure as part of COVID-19 Business Supports Package

The new Business Continuity Voucher is now available through Kildare  County Councils Local Enterprise Office and is open to sole traders and companies across every business sector locally that employ up to 50 people, the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys T.D. has announced.

The voucher is worth up to €2,500 in third party consultancy costs and can be used by companies and sole traders in County Kildare to develop short-term and long-term strategies to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. The goal is to help business owners make informed decisions about what immediate measures and actions should be taken to protect staff and sales.

Making the announcement, Minister Humphreys T.D. said: “I know that this is a very worrying time for businesses. As part of the package of supports that I announced earlier this month, I am making a €2,500 voucher available through the Local Enterprise Offices from today to enable enterprises to avail of vital business continuity advice. This will assist them to develop strategies to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak in both the short-term and long-term. “

She added: “The voucher will give companies access to contingency planning advice that will help them to continue trading through this crisis and to be ready for the recovery phase when it comes. It will also help firms to prepare a business case so that they can apply for emergency financial interventions through the banks, the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland or Microfinance Ireland”.

The scheme is open to all types of businesses, across all industries and sectors that employ up to 50 people. To apply, companies or sole traders fill out a short application form and submit it directly to Kildare Local Enterprise Office by e-mail localenterprise@kildarecoco.ie When a company is issued with a voucher for third party consultancy, they begin working directly with a qualified expert, selected from existing Local Enterprise Office and Enterprise Ireland panels.

Jacqui Mc Nabb, Head of Enterprise Local Enterprise Office in Kildare  County Council welcomed the launch of the new support, saying: “For a huge number of small businesses, survival is the over-riding objective at this time so making the right decisions is crucial. There is where the new Business Continuity Voucher can help.”

She  added: “The kind of areas that the voucher will help will vary, depending on the needs of each local business, but it will include very important measures such as preparing a business case for an application to emergency funding, developing a business continuity plan, reducing variable costs or implementing remote working procedures.”

Speaking about the supports on offer to companies directly from the Local Enterprise Office, Jacqui Mc Nabb said “in our experience over the past few weeks people need firstly a guide to assist them with decisions around their business, the state supports and the best way forward, secondly expert advice on the right thing for their company and finally an ongoing support map for the next number of months in implementing their business contingency roadmap” , McNabb continued to say “our supports include initial one to one business advice, expert mentoring, specialised training and access to Micro Finance Loan support.

To apply for the Business Continuity Voucher, companies can submit a short application form to Kildare Local Enterprise Office by e-mail  to localenterprise@kildarecoco.ie or by calling (045) 980 838. Application forms are available to download from www.LocalEnterprise.ie/Response

Details of other business supports available from the Department of Enterprise, Business and Innovation can be found at https://dbei.gov.ie/en/