By now you’ve surely been inundated with news about today’s budget announcement. Indeed, the extension to the furlough scheme and the pledge to increase support for the self-employed will have been welcomed news to many of you. Keep an eye on our social media for Friday’s article when we will be providing your with an in-depth analysis of the budget announcement and what it will mean for your business. In the meantime though, it seems prudent to focus on an aspect of the announcement that is seemingly going under the radar; this is in reference to the new Help To Grow Scheme announced by Rishi Sunak. The Government are investing heavily in this scheme which will give small business owners an education in digitalising their business. Read on to find out why you should be signing up to this latest scheme.
So, What Is The Scheme?
The new ambitious £520 million ‘Help to Grow’ initiative is designed to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) recover and build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic. How? By adopting digital technology and management training to increase innovation, productivity, and future growth.
The initiative contains two schemes:
Help to Grow: Digital – this scheme will provide SMEs with discounted software and expert advice on how to best utilise it.
Help to Grow: Management – this scheme will offer MBA-style management training to SMEs with the aim of increasing innovation and boosting growth.
The digital aspect of the scheme will provide access to a portal that will offer businesses advice on tech and discounts on certain digital equipment. The management aspect will offer school-style teaching from experienced and qualified teachers which will amount to roughly 50 hours worth of tuition. The aim is to increase productivity and growth.
The past 12 months have shown us just how important this training could be. During the pandemic, companies able to take advantage of the latest digital technologies to adapt to social distancing restrictions were not just able to survive, but to thrive, growing up to eight times faster than those who did not use digital tools.
How To Apply
Anyone can benefit from the online advice that was mentioned in the digital aspect of the Help to Grow scheme. In order to make the use of the vouchers, it is thought that you will have to fit a certain criteria; namely, you must be a UK business that: employs between 5 and 249 employees and are registered at Companies House. Also, you must have been trading for more than 12 months and must be purchasing the discounted software for the first time.
To apply, just follow this link. By doing so, you can use your Companies House registration number to register your interest in the scheme and they will be in contact with you in due course.
Before signing up though, please be aware that the government will only be subsidising 90% of the course. You or your company will have to pay £750 in order to take par. However, this will not be due until you are confirmed to be on the course. You will pay nothing for registering your interest on the government website.
Should you have any questions about the scheme or anything else in the budget announcement, please contact us via our website or social media.
You can contact us at enquiries@jpaccountant.com, on our social media, or give us a call on 0161 637 1080.