Retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors set for ‘Future Proofing Fund’ grants of £5k-£10k

Hundreds of micro, small and medium-sized businesses in Wales will soon be able to apply for Welsh Government funding designed to help them to reduce their running costs.

Grants of between £5,000 and £10,000 will be available to eligible businesses in the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors.

Welsh Government say the £20 million Future Proofing Fund “…will help businesses strengthen their future trading position by increasing profitability through investment in renewable energy technology, improvements to the fabric of their premises, and upgrades to systems or machinery to reduce energy use”.

Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said: “The ongoing cost-of-living and cost-of-doing-business crises continues to present difficulties to businesses across Wales.

“These grants will help micro, small and medium sized businesses from the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors to make some significant changes in the way they run their operations so they can adapt for the future.

Finance Minister Rebecca Evans said: “In tough times, we want to help businesses get their bills down for good. This new fund will help reduce running costs with practical support that aids long term business planning.

“We are also providing a fifth successive year of support for retail, leisure and hospitality businesses with their rates bills, at a cost of £78 million. This builds on the almost £1 billion of support provided in rates relief schemes to these sectors since 2020-21.”

The grants will be paid up to 75 per cent of project costs or £10,000, whichever is the lesser amount. It is expected that the business will contribute the remaining 25 per cent from other sources. The fund is open to businesses located in Wales (either headquartered or have an operating address in Wales) and which employ people in Wales.

An eligibility checker will open in mid-April 2024 and applications will open in May 2024.

(Archive picture of Economy Minister Vaughan Gething)