Speaking in the Welsh Parliament this afternoon, North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has called for an urgent Statement from the Welsh Government to address the fact that small Bed and Breakfast businesses in Wales have once again been excluded from financial support to help them survive the pandemic.
Mr Isherwood has been contacted by B&B businesses in North Wales and across Wales, after they discovered that they were excluded from the Welsh Government’s third round of the Economic Resilience Fund (ERF), having previously missed out on earlier rounds.
Mr Isherwood highlighted the urgency of their situation and called on the Welsh Government to respond to their desperate pleas for help.
He said:
“Many small Bed and Breakfast businesses have contacted me after the Welsh Government again excluded them from financial support to help them survive the pandemic, this time barred from the third round of the Economic Resilience Fund.
“They were also deemed ineligible in previous rounds and have been denied small business grants – unlike their counterparts in England and Scotland.
“Their comments to me include: ‘This fund once again leaves us as thousands of small businesses out in the cold.’
“ ‘Once again, we seem to have slipped through the net with this new Economic Resilience Fund. Cancellations have decimated our bookings. Can I ask you to bring this up at the Senedd?’
“‘Having a turnover last year of £65,000 to just £5,000 there is no way we can keep the business afloat.’
“‘The eligibility checker for the latest phase of the Economic Resilience Fund states that “Micro businesses will be able to apply for up to £10,000 on the condition they match this with their own investment of at least 10%; For Tourism and Hospitality micro businesses there will be discretion for grant awards of up to 100%”. I started to work my way through the checker, only to find that as a micro business we do not qualify. I believe that the same would be true for many, if not most, micro-businesses’.
“‘Are you able to bring your influence to bear on the Welsh Government to change their criteria.’
“And ‘please, please look into this loophole we have fallen into’”.
Mr Isherwood added: “They are absolutely desperate and do not understand why the Welsh Government has denied support to this vital part of local tourism economies across Wales.
“I therefore call for an urgent Statement which addresses the reality and urgency of this situation.”
The Trefnydd Rebecca Evans MS said that the Minister for Economy and Transport “is interested in exploring the Economic Resilience Fund in terms of how it supports businesses” and also “what further support can be provided elsewhere”.
She added:
“I know that, in the first instance, you'll also be advising your constituents to speak to Business Wales advisers to explore whether they can point those businesses in the direction of other forms of support, such as the UK Government's bounce-back loans, for example.”
Speaking afterwards, Mr Isherwood said:
“It is both incredible and shocking that behind their usual self-congratulatory and promotional bravado, the Welsh Government have again shut this key sector out from the support they have made available to other businesses. Why on earth are B&Bs being discriminated against in this way?”.