Brexit Support Fund for SME’s

The government has announced a £20 million Brexit Support Fund to support small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) adjust to new customs, rules of origin, and VAT rules when trading with the EU. The SME Brexit Support Fund offers businesses up to £2,000 to help with training or professional advice, if your business has up to 500 employees and no more than £100 million annual turnover.

This has been set up to support businesses prepare for the new import controls coming into force from April and July.

The grant can be used to help you get professional advice so your business can meet its customs, excise, import VAT or safety and security declaration requirements. This includes:

  • how to complete customs declarations
  • how to manage customs processes and use customs software and systems
  • specific import and export related aspects including VAT, excise and rules of origin

Find out more here.

Applications for these grants are not open yet but check back to this page, for details of when to submit your application.

Business Coaching Sessions for Climate Change

As part of Climate Coaching Action Day on 4th March 2021, businesses can benefit from 1:1 online coaching sessions on taking a more purposeful approach to working and living sustainably.

Sessions will be an hour long and are led by Katie Driver, a Certified Business Coach and experienced trainer, from Thinking Alliance. They are limited to five businesses, offered on a first come first served basis.

The Thinking Alliance offers coaching, training and consultancy which enables people and organisations to think better and be better. Their clients include private individuals and emerging and middle leaders in organisations large and small, in business and the public sector. The Thinking Alliance helps people reclaim the thinking time so often neglected in our fast-paced world. Without this, it is easy to lose our connection with what is important to us as individuals and with the people and environment around us. Our actions literally become thoughtless, our working relationships and resilience suffer and we fail to make progress on the things that matter.

Sessions are pro-bono, though businesses can donate to Sustainable Merton, Merton’s leading environmental charity, who work to clean up Merton’s air, tackle food poverty and reduce consumption of energy and resources across the borough.

Contact ellie@sustainablemerton.org to book your place.