Is your business prepared for Brexit? There is support and expertise available to help your business to prepare.
The Bí Réidh (Be Prepared) Grant offers up to €5,000 to assist in the cost of developing a strategic response to Brexit.
The Be Prepared Grant is available to clients (microenterprises, small and medium businesses) who would benefit from additional research and external expertise in preparing a contingency plan in relation to Brexit and examine how to reduce risk, manage cashflows, human resources and marketing. This support grant is up to €5,000 or 50% of the total cost.
The Ready for Customs Grant will assist your business to increase its capacity to manage the customs process after 1st January 2021.
If you employ a new person to deal with customs on a part-time basis a grant of up to €4,500 is available.
One of the key aims of the Market Discovery Fund is to specifically support companies in their market diversification plans.
The grant aims to incentivise companies to research viable and sustainable market entry strategies. Companies can seek support to develop new geographic markets for existing/new products OR develop new products for existing geographic markets. It provides support towards internal costs e.g. wages/ salaries, foreign travel and market research material and external costs e.g. market consultants, trade fair expenses, rental of temporary office space. Grant funding from €35k up to €150k on eligible costs available.
The Agile Innovation Fund has been developed to support product, service and process innovation to build competitive advantage. This fund is geared towards clients in sectors with rapid design cycles or have not previously applied for RD&I support. The key benefit of this support is that it allows for a simple application process and delivers a faster response time from application to approval. The new Agile Innovation Fund allows companies to access up to 50% in support towards innovation projects with a total cost of up to €300,000.
The aim of the Operational Excellence grant is to support established companies (SME and Large) to address their competitive challenges and growth opportunities through a transformation project that would include investment in:
InterTradeIreland offers 100% financial support up to €2250 (inclusive of VAT) towards professional advice in relation to Brexit matters. This support can help your business get advice on specific issues such as movement of labour, goods, services and currency management.
To qualify for financial support your business must:
Note: There are certain exclusions in line with specific State Aid guidelines, such as primary agriculture – please contact the Brexit Team at InterTradeIreland for further information.
The Voucher is provided under the European Commission Regulation on De Minimis Aid as stated in the documentation for the Brexit Start to Plan. The business must provide InterTradeIreland with details of all other De Minimis aid which has been granted to the business within the past three years. It should be noted that a false declaration by a business resulting in the threshold of €200,000 being exceeded could later give rise to the aid being recovered with interest.
The Brexit Loan Scheme makes a fund of up to €300 million available to eligible Irish businesses.[i] The scheme is designed to provide funding support to enable companies implement necessary changes to address the challenges posed by Brexit. The SBCI Brexit Loan Scheme is offered in partnership with the Department of Business Enterprise and Innovation, the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine and is supported by the InnovFin SME Guarantee Facility, with the financial backing of the European Union under Horizon 2020 Financial Instruments. Loans must be used for future working capital requirements to fund innovation, change or adaptation of the business to mitigate the impact of Brexit.
Applications to Microfinance Ireland (MFI) for small business loans of between €2,000 and €25,000 (unsecured). Loans for commercially viable proposals can be used to help fund start-up costs, working capital or business expansion. By applying for an MFI small business loan through a Local Enterprise Office, clients can avail of a 1% reduction in the interest rate charged.
Act On Initiative offers 2 days of advice and support on financial and currency management, strategic sourcing and customs and logistics. Companies work with an independent consultant to decide on specific actions to address some of the risks and opportunities Brexit presents.
The Customs Insights course helps businesses understand the key customs concepts, documentation and processes required to move goods from, to and through the UK. The course will provide learners with a firm understanding of the customs implications for their business and the options from Revenue to make this process more efficient.
Clear Customs is a free, virtual training initiative to support Irish businesses build capacity to deal with additional customs requirements after Jan 1st.
Clear Customs offers training to customs intermediaries and to businesses who frequently trade with or through the UK.
Delivered in partnership with Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) and CILT Skillnet, the free Clear Customs virtual training programme will upskill your staff specifically in the area of customs procedures and documentation for continuous or future trade with or through the UK. Clear Customs is provided to eligible businesses* as part of Getting Ireland Brexit Ready.
This review in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland is designed to bring structure and focus to a company’s marketing operations through the use of a diagnostic framework tool. This framework has been developed by established SMEs that have successfully traded internationally, but need to further develop their strategic marketing capability in a more structured way, will benefit from undertaking a Strategic Marketing Review.
A Strategic Marketing Review assignment is delivered by specialist sales and marketing consultants in conjunction with Development Advisers and in close collaboration with Údarás na Gaeltachta’s Marketing Advisers from our international office network. The assignment involves 7 consultancy days which includes 4 client meetings over the course of 6-8 months.
Companies that undertake this Review will have significantly greater clarity on specific and achievable actions which are required to grow and sustain their international development into the future.
Údarás na Gaeltachta’s business development executives are available to client companies and those wishing to navigate the potential opportunities and challenges Brexit may bring. Our executives will provide expert knowledge and advice on how best to assist your business during Brexit.
The scheme provides support for a business mentor to assist you in the initial stage of your business or who will give advice on specific areas of your business plan.
The Brexit Advisory service offers information and support through voucher funding, a tailor-made on-line learning tool, a tariff checker, glossary of key Brexit terminology, research, networking and information events.