Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Less than 25 per cent of the £20m Brexit Support Fund promised to help small business get through Brexit transition has been applied for.
Actual applications for the Brexit Support Fund have fallen far short of initial interest and the scheme due to end in weeks before July.
HM Revenue & Customs has only received fewer than 3,000 applications for the £2,000 grants since March, totaling £4.3m. HMRC had been expecting around 10,000 applications.
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According to the Times, businesses are being asked to jump through too many red tape hoops when applying for the Brexit grant.
Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, launched the Brexit Support Fund in March, accepting that businesses needed support to “adjust” to the new import controls, which will be fully introduced on July 1.
The Institute of Export and International Trade, which is providing training under the scheme, said that demand from businesses for support with overseas trading remained strong.
A spokesman put the lower than expected take-up of the scheme, which is open to applications until the end of this month, to the complexity of the process, which is being administered