Skip to content
Search
AI Powered
Latest Stories

Wales unveils tool to check eligibility for Future Proofing Fund

Wales unveils tool to check eligibility for Future Proofing Fund
Photo: iStock
Getty Images/iStockphoto

Micro, small and medium-sized businesses in the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors can now check if they are eligible for Welsh government funding to help them reduce their running costs.

Grants of between £5,000 and £10,000 will be available through the Future Proofing Fund to help businesses to invest in renewable energy technology, carry out improvements to the fabric of business premises, and upgrades to systems or machinery to reduce energy use.


To apply for the funding, the business must:

  • be located in Wales and employ people in Wales
  • employ between 1 and 249 people
  • have been trading since before 5 April 2023
  • operate from a property with a rateable value between £6,001 and £51,000
  • either own or are leasing the business premises on a minimum 3-year lease that extends beyond 4 April 2026.

“We are doing all we can to provide support to businesses in the ongoing cost-of-living and cost-of-doing-business crises and to help businesses flourish by adapting for the future and reducing the burden and volatility of energy costs on bills and the environment for good,” Jeremy Miles, cabinet secretary for economy, energy and Welsh language, said.

“I urge anyone running a micro, small or medium-sized business in the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors to check if they are eligible for the funding now, before applications open in May.”

See the eligibility checker here.

More for you

Budget 2024: Local shops to face significant new pressure

(Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

(Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Budget 2024: Local shops to face significant new pressure

Local shops will face significant new pressures as a result of today’s Budget, the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has warned.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves' budget's impact will be felt unevenly across the UK’s 50,000 convenience stores, with some measures such as business rate relief and the increased employment allowance mitigating costs for smaller independent stores, while providing no help for chains and larger independent businesses.

Keep ReadingShow less
Post Office cash deposits and withdrawals
Post Office, DPD partners to rollout ‘Click and Collect’ services
Post Office, DPD partners to rollout ‘Click and Collect’ services

Parliament to launch inquiry into Post Office Horizon scandal compensation delays

Parliament is to launch an inquiry into delays in compensation settlements for sub postmasters affected by the Horizon scandal.

The newly-formed Business and Trade Select Committee will call ministers, subpostmasters and their lawyers to give evidence next week with a second session to follow in mid-November. The Committee’s chair, Liam Byrne MP told ITV News that there was “definitely a delay” in people coming forward for payment.

Keep ReadingShow less
Bacup Wine and Convenience shop, 34 Burnley Road, Bacup.

Bacup Wine and Convenience shop, 34 Burnley Road, Bacup.

Robbie MacDonald via LDRS

Shop’s licence bid rejected over illegal vapes and ‘no regard’ for children’s safety

A Rossendale shop has had a licence bid rejected after repeatedly selling vapes to children and having illegal products on its premises.

Management at the Ibra Superstore at 34 Burnley Road, Bacup, have shown ‘no regard’ for children’s protection and safety, and have insufficient controls for licensing, Rossendale councillors have ruled.

Keep ReadingShow less
SPAR retailer hits target to secure £100,000 free stock from James Hall

SPAR retailer hits target to secure £100,000 free stock from James Hall

SPAR North of England retailer Dara Singh Randhawa’s family store has been awarded £100,000 of free stock after hitting all his targets since moving to the symbol.

Dara and his family, who have their SPAR store in Patrington in the East Riding of Yorkshire, joined SPAR through its association with James Hall & Co. Ltd in August 2023 having taken the decision to maximise the store’s potential.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pound Sterling bank notes
iStock

National Living Wage to increase to £12.21 in April 2025

The government has on Wednesday announced its acceptance of the Low Pay Commission’s (LPC) recommendations on the rates of the National Minimum Wage (NMW), including the National Living Wage (NLW).

The rates which will apply from 1 April 2025 are as follows:

Keep ReadingShow less