By Joe Dermody
Businesses are urged to apply for the €2,500 Business Continuity Voucher scheme hosted by the Local Enterprise Office to assist businesses during the current pandemic.
Many businesses have applied to the 31 LEO teams across the local authority network in Ireland, but some may not be aware that every business employing up to 50 employees is eligible.
The LEOs specialise in micro enterprises. The €2,500 voucher goes towards third party consultancy costs to assist with developing short and long term strategies to deal with the Covid-19 outbreak.
Oisín Geoghegan, chair of the network of Local Enterprise Offices, said: “For a huge number of small businesses, survival is the over-riding objective at this time so making the right decisions is crucial. There is where the new voucher can help.
“The kind of areas that the voucher will help will vary considerably, depending on the needs of each business, but it will include very important measures such as preparing a business case for application to emergency funding, developing a business continuity plan, reducing variable costs, reviewing and exploring supply chain financing options, implementing remote working processes or procedures, and leveraging expertise in HR and ICT.”
The purpose of the voucher is to provide contingency planning advice to assist businesses to continue trading through this crisis.
The primary aim of the scheme will be to support businesses to make informed decisions on the immediate measures needed to continue trading in the current environment while securing the safety of all employees and future business viability through identification of remedial actions.
