Coronavirus: Scotland Mobile & Home-Based Close Contact Services fund opens

The Scottish Government has launched the Mobile and Home-Based Close Contact Services Fund to help businesses affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The fund is for owners and operators of mobile and home-based close contact service businesses. Employees of such businesses should speak with their employer regarding eligibility for support through the UK Government’s Job Retention scheme.

Beauty and nail services are eligible for the grant, along with other close contact services.

Eligible applicants will receive a one-off £4,000 payment (£2,000 for the period to end December 2020 and a further £2,000 to cover the period from January 2021 onwards).

To be eligible for this grant you must:

• have been operating your business before 17 March 2020 in Scotland with a Scottish trading address & are ordinarily resident in Scotland
• Derive over 50% of your income from beauty and nail services and have lost income as a result of Covid-19 restrictions
• trade as self-employed or as a limited company and are registered with Companies House or HMRC as the owner and operator of the specified business
• have not received financial support through any of the following schemes: Strategic Framework Business Fund, Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, COVID-19 Restrictions Fund Closure and Hardship Fund; Hardship Fund for Creative Freelancers; Wedding Sector Support Fund; Local Authority Discretionary Fund
• have not breached any COVID regulations/requirements for businesses

Eligible applicants must operate their business primarily on a mobile basis or from home.

‘Mobile’ is defined as operating routinely (more than 50% of the time) from multiple locations, and not exclusively from fixed premises used solely for business purposes.

If a business has already benefited from business grant support as a result of operating from fixed business premises, it is not eligible to apply for further support from this fund.

The fund is now open for applications and will be until 5pm on 16 March 2021.