Applications open for Events Industry Support Fund

The £6 million fund was announced on the 24/08/2020 to help the events sector recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Events Industry Support Fund will comprise a one-off grant of £10,000 to support businesses in the events industry. Particular focus is on businesses in the supply chain that are facing hardship and will be awarded as they are received.

The grants are being provided by Visit Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government and with input from the Event Industry Advisory Group (EIAG).

The funding is part of a £10 million package of support announced on the 26 July by Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture to help the events industry, many of which are not yet able to reopen and some who are open but running at a capacity which is simply unprofitable.

The £6m VisitScotland fund will support businesses which have not received Scottish Government sponsored COVID-related funding from other schemes and which meet the eligibility criteria. This includes suppliers working to organise, stage and deliver business and meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions (MICE) events and/or cultural and sporting events and festivals in Scotland, which are open to the public.

This fund is open to the self-employed (through limited company or as a sole trader), partnerships and incorporated businesses who can demonstrate that supply to events in Scotland represents their primary source of income and that they have earned a minimum of £10,000 from the supply to events in Scotland in 2019/20. Businesses must have a place of business in Scotland and be supplying to events physically taking place here with only one application per business being permitted.

How to Access the Scheme

The Fund opens for applications on 31 August 2020 at noon.

Visit Scotland website details > https://www.visitscotland.org/events/funding/coronavirus-support-fund.

Full instructions can be found on the PDF > Events Industry Support Fund PDF.

Direct link to the application form > Events Industry Support Fund Application Form.

Additional supporting evidence will be required to be submitted to complete your application. Once you start the application form, you will not be able to save it and return to it later. Please have all information and supporting documentation ready so you can complete and submit the form in one sitting.

Please note that applications will be assessed on a first come, first served basis.

For further information Email inquiries can be made to:  eventsindustrysupportfund@visitscotland.com.

A list of the information and supporting documentation you will be required to provide in the application form is set out below:

• Name of business
• Address of place of business in Scotland
• Postcode
• Local authority
• Size of organisation – SME or Large (for a company to be defined as an SME it needs to meet two out of the three criteria: (a) a turnover of less than £25million, (b) fewer than 250 employees, (c) gross assets of less than £12.5million)
• NACE code – you will be asked to input the NACE code which best describes your business. A list of NACE codes is available here. 
• The following national identifiers as applicable: National VAT Number, Company Registration Number, Charity Registration Number, HMRC Unique Tax Reference Number
• Name of applicant
• Position within organisation
• Email address
• Mobile contact number
• Organisation website/web presence
• Confirmation that you meet the eligibility criteria set out earlier in this guidance document
• Statement which explains the nature of the business and type of supply to the events sector (max 2000 characters)
• Confirmation of total earnings for your business in 19/20
• Details of the percentage of earnings derived from the supply to Events in Scotland in 19/20
• Name of bank
• Name on bank account
• Sort Code
• Account Number

Required Documentation to be provided on application

a) Summary sales invoice listing for 19/20 (where possible, please identify supply to Events which took place in Scotland);

b) Copies of three significant sales invoices which you have issued to Events (as defined in the “Eligible Events Businesses” section above) taking place in Scotland in the period 19/20;

c) Bank statements to evidence payment of invoices provided in (b); and

d) Evidence of current Public Liability Insurance (this can be for 2019 if not renewed for 2020 as a result of COVID-19).

Supporting documentation must be submitted in pdf, word, excel, png or jpeg formats. The maximum file size for each document is 10MB.