£1 Million Grant for Self-Catering Businesses

VisitScotland and the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers were delighted to have announced a £1 million Scottish Government grant available for self-catering businesses in Scotland, in August 2020.

Our economy has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and this new fund was made available to help alleviate the hardship some self-catering businesses are facing.

This new fund was made available for businesses who hadn’t received any support via other funds as a result of the current pandemic. Applicants were eligible to receive a one-off grant of £10,000.

Businesses across Scotland have faced unprecedented challenges as a result of COVID-19 and we worked with VisitScotland to support Scotland’s £723 million self-catering sector. Our goal continues to be to ensure that tourism rebounds to be one of the most successful sectors of the Scottish economy once again.

Applications for the new Coronavirus (COVID-19) Support Scheme for Self-Catering businesses, which will be administered by VisitScotland, will go live on Monday 3 August at 9am.

The fund was delivered through a partnership between the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC) and VisitScotland to those businesses which have been unable to benefit from any financial support during the Covid-19 crisis.

Scotland’s national tourism organisation administered the cash through a central email system and took responsibility for getting the money to the operators who needed it. The ASSC reviewed applications alongside VisirScotland and helped make decisions on which applications were successful.

Scotland’s self-caterers were among the first to shut down their businesses as the country went into lockdown, with operators making significant financial and personal sacrifices as part of the effort against COVID-19. Many also played a key role in supporting frontline health workers during the pandemic, providing free or discounted stays for NHS staff.

Throughout the pandemic, the ASSC has worked tirelessly to ensure that Scotland’s hardworking operators were not left behind in terms of accessing business support grants. Alongside work to remove inequities in the system. This new fund for self-caterers is the culmination of those assiduous efforts.

ASSC Chief Executive, Fiona Campbell, said:

“The ASSC has doggedly and persistently fought the corner of our members on business support grants. We are therefore delighted to see this fund being launched and welcome everything that it will do to help Scotland’s £723m self-catering sector.

“Scotland’s self-caterers have sacrificed so much to help the country suppress the virus and we will continue to do our bit to keep everyone safe now that the tourism sector has reopened to visitors.

“The ASSC is also thrilled to be working with our trusted, valued, and cherished partners at VisitScotland and we can’t wait to get started to get the funds to deserving, professional self-catering businesses.”