‘Left behind’ sole traders in NI urgently need new hardship fund, Diane Dodds told

Lobby group ExcludedNI claims that up to 10,000 sole traders and micro business owners in Northern Ireland have “been left behind” despite UK government efforts to assist the regional economies during the coronavirus lockdown.

Although hundreds of millions of pounds have already been paid out in support grants, Brian Donaldson of ExcludedNI has been left devastated that around £65m was underspent by Stormont while so many people got nothing.

Freelance chef Mr Donaldson said he fully expected the economy minister to “make a case” to her Executive colleagues for a new micro business hardship fund.

“We reckon there about 10,000 people who have been left behind ... again, but this time by Diane Dodds and not so much [UK Chancellor] Rishi Sunak,” Mr Donaldson said.

“Included in that are childminders, tutors, taxi drivers, a flower shop owner, people who make chocolate and people who sell online and most of them are one-person businesses. We approached the minister, expecting a new hardship fund would be introduced, but she washed her hands of it and said ‘it’s nothing to do with me anymore, it’s up to the [NI] Executive to decide what to do with the underspend’.”

When the micro business support fund was launched, the eligibility criteria stated: “Businesses where the sole employee is the business owner or company director are not eligible for this scheme.”

Mr Donaldson, who provided the meals for the Northern Ireland football team during the Euro 2016 finals in France, said: “I have been PAYE my whole life, up until last September, but because I am newly-self employed and didn’t have a 2018/2019 tax return I was excluded from the scheme.

“Invest NI launched the Go For It scheme January 2018 to encourage people to become self-employed, and to be an entrepreneur, but so many of those people are now not covered by the grant scheme. They have now completely forgotten the micro businesses they told to ‘go for it’.”

The ExcludedNI spokesperson also said that financial difficulties have left a lot of micro business owners “struggling mentally”.

He added: “It is their business, it is their livelihood, that means more than money. It might be that they just need three or four thousand pounds to pay off a supplier’s bill which means they can start afresh.”

In response to Mr Donaldson’s claims, a spokesman for the Department for the Economy (DfE) said a decision of further grant aid now rests with the NI Executive.

“The economy has been severely impacted by the pandemic and significant funds are being invested to rebuild and renew the economy,” he said.

“Funding for the three DfE-led grant schemes is ring-fenced and any underspend must be returned to the Executive for reallocation. In considering the approach to Covid-19 recovery, the Executive will collectively determine how future funding, including that available from grant-related underspends, should be allocated.”

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