Following the recent £16 million investment to provide funding towards training and IT costs for businesses who complete customs declarations, HMRC has announced that it will provide a further £10 million in grants for customs agents and intermediaries to build capacity in managing customs declarations.
This additional wave of grants, which follows the £5m made available from December 2018 and the £16m made available in September 2019, has been developed to directly respond to industry feedback on what is needed to help build capacity ahead of or after Brexit on 31 October, alongside the additional training and IT support already available.
The further £10 million in grants is open to businesses based in, or with a branch in, the UK who currently complete customs declarations for importers and exporters. They are available to support costs of hiring staff, including £3,000 for recruitment costs and up to £10,000 for salary costs to help build business capacity.
For full details of what can be claimed and how to apply, please see the updated guidance on GOV.UK.
Businesses who will benefit from the funding are encouraged to apply early, as applications will close on 31 January 2020, or earlier once all the funding is allocated. Those who applied for the first and second wave may apply again as part of this new wave of grants.
