Could our free adverts help YOUR business?

SMALL businesses can today apply for a slice of The Daily Mail’s £3 million fund to help them survive the coronavirus crunch. The Daily Mail and its sister newspapers are inviting small companies to apply for free advertising space in Britain’s best and mostread newspapers.

Small-business owners have today told Money Mail that the initiative would be a ‘lifeline’, while Chancellor Rishi Sunak thanked the Mail for ‘doing its bit’ to help British businesses.

The Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) launched the new scheme this week to give 1,000 of the country’s small businesses a helping hand in the crisis. The new initiative, which will give each firm advertising worth £3,000, follows the creation of our Mail Force charity, which has raised nearly £6.9 million to deliver millions of pieces of vital personal protective equipment to NHS and care workers.

We are hoping to help the nation’s small companies, which employ 17million people but are battling to survive with sales having slumped in lockdown.

Mr Sunak says: ‘I want to thank the Mail for doing its bit to help small businesses get through these challenging and unsettling times. Our High Street firms are the backbone of our economy and they will be vital in helping us recover from the outbreak.’

Meanwhile, business groups have urged members to make a bid for one of the promotional packages. Our scheme is being run in partnership with the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), whose national chairman, Mike Cherry, says: ‘This is a very tough time for small businesses so the work that the Mail group is doing to support them as they try to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic is hugely important.

‘Today’s launch marks a fantastic opportunity for our members as they look to get back on their feet.

‘Making sure that businesses survive at this time is essential and this initiative is set to have a big impact.’

Money Mail has reported in recent weeks how small businesses are sometimes falling through the cracks over the Government’s multi-billion pound support packages.

Our fund is open to businesses that have been established for more than six months, employ fewer than 150 people, and have a turnover of below £6 million a year.

Applicants will have to explain how the fund would help their business.

The initiative was praised by the Minister for Small Business, Paul Scully, earlier this week, and Andrew Goodacre, chief executive of the British Independent Retailers Association, said: ‘The Daily Mail has always been a great supporter of the independent High Street and I am delighted to see this type of support being made available to the small retail business sector that is indeed the heart of the community.

‘These businesses have small marketing budgets and their spending will be under severe pressure due to enforced closures. This is a great idea to help them, and I hope that many will benefit.’

Winners will be awarded £3,000 of advertising credit to use in the newspaper group print and online titles — including the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, MailOnline, The i Newspaper and Metro. Our staff will also help you design an advert if you do not have one.

Tony Danker, chief executive of Be the Business, adds: ‘It’s never been so important to connect businesses with potential new customers. With many businesses targeting an entirely new audience, an advertising opportunity like this has never been more valuable.’

Research published in the Mail on Sunday revealed that one in three small businesses fears sales will be at least 50per cent down even after lockdown is lifted.

Another survey also found one in four small firms did not think the Government’s existing support measures would be enough for them to survive the crisis.

And yesterday the FSB revealed that one in three small businesses closed by the lockdown fear they will never reopen. And one in three small-firm employers also said they were considering, or have already made, redundancies.

The first advertisements will start to appear from Wednesday, May 20. To apply, visit grants.fsb. org.uk and create an account.