The ‘Barclay Backing Business Grant’ is aimed at those who have been financially impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Barclay Communications, Northern Ireland’s largest locally-owned telecommunications provider, has launched a £250,000 grant scheme that will support NI businesses that have suffered a downturn in business as a result of the pandemic.
The ‘Barclay Backing Business Grant’ will provide free telecoms solutions for 12 months to successful applicants with no purchase necessary and zero obligation to continue with a contract with Barclay Communications when the period ends. The scheme will include fixed business landlines, broadband and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services.
Belfast based Barclay Communications offers a suite of advanced communication solutions to a host of clients, including elite universities, energy providers, government contracts and more.
In 2020, the Barclay Group celebrated its most successful year to date, with a turnover in excess of £24m, a growth of £8m (33%) on 2019. This incline means the business now handles over 100,000 business connections. As a result of the latter success, the Group recently announced an investment of over £1.8million in new systems and new people to cater to heightened demand.
Now the business wants to give back to those who have struggled, through no fault of their own during the pandemic, by taking the financial pressure off communication outlays.
It is hoped the initiative will help support those businesses as they look to connect and reconnect with new and existing customers and stakeholders using the best technology available.
Speaking about the grant scheme, Britt Megahey, Founder and Managing Director at Barclay Communications said:
“We have been very privileged over the past year to have experienced our most successful period ever in our 25-year history but we are aware that many other businesses experienced the opposite.
“We recognise that those businesses, especially when furlough ends, and bounceback loans have to be repaid, will need every penny they have to thrive and invest in their business wisely. To help some of those in that challenging position we are offering to support their communication needs as they reconnect and resume business.
“The Barclay Backing Business Grant is just one of our new corporate social responsibility initiatives that we hope will support our peers in the NI business community. It’s important that businesses support each other as much as possible at this time.”
Companies of all sizes, from start-ups right through to large scale enterprises, are eligible to apply to the Barclay Backing Business Grant.
Applicants will need to answer three simple questions – how the Covid-19 pandemic impacted your business; your communication spend in 2019/20 during the pandemic; and how would free telecoms services for 12 months benefit your business?
The deadline for entry is 5 pm on Friday 29 October 2021. To apply, interested applicants should visit: https://www.barclaycomms.com/backing-business-grant/
