Please note that the New Enterprise Allowance scheme has now closed for new clients.
Are you unemployed and have a great idea for a new business?
Brag and its partners could assist you in setting up your own successful business with help from the New Enterprise Allowance. It could be dog walking services or an international exports empire? What ever, we can help you with your initial business plan and link you with sources of available support and other finance.
New Enterprise Allowance
Do you know that you can access the New Enterprise Allowance scheme if you’re aged 18 and over and you are claiming:
- Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income Support
- Employment and Support Allowance
- Universal Credit
How to be referred:
If you are interested in joining the New Enterprise Allowance scheme please contact your Job Centre who will check your eligibility and if agreed suitable they will refer you directly to us. You will then be invited to attend a workshop, where you will receive details about the scheme and find out more about what’s involved in starting your own business.
The help you can receive on the NEA scheme:
- Your own personal business mentor to help you develop your business idea and start trading – you can get support for up to 52 weeks afterwards
- get a weekly allowance paid for up to 26 weeks (up to a total of £1,274)
- apply for a start up loan for more information please visit the loan provider’s website: The loan has to be paid back, the allowance doesn’t.
BRAG currently offer NEA support in Fife, Tayside, Forth Valley and West Lothian and are sub contracted by our prime partners – People Plus.
For further information about the allowance please visit the New Enterprise Allowance info page on the Government website.
Additional information can also be found on the People Plus website: start a business with NEA
If you just have a question or two give us a call on 01592 860296 and ask for the NEA team in your area.
Please note we are delivering support sessions virtually since the pandemic so the below workshop may not be available for some time.
New Enterprise Allowance Start Up Workshop
During this 3 hour session the customer will go through NEA self employment workshop which will cover the following points:
- An overview of what being self-employed means and the levels of commitment required to set-up and sustain a business.
- Outline of the advantages (for example, being your own boss, deciding what hours you work, and how you carry out that work etc.) and disadvantages of self-employment (for example, potentially long working hours, lack of paid holiday/sick leave, and potentially erratic income).
- A clear outline of the wider implications of self-employment, for example, the lack of paid annual leave, tax implications of being self-employed etc.
- The implications self-employment will have on any benefits participants receive, including Working Tax credits.
- How does being self-employed differ from being employed?
- Other legal/technical implications – such as health and safety regulations, insurance costs, licensing etc.
- An overview of accounting/book-keeping
- What happens when self-employed people have sickness or maternity/paternity absences?
- What skills are needed to be successfully self-employed?
- Do they need start up Finance? What is available re Start Up loans for the new business, including does the participant know their credit rating (or how to obtain one) and how this impacts on being able to qualify for a loan?
- Q&A session at end of workshop