Round 17 of the Scottish EDGE competition has opened for applications, and will provide prize funding of up to £100,000 for entrepreneurs based in Scotland to help them start an innovative, high-growth potential business. Applications close on 10 February 2021.

The second round of the £200,000 Research and Development Solutions Fund from the University of Plymouth will open for applications on 8 February 2021, and will provide grants of up to £20,000 for UK SMEs to access equipment and academic expertise to help them undertake research and development projects. Applications close on 22 March 2021.

The £3.5 million Technology, Innovation & Green Growth for Offshore Renewables scheme from the North of Tyne Combined Authority and ORE Catapult is providing technology demonstration support and funding for offshore wind and subsea firms in the North of Tyne region to help them maximise future commercial investment in the supply chain.

The £3.5 million Technology, Innovation & Green Growth for Offshore Renewables scheme from the North of Tyne Combined Authority and ORE Catapult is providing business growth funding and support for offshore wind and subsea firms in the North East of England to help them boost their growth and productivity.

The Connecting Innovation scheme from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority is providing grants of up to £100,000 for SMEs in the Leeds City Region to help them access specialist expertise from higher education institutes and purchase equipment that will enable them to develop new products and processes.

The Supreme Court has ruled that insurers must pay out to SMEs affected by the COVID pandemic after ruling that their business interruption policies did cover the pandemic. As a result, tens of thousands of small businesses are set to receive insurance payouts covering losses from the first national lockdown.

The Welsh Government is set to implement new laws designed to make shops, supermarkets and workplaces safer for staff and customers in light of the COVID crisis. All retailers will be required to put in place measures such as limiting the number of customers, while workplaces are to be obliged to carry out COVID assessments in light of the new more easily transmissible variant.

The UK has banned travel from the whole of South America as well as Portugal, Panama and Cape Verde to prevent the spread of a new COVID strain. The ban takes effect from 15 January 2021, and also includes the Portuguese islands of Madeira and the Azores, but exemptions will be made for British and Irish nationals as well as hauliers transiting from Portugal.

The UK has removed Qatar as well as the Caribbean territories or Aruba, Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba from their list of travel corridors, meaning that, from 16 January 2021, travellers arriving in the UK from those territories will need to self-isolate for 10 days.