Tide to provide £1,000 grants to Covid-hit firms in charitable venture backed by Karren Brady

Called Tide Charity, Tide has teamed up with the Daily Mail, the Federation of Small Businesses and Karren Brady on the venture.

Tide is launching a charitable arm, which aims to provide grants of £1,000 to hundreds of small businesses suffering from the impact of Covid-19.

The digital banking platform is launching Tide Charity, which is being supported by the Daily Mail, the Federation of Small Businesses and Karren Brady.

The initiative was hinted at by Tide CEO Oliver Prill at AltFi’s Festival of Finance yesterday.

Tide said that Tide Charity will be a separate entity to Tide, but it will cover the operational costs of the venture.

Tide’s investor base will be asked to help with funding as well as a plea for public donations.  Tide and its partners and suppliers have already pledged £100,000 to the venture.

The initiative has been highlighted in today’s edition of the Daily Mail and the public can also donate via the Tide Charity website amongst other donation options.

Brady will be providing advice to those small businesses, which get the £1,000 grants, which are available to businesses with up to 50 employees.

Tide would not disclose how much it was looking to fundraise, before opening up applications for grants.

Prill, who is a Tide charity trustee, said: “We want to harnessthe brilliant community spirit we have seen as a result of the crisis and bring people together to support small businesses in need."

"The Tide Charity will not be able to help all small businesses financially, so we are pleased to offer support in the form of expert guidance as well, to help people through the challenges ahead."

"We are delighted to have Karren Brady, the Daily Mail and the Federation of Small Businesses on board to help us with this.”

Brady said: “The Tide Charity couldn’t be more needed than it is right now. I have been saddened to see the devastating impact the crisis has had on small businesses and so I’m delighted to be involved in such an important project."

"I’m looking forward to engaging with small business owners and doing what I can to use my experience to give some guidance to help them find a way through the issues they are battling with.”

Geordie Greig, editor of the Daily Mail, said: “We are supporting this campaign because we want to do everything possible to help small businesses who are experiencing such challenging circumstances."

"As a business, we have already given £5m of financial aid to SMEs and partnering with Tide reaffirms our commitment to the SMEs who are the heart of our economy.”

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) national chairman, Mike Cherry, said: “These are very difficult times for many small businesses and the self-employed, who are working hard to keep their businesses going through the COVID crisis."

"Many have suffered a devastating financial impact and desperately need support to help them survive, so they can continue to contribute to the economy and provide crucial jobs and services."