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Coronavirus: Obtaining business grant funding

Duncan & Toplis | 14 December 2020

Businesses in England that are required to close due to local or national restrictions could be eligible for grant funding based on the rateable value of their properties.

Funding is available as follows:

›  Grants of £1,334 per month, or £667 per two weeks, is available for businesses with a rateable value of £15k or under

›  Grants of £2,000 per month, or £1,000 per two weeks, is available for businesses with a rateable value between £15k-£51k

  Grants of £3,000 per month, or £1,500 per two weeks, is available for businesses with a rateable value of £51k or above

It is expected that these grants will automatically be issued by local authorities as businesses in their district are impacted. Therefore, we recommend contacting your local authority if you have any questions about the issuing of these grants. More information has also been provided on the government's website.

The Chancellor has also announced approved additional funding to support cash grants of up to £2,100 per month primarily for businesses in the hospitality, accommodation and leisure sector who may be adversely impacted by the restrictions in high-alert level areas. These grants will be available retrospectively for areas who have already been subject to restrictions, and come on top of higher levels of additional business support for local authorities moving into Tier 3.

These grants could benefit around 150,000 businesses in England, including hotels, restaurants, B&Bs and many more who aren’t legally required to close but have been adversely affected by local restrictions nonetheless.

More information is available on the government's website.

Business Revival Grant

The Business Revival Grant Fund is the latest initiative in a programme of support to assist businesses to respond to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. This support is in addition to the Restart Grants and previous Local Restrictions Support Grant.

City of Lincoln Council and West Lindsey District Council will be launching a new Business Revival Grant Fund on 26 April 2021.

The grant is aimed at supporting businesses to reopen, recover and prosper.

Businesses can apply for up to £5,000 to help them to adapt, diversify and to support long-term sustainability.

For eligibility, please check your local authority website.

Click here for more details

Restart Grants Scheme

The government’s new Restart Grants Scheme has now launched, providing funding of up to £18,000 to eligible businesses.

With £5bn available, the money will be allocated by local authorities across the country.

From 1 April, businesses in the non-essential retail sector are eligible for one-off grants of up to £6,000, while businesses in the hospitality, accommodation, leisure, personal care and gym sectors are eligible for one-off grants worth up to £18,000.

This is coupled with £425 million of top-up funding for the ongoing Additional Restrictions Grant scheme which councils are also distributing to businesses in urgent need of additional support.

It’s hoped that the money will support businesses such as pubs and restaurants as they invest so they can reopen safely.

Councils have been criticised for a failure to allocate much of the money that’s available, and the government has urged authorities to act quickly and avoid delay.

To apply for the funding, please visit your local city or district council website.

Many businesses will automatically receive funds from their local authority, but businesses are advised to check with their local authority as to when payments should be expected and what to do if they have any queries.  

More information is available on the government's website

Further details including eligibility are available here.

Christmas grant for 'wet-led pubs'

A one-off £1,000 grant for ‘wet-led pubs’ across tiers 2 and 3 in lieu of Christmas trade has been announced, business can apply in addition to existing £3,000 support.

Businesses are invited to apply through their local authority council.

You may be eligible if your business:

  • is based in England
  • derives less than 50% of sales from food
  • is in an area subject to Tier 2 or Tier 3 local restrictions since 2 December 2020
  • was established in the pub before 1 December 2020

More information can be found here.

Not sure which council district your business sits in?

You can use the government's local council locator here.

 


Previous update: April 2020

The UK Government has responded to the virus with a series of measures which are designed to support and sustain businesses and their employees through this difficult time. There are currently two grant schemes available, more detail for each can be found below.

Grant scheme for small businesses

The Government will provide additional funding for local authorities to support small businesses that already pay little or no business rates because of small business rate relief (SBRR). This will provide a one-off grant of £10,000 to businesses to help meet their ongoing business costs.

Eligibility

Businesses that are currently eligible for SBRR or rural rate relief.

How to access

You do not need to do anything, other than to ensure that the local authority has the information required to make payments to you. 

The Retail and Hospitality Grant Scheme

This scheme provides businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors with a cash grant of up to £25,000 per property.

Businesses in these sectors with a rateable value of:

  • under £15,000 will receive a grant of £10,000; or
  • between £15,001 and £51,000 will receive a grant of £25,000.

Eligibility

Businesses are eligible if they are based in England and is in the retail, hospitality and/or leisure sector. This includes property that are wholly or mainly used as shops, restaurants, cafes, drinking establishments, cinemas and live music venues. Those being used as hotels and boarding premises and self-catering accommodation.

How to access

Please ensure that your local authority has the required details to make payments to you. If not, we are seeing that local authorities are issuing forms to provide this information to ensure that swift payments are made. 

If the cash flow need is urgent, it would be advisable to contact your bank to see if a short-term arrangement can be reached until the funding is received.

Not sure which council district your business sits in?

You can use the Government local council locator here

 


Duncan & Toplis is here to support businesses and we hope we can provide clarity on these important changes as they are announced. For the very latest advice for your organisation, please contact our team.

 

You can find a full, regularly updated list of measures to support businesses throughout the coronavirus pandemic here

 

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